So I have sort of settled for this new look on my blog. And I would be ever so grateful for some feedback. I am all for usabilty and for a style that mirrors my identity. It shall be pleasant and easy to look around on my blog. It shall be easy to find different features and gadgets. It shall be easy to identify links.
So what do you think about:
- The head/banner - the image and how it is cropped
- The head/banner - the way the title "Beading by Malin de Koning" is written. I am not totally happy with that myself. There seems to be a conflict between the image I want to use and the writing of my name. The sizing and the placement. I would like my name to be bigger really, but it also has to be placed so that ir is readable. Looks like the image is winning at the moment ... What do you think about it?
- The text font in the posts. I want it to be easily readable and pleasant. Is it?
- Is it easy enough to identify links, both in the post text and in the sidebar? I am not sure they are obvious enough in colour difference from the ordinary text. Visited links change their colour, again is it too similar to the ordinary text? People might wanna come back and find the link again.
- Is there anything else you wanna mention, please do so. Do not hesitate to bring up things that are negative. I HAVE asked for feedback! You are my readers, it shall be good for you!
Now the column for the posting has become wider than before, and all previously posted images are still sized for the old layout (why don't they change automatically when you change the template? something for the designers of the system to think about for the next update). I am most likely not going to go back and change each of them. It was only recently I figured out that not all of them came up original size if you clicked to open them in a new window. It seamed to be some kind of randomness to which ones did and which ones didn't. Now I know how to make them all like that though.
There are still a few other small details which I am not 100% pleased with. For instance I don't know why the text in each post changes from the dark grey colour I have chosen for the template to black after a image. Isn't that weird! I'lll have to look further into that. I might even talk to some web designer about it.
All posts need an image I think. Here is one of me and Jonake when we had lunch at Byblos, Ekero C the other day. She is one of my assistants. Also works as a DJ. She is cool, dedicated and very funny.
All my best,
Malin
12 comments:
Väldigt snyggt tycker jag och halsbandet är helt underbart !! som jag troligtvis skrivit redan...riktigt MALIN i färgerna ...<3<3<3
en sak som jag märkte är att din blogg nu blivit svårare att skrolla
det hoppar / flyter inte/ pga av nån överbelastning ??
händer på en del bloggar och då brukar jag tröttna på att titta...
kanske beror det på min dator?? men jag tänker det har med storleken på materialet som visas??
supersnyggt i alla fall
KRAM
Birgitta
Tack för snälla ord Birgitta.
Hm, det där med scrollningen är inte bra. Det beror förstås både på att det är en stor mängd material på sidan, men också på såväl din uppkopplingshastighet som din dators egna kapacitet.
Jag håller på med en grej som jag inte är klar med än, eftersom jag inte vet hur jag ska lösa det. Jag vill att alla bloggar jag följer ska komma upp i en sån där lista som finns i gadgets. Nu måste jag alltid in i "Dashboard" och jag tycker det är hopplöst att titta där. Men lägger man in alla i sidpanelen blir det väldigt trögt, eftersom läsaren måste stämma av mot alla bloggarna. Jag vill ha den listan som en separat sida.
Jag kommer nog på det snart.
I love, love, love your new header. The font is very readable. Will you put anything on the left it looks kinda blank?
I love it Malin. I love that it is very light and pretty. Not competing with other things. I need to do an overhaul of my blog and want it to be fresh, not fussy. Love the header, the way the rounded corners match the rest of it, but you are right.. your words are lost. The color is too close to the background. sometimes I like to make a duplicate of my words and make them a lighter or darker color from the first set and off set them behind the first words to make a shadow effect. Does that make any sense at all? That way you can make the words bigger but you can also see them as defined. I like the fonts but the titles in the sidebar are getting a bit lost. Maybe make that font bigger and a complementary color? I think you are on your way to a delightful change, Malin. I will be watching!
Enjoy the day!
Erin
Jag säger kort och gott att jag tycker det ser bra ut. Förstod inte hälften av det Du skrev LOL, men förstår när jag ser nåt bra. Snyggt foto ;)
The links in the blog could stand out a bit more, but the font is good. As for the header, I love the photo - that necklace is excellent and of course features that Honeysuckle 'it' color.
I liked Erin's suggestion for your name with the duplicate, but I had a couple I was thinking of before I read hers. You could have de Koning beneath Malin, which would allow you to make it larger. Or you could use a semi-transparent lighter colored block behind it so that it would jump out a little more. Or even a darker brownish/taupy semi-trans block with your name in one of the greeny/bluey shades from your necklace. Or even the pink?
Otherwise, I think it looks great. It's nice not to feel visually bombarded when reading a blog. And I'm with you on the every post should have a photo :)
I like it, Malin. You know that everyone is going to have a different opinion so, in the end, you will have to go with what you like! Anyway, I agree with Erin about the title fonts in the sidebars getting lost. If you want to keep them the same color, maybe make them a bit larger. As far as the header...I love the image (I love the necklace). I think the image is perfect. To make the text stand out, you could run a almost transparent strip of white (or another color) across the whole top of the header. Leave it almost transparent so you can still see the necklace, then put your text on top of the strip. That way you'll be bringing the text out more. Here is an example, except you'll need more transparency.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_jFM-Fd8NDFE/TH6VZ0cbnjI/AAAAAAAAJTY/M3xiqTsr2Jc/s1600-h/September-Calendar-banner%5B3%5D.jpg
The banner looks great!
I see no competition between your name and the image, but that's just me.
I like the font. However. . . The links are a little hard too see. Of course, I usually read blogs in a reader anyway, so it really doesn't make a difference.
Just adding my two cents!
Oh ladies! Thank you all so much for your supportive words and all your useful inputs. You have really put your thoughts into it. As you can see I have already made some changes based on your comments. I "fattened" the title text for the gadgets and I altered the colour slightly for them and also for the links. I might make links inside the text bold in the future - we'll see.
@Birgitta - I will look into fixing that thing asap. Or I might just end up skipping it ...
@Mary - no I don't want anything on the left side. I did look into that option when I was playing around with the design. For me I find it gets too cluttered as an overall effect on the page. I wish it to be easy to quickly find what you are looking for, and not too many visual components to consider. I guess I kind of like it a little "blank".
@Jonake - sorry and thank you! :-)
About the header/banner with the picture and my name standing out, I have looked into all your suggestions already as possibilities (well not exactly as your link Doreen, but something similar). I have played around with all kinds of sizes, shadows and backdrops for the text. And actually now there is already a slight slight white blurry backdrop behind my name. So subtle you don't see it conciously. And I don't really wanna use a block that would interfere with the image. I want the text to be inside the photo as a part of it. I guess I just like how that looks a lot. And to split up the name on more lines I was playing around with for a long time. I'll have another look at the whole thing later on tonight. Perhaps I need to "kill a darling" as they say.
Now I will just take all your comments and digest them for the next" level".
:-)
I love the new design, Malin. I wonder if you tried the title line on the diagonal to use up some of that dead space. I have no idea if that would look good or not (because I'm such a visual person I need to see it tell how I like it) but it's definitely something I would try. I love the font you're using. It's very readable. Nice job!
I love the title image -- the colors are great -- and the text fonts all look good to me. I don't think the photo looks uneven or off balance. The "blank" area has an upward sweep to it that echoes the diagonals elsewhere in the image, giving it a flow that carries your eye to the pretty beads at right.
For the text, I would suggest moving it down from the top edge just a bit. To help increase the contrast between your name and what's behind it, there are two ways you could go... Put a slight "outer glow" on the text to create contrast between the letters and the image, or, make your name a lighter color and add a dark drop shadow to it. The shadow just needs to be dark enough to create contrast with the image behind it.
I have an idea for your blog. In picnik they have this effect called "vignette" where you get darkened edges. If you add this effect to your photo, then I think you could go with white ... or any lighter color ... for your font. If this is placed over the darkened areas of the vignette effect, I think it could be beautiful. This would allow you to keep the banner as it is ... the jewelry is beautiful!
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