So along with the launch of my new blog, I also decided to launch a new design theme as well. My old website started off with simply one basic HTML page to showcase my portfolio of past work. I never really spent too much time worrying about the design layout until now. With that being said, I wanted the new site to give visitors a good idea of what I view as good, modern web design. Therefore, I wanted the site to be very clean, simple, open and refreshing – kind of like a glimpse into my professional aesthetic. That is how I settled on the current design.
I wanted the site to have a very open design concept and plenty of negative space to give the content a little breathing room. That is one thing I believe really sets apart all of the newest, most modern, web 2.0 sites. Also, I wanted to add 3-d effects, transparency, texture and shadows that make the content and images look like they are standing off the page instead of flat with the background. Websites utilizing these methods are the ones that really grab my attention. Boxy layouts and flat, boring websites are now a way of the past. In a way, the newer generation of sites are actually more simple than the older generation, but that is what makes them so much more clean and light feeling. In fact, I personally am more likely to buy from or join websites with an appealing design layout than others that do not.
Therefore, I gave my site a very simple layout, no boxed in content areas and a really simple textured background (also very hot these days). I used a few transparent boxes to give some weight to the page and a nice big chunky font to add to some more substance. After all, there has to be something to grab your readers attention and a well thought out layout is one way to do just that. Also, a few carefully placed icons and a nice calming blue theme rounded out the look and helped to tie everything together.
I’m not saying this is the best website out there by any stretch, nor the best I can do. It is just a nice simple layout that I believe really reflects my personal design taste. I also figured it would be a good idea to include a picture of what this design looks like since I will inevitably be changing/tweaking it sooner rather than later. After all, a good designers work is never done. Hope you all enjoy.