New Design: Your Opinion Counts!
29 November, 2007 - Your Feedback - 6 Comments
Paul has created an initial design for the revamp of the blog and at this stage he wants your opinion. A few things to note:
- The title in the header will be replaced with a logo before the design is launched
- The block of white space in the header will be an advertising spot
- The four squares in the right column will be ad spots
As a reminder, here are the key points from the spec that I gave Paul:
- Colour scheme must be light and clean. Bright would be nice, but is optional
- Layout should be simple, allowing for easy focus
- Menu should be horizontal
- Main area should use two columns
- An entrepreneurial/blogging theme would be nice
- RSS should be prominent
- The design should prompt visit to X page (this being the SEO Guide, as seen in the right column)
- The design should display the adverts in prominent positions
I think the design meets most of those requirements. There are probably two at the most which the design doesn’t meet.
The Design
Click the screenshot to the right for a full size version. (Or click here to open it in a new window) Paul and I would love to hear your thoughts on the layout. I’m not too concerned about the colour scheme at this stage as Paul will be creating several different colour palettes once we have a solid layout.
Please write your thoughts, good or bad, in the comments below. What emotions do you feel when you view the design? Would you feel relaxed when you read the blog? Are your eyes drawn towards the RSS feed and SEO guide? Please comment on whatever comes to mind. I’m looking forward to hearing what you all have to say! 
I can’t wait to finally get the new design launched. I have a huge marketing campaign to go along with the revamp as well as a couple of new resources and tools for my readers. However, good things come to those who wait. I don’t want to rush this design process because I want to make sure I come out of it with a design that both looks appealing and works for my readers and advertisers. Hopefully with your keen eyes we’ll be able to do just that.
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Posted on 29 November, 2007 by Jamie Harrop
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The new design looks really good. On level with all the top meta-blogging blogs. I need to redo my blog also. What is Paul’s price range.
Thanks David.
Paul is actually my business partner, so he’s doing the design for free. Usually for a full design, development and WordPress integration process, we’ll charge anywhere from $1,000-$2,000. That’s usually way outside the price range of the average blogger, but if you do happen to be interested, please get in touch.
Looks great Jamie! My eye was drawn to the big wordpress ‘W’ in the first post. So if you plan to use eye catching images in your posts that would be a good placement.
To be honest I didn’t even really notice the RSS button at first, remember the avaerage surfer views a site from the top left and down so it being on the far right might be the last place they look. Maybe try it up in the header next to the logo??
This is far better and easier on the eyes then the first design.
Thanks for the useful feedback, Nick. Much appreciated!
I like the layout, it will be interesting to see some slightly different colours though as currently it looks like a Blogger profile page in that respect.
Thanks Ben.
Paul has been working on some different colour schemes this weekend. I’ll be showing you them in the next day or two, hopefully.