Redesign, Finally!

lsw-x

The redesign of this site has been in the works forEVER! And when I say forever..I really mean about 6-8 months of putting it on the back burner until my schedule opened up enough for me to be able to sit down and really figure out what I wanted to do. The redesign of this site went through about 6-8 different visual looks until I finally settled on what I wanted…and it took that long for me to settle. It wasn’t until my last attempt that I realized what I wanted here (at least for now): simple. clean. light. minimal. easy.

I didn’t want to be overly heavy with graphics and icons – – I wanted to lighten things up a bit and really rely, mainly, on CSS to do its magic for me. I guess because I work so much with graphic compositions and layouts with my client work…I just felt the need to lighten things up here and go with a very minimalistic approach to my new layout and design.

Black and white really appeals to me….but I just can’t walk away from the PINK! I adore pink (sorry, Danalyn..I had to!) and I have had pink on the design of this site for as long as I can remember, in some way, shape or form. So I went with a Black, white and pink color scheme…with some grey accents thrown in for good measure.

I wanted to get away from third-party applications, as much as humanly possible. I’ve gotten rid of the ads I had on this site and made the decision that I would not monetize this website anymore. I’m monetized elsewhere on the web…I don’t need it here. So, the text ads and Google Adsense that you used to see here are gone….vanished! Along with other third-party scripts and stuff that mucked up my site (not too mention load time). MyBlogLog, Twitter updates, etc, etc…gone. Somehow, just having them gone makes things feel a bit lighter around here! Not that I don’t have some.. I do: Feedburner feed count, my Flickr photo feed and my Google Reader feed.

The front page, as you see now, presents my most recent post…and underneath..some snippets from other posts I have made recently on this site. But, instead of showing full posts and giving you one HUGE page to scroll down, they are packaged in nice, tidy little snippets with dates, titles and comment counts in case you’d like to browse around.

My menu at the top of this site is still there – – but instead of presenting you with a list of page links… it’s kind of packaged in a short bio snippet that contains links to other areas of my site, where you can find more information.

The sidebar is short and sweet. Some little bio bits about myself, my Flickr feed 10 random photos from my Flickr account, my Sideblog with snippets of items that are significant…but not enough info to warrant a full post…and then the recent comments from YOU! The Recent Comments (‘Your Bits’) area shows your Gravatar (if you have one), which is linked to your web site (linkage!)… your name, which is linked to your comment on this site – – and a short snippet/teaser of what you said.

That’s it for the sidebar.

My footer contains three additional elements:

  • My Shared items from my Google Reader….which contains some items from my Google Reader that I found so interesting that I just HAVE to share!
  • My Blogroll – – this is a rotating blogroll that displays 10 random links from my blogroll…so the links are different each time you refresh – – but it does have a ‘read more’ link that takes you to my full links page, if you’re so inclined to see where I’m linking to.
  • The last item in my footer is my sitewide tag cloud.

I restyled my comments that display your Gravatar – – and it also displays your comments in grey… and mine in pink. Makes it easier for me to scroll through and see where I’ve responded.

That’s pretty much it. It’s light, simple, clean and concise – – just the way I wanted it to be. This design is completely valid – both XHTML Strict and CSS. Well.. at least the front page is XHTML Strict in its validation … it will probably take me awhile to make sure all of the internal posts and pages are – – but the front page is at least a start. Prior to this, my previous design was XHTML 1.0 Transitional in its validation. Why the strict validation now? Meh – just because I can …. and it was just another additional challenge 🙂

Let’s see how long it takes for me to muck this up with all kinds of extra crap, eh? haha!

Oh – and I did get rid of the illustrated cartoon character of myself on this site… opting, instead, to put my own mugshot in the header – – figured it was about time to stop hiding behind a cartoon, hey?

So… is the pink and gray hard to read, a little? I’m a little worried about that part – – what about the rest? I think it looks nice… but, really, what do I know over here in my little hole in the wall office?? Thoughts?

50 thoughts on “Redesign, Finally!”

  1. This looks so much like you! I love that it all looks like code, yet it’s still feminine. And the use of your rockin’ headshot is great – that is a fantastic picture :d ! Glad you were finally able to spend a little time on YOU!! Wonderful design – worth the wait 😉

  2. The design is absolutely beautiful (even though it is pink.;) ) It took me a while to remember why the formatting of the type looked so familiar and then it hit me when I opened my current design project. Its eye pleasing and geeky at the same time.

  3. Lindsey – thank you! It’s been a while in the making..every time I thought I had a day or two to work on it… that day (or two) vaporized somewhere else. It’s nice to finally have it done and dusted!

    Glad you like the headshot – – I always struggle with actually LIKING pictures of myself… so moving away from the cartoon to my actual face is a little therapy lol

  4. Michael – thanks for stopping by and leaving your comments. I tried to make the design a little reminiscent of CSS code that I bury myself eyebrow deep in on a daily basis. Glad to hear the pink isn’t too offensive 😉

  5. Great design Lisa, you’ve achieved all that you wanted – clean, professional, light and your personality still shines through.

    Just wanted to let you know that if I skink my screen to 1024 or 800 wide then the comment box busts out the right hand side.

    Love your work
    Leah

  6. Leah – from you, that’s a superb compliment, thank you 🙂

    Thanks for the tip on the comment box – – got that tidy’d up now.. like it never happened :-\”

  7. Thanks much, Pepper – – black and pink has always appealed to me. Black with pale pink… Black with fuschia .. Black with just about any shade of pink. :)>-

  8. Great look…black and white and pink all over! And Daniel is right, your site does look great on my iPhone…fits perfectly in the little screen, though at least my iPhone is not the speediest device in the world for loading web sites.

    Roxy

  9. Danalyn – I’m so glad you like it (pink puffy heart even!). Over the years when I design my site and reach for the pink… I always think of you and cringe a little haha :p

  10. Jeane – thanks..but it was time for a change. My old design was over 2 years old and it was time to change clothes around here a bit 🙂

  11. :d I second that tagline. Great job, darlin’! Love the speedy loading. I’ve been toying with the idea of stripping mine of extraneous shiz, as well and now I think I just might.

  12. @Joelle – I just knew you would dig the tagline 🙂 I’m enjoying the speedy load time, as well.. really amazing how all that extra crap can really weight heavy on the ol’ load time. Operation: Nekkid Blog. haha 🙂

  13. GAH! Making me come out of Google Reader to see your new blog clothes! NOT NICE!!!

    But, you know it was worth it, if only to see your mugshot and the ear I like to rape so much! 😀

    It all looks great, but then that’s no surprise to me. It’s a fun reflection of you and you’re smokin’ hot. 😛

  14. Jammie – its good for you to come out of your little hidey-hole and join the rest of us every once in awhile. I see it as my civic duty 🙂

    Thanks for the compliment on my photo..and imho, you don’t rape that ear often enough! You’re falling down on the job over there! 😡

  15. Looks awesome!

    I like that you used a black banner and stuck with a white background for the rest.

    /*– And the comments text is a snazzy touch. –*/

    Congrats

  16. Wow… I love it!! 😡

    It’s so neat and clean.. and it’s pink!! I made a mistake of apologizing for the pink on my blog design when I launched it, but you’re right, there’s no need to apologize!!! lolz. ;))

  17. Looks great! (And it’s about time too!)

    Took me a minute to figure out how I clicked over to this new site and then I realized I still knew it, but it had a massive facelift…

  18. @Gary – thank you! It has taken me a bit to get used to not seeing the pink, the green, the cartoon…but I’m getting over it pretty quick 🙂

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