Winter closes in

May 14, 2006

It’s suddenly got very wintery here with rainy, cooler darker days. It had to arrive eventually and with it I look at my blog and think I need to update the design. It looks too summery, too light. I’ve changed my personal blog’s design countless times in the past in time with seasons and would like to continue on with this tradition.

Lately I’ve been inspired a lot by a different set of design blogs such as MoCo Loco, Design Sponge, Love Made visible and Outblush. There’s some gorgeous products coming out these days and I’m considering using Stylehive (or my default delicious account) to keep track of inspiring designs. If only stores I love (too countless to mention here) shipped to the far ends of the earth.

So, combining the winter season, product design inspiration and a little bit of a retro twist on being born in the late 70’s, here’s an initial design idea. It’s not at all finished but merely a starting point I could go further with or abandon.

Update: as the rain poured down I spent another 10 minutes putting together another idea. I think it’s a little closer to what I want but I’m not sure still.

What do you think? I think it’ll be fun showing you these works in progress. I usually go through a tonne of ideas.

See also
Comments

  1. Wide layouts are definitely in. With browser stats for 800 x 600 resolution on the decline, wider formatted layouts are absolutely acceptable in my book. My recent reboot is 960px fixed and have yet to hear any complaints from small screen readers.

    Your initial mockup is quite different from your current look. I guess I always assumed you would try and go for a non-blog look. I really enjoyed the three column-esque layout you ran awhile back.

    — Derek Punsalan, May 14, 2006

  2. I like your wide template - I’ve been doing more and more of them lately and they look so much more spacious.

    — Rachel, May 14, 2006

  3. Here in France, it’s spring ! Flowers everywhere, long and shiny days…

    Dont’ forget an automatic theme switcher depending on hemisphere for your autumn theme… ;-)
    JB

    — JB, May 14, 2006

  4. It makes the Uk seem slightly more appealing with us just going into summer but I’d far rather geographically in your shoes!

    On the redesigns, the ‘another idea.gif’ is great, I really like the colour scheme and the design is really clean.

    — Ben Bishop, May 15, 2006

  5. I really like the first design you thought up; it shows off your CSS and design skills. Anyways, choose what you want, it’s your blog!

    — Alex, May 15, 2006

  6. I like the first one more, even though it’s a little wide for me :)

    — Alvin, May 15, 2006

  7. Rachel, I like your concept piece. Maybe too grey for my like. But looking forward to seeing what you come up with. I’d just avoid green. :-)
    By the way, it was 71 F here today. :-) Beautifully balmy day. :-)

    — Aaron Brazell, May 15, 2006

  8. As someone else noted, a theme switcher might be worth implementing.

    — Derek Punsalan, May 15, 2006

  9. I think the first is a lot better. That background is kind of bold, but it looks really good. The second one is a little too soft for my tastes, but they’re both excellent

    — Jesse, May 15, 2006

  10. Prefer the second and agree that wider designs are now ‘ok’ (but always check your stats in case).

    My next design will be a lot simpler and cleaner on the eye as well, jsut need to find sometime to start it!

    Question - did you create the ‘pattern’ image yourself? Or is it a brush or template from somewhere??

    — Gordon, May 16, 2006

  11. Rachel

    It is May, grey and raining here in New Jersey.

    Your second ‘theme’ is really nice or should I say elegant.

    Thanks for your pointing us to other sites especially ‘Love Made Invisible’. I guess I can write a post mentioning them (giving you credit for the discovery) since many of my clients are women.

    By the way if you could suggest some sites marketing to women, let me know.

    I can’t stand the rain….

    Serge
    Biz:
    http://www.njconcierges.com
    Blog:
    http://www.sergetheconcierge.com

    — Serge Lescouarnec, May 16, 2006

  12. [...] Winter closes in — cre8d design blog Since I started blogging in December, I’ve been admiring Rachel Cunliffe’s summery blog design. It’s turning to winter in New Zealand, so she’s planning for a more somber design. (tags: webdesign inspiration) [...]

    — Anne 2.0 » links for 2006-05-16, May 16, 2006

  13. Thanks so much for the mention, Rachel. Your blog is amazing. Immediately bookmarked! Great design concepts, btw. I love the first concept.

    Ever notice when you’re hashing stuff out sometimes the first sketches are the right ones? I seem to always go back to my first ones… maybe it’s because after the 6th or 7th try, my initial idea is so overworked to death that it is no longer impactful. Anyway. I am now a reader. :) Have a lovely night.

    — Priya, May 16, 2006

  14. Just noticed you added a second idea. I definitely think you should run with the second over the first. I would be a nice change coming from you.

    — Derek Punsalan, May 16, 2006

  15. You are lucky it’s cold. We are having a damn heat wave hear and I seriously can’t even step out of my house between 11-3.. Gawd, it’s hot!!

    I think it’s a good idea to change your design with seasons, colorful designs would rock. How about iceblue frost design?

    BTW, Since you are using del.icio.us, I recommend http://blinklist.com. It really whips delicious in all accounts - looks, features and more. You can upload your del.icio.us bookmarks to blinkeasily. Check it out, you’ll love it.

    — Chrono Cr@cker, May 17, 2006

  16. Just found your site and really appreciate all the wordpress info (being a new wordpress user, myself). Personally, l love your second design idea much more than the first.

    — Karina, May 20, 2006

  17. Thanks everyone. I’m going with the second idea and will work on it more soon.

    — Rachel, May 20, 2006