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New Site Design (Yes, again) + New Server
After previously announcing a new blog design in October, I’ve redesigned my site again. Just a recap, here was the previous design:
Here is the new one (for the benefit of all you RSS readers):
Why did I change it again?
My October redesign was a redesign of a redesign… of a redesigned redesign, that I just redesigned the heck out of, basically.
Needless to say, there was just too many complications due to the amount of modifications I made to the theme. There was plenty of redundant CSS and PHP that would just take too long to put right.
I thought it would be a lot simpler to just redesign the site, which is an Obox theme that I purchased and modified. This time, I’ve gone for a clean-cut and simple style. There’s still room for improvement, and I managed to fit an image in of a VW camper van, which I think are just cool. I hope to buy one at some point and have many camping trips.
PS, I started a previous design featuring a VW Camper van on my Dribbble profile. You can see the abandoned concept here.
Site Server and CDN
I’m now on a Media Temple 4.0 DV server (affiliate link) — and the site also utilises Max CDN. The site, for the most part, is running much faster than normal.
I’ve had some downtime issues, as well as 8 random old posts appearing in my RSS feed (which for some reason had Google ads in them?). Strange, I know. Apologies for the inconvenience.
I’ve also nearly completed a new venture of late, which I’ll write about in due course.
What do you the of the new design? Do you have any suggestions to make?
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14 Comments
Wow, this is … amazing. I love the new logo. The site in general looks much simpler. I’m sure there are things you’d like to iron out but you must be happy with the results? How did you write the theme? The CDN is great – really fast.
07 Jun 2011 11:06 pm Rob Cubbon
(Twitter: @@RobCubbon)
Rob → didn’t design the theme, but purchased a theme called “carouse” fro Obox, then customized it somewhat. If I had time, I’d design a theme and get it coded, but time is short.
It has still got a couple of bugs, though. The Twitter field text doesn’t always disappear when clicked, and the “reply” function is buggy when I activate new plugins.
Even the logo may be temporary; I don’t know. I like it, but I also like my old icon which still appears in the footer. We designers are our worst clients.
Thanks for the support.
PS, I’ll be following your guidance on the MailChimp widget soon
07 Jun 2011 11:06 pm Andrew Kelsall
(Twitter: @AndrewKelsall)
Yes, I especially like the AK in one colour. I think our sites are always a work in progress and never finished. Good luck with the sign-up widget.
08 Jun 2011 07:06 am Rob Cubbon
(Twitter: @RobCubbon)
Yes, our blogs are like paintings that never dry; I think if I look at my blog header more than 100 times, I want to change it.
Seems like my threaded comments have starting working again :/
08 Jun 2011 03:06 pm Andrew Kelsall (@AndrewKelsall)
Wow, pretty drastic but a lot easier on the eyes
08 Jun 2011 11:06 pm Kiren
(Twitter: @Twitter)
Yeah, I'm starting to prefer the simpler approach too!
16 Jun 2011 07:06 pm Andrew Kelsall (@AndrewKelsall)
I love the new redesign Andrew! It’s a lot cleaner, simplier and easy to get around. Great job!
16 Jun 2011 06:06 pm Jason Vana
(Twitter: @jasonvana)
Thanks Jason. I've also carried the design across to my Christian Design Blog, too...
16 Jun 2011 07:06 pm Andrew Kelsall (@AndrewKelsall)
Hey mate,
I’m digging the new theme. 2 column themes have grown on me in the last few months. I’ve been considering changing from my 3 down to a 2, but finding the time to do it’s another matter…
On a seperate subject, how is HelloBar working for you? Getting any traction from it you wouldn’t have received otherwise?
21 Jun 2011 06:06 am Andrew Keir
(Twitter: @andrewkeir)
Hi Andrew! I thought you'd dropped off the face of the Earth. Still busy with design projects?
Regarding the Hello bar, I'm getting clicks and quote requests, but I cant tell if its a direct result of it. It stays for now, but I'll keep tabs on it.
PS, 3 columns is great. Having larger images benefits the readers, the blogger and great for SEO - larger ones do better in Goggle Image search...
22 Jun 2011 10:06 pm Andrew Kelsall (@AndrewKelsall)
Yeah, still busy.
I’ve recently taken on a full time role at an advertising publication that I’ve been doing work for for the last year or so. They’re launching 7 new websites that I’ll be managing in addition to creating artwork for their publication. Between that and freelance work I’m pretty flat out.
You’re right about dropping off the face of the planet, my blog has been suffering from some serious neglect the last few month. I must have 40 or more posts I’ve started or ideas I’ve saved as drafts that need completing.
I initially built the 3 column theme because I liked the concise navigation, and being able to fit the entire navigable portion of the site above the fold. I’m looking to do a few things in the future ( like a web comic for example ) which just wont work with my 500px wide body. I’m thinking I’ll go up to 768px for the body, a nice big size that matches the google adsense units.
I’m 99% I’ll be changing to the 2 column. One more job to do >< .
27 Jun 2011 06:06 am Andrew Keir
(Twitter: @andrewkeir)
Hello again.
Good to hear about your new job. I can remember recently when I received an update from LinkedIn with your status change.
There's a few blogs I follow where there's been no posts for a long time. Seems that everyone is busy!
I just noticed in my last comment I typed "PS, 3 columns is great."; I meant 2 column. Hope the redesign goes well :)
04 Jul 2011 02:07 pm Andrew Kelsall (@AndrewKelsall)
I like the new layout! Your calls to action are much more prominent and visible. I like the color contrast in the new design as well. The information in sidebar is well organized and grouped. I also like the main navigation.
Great Work!
24 Nov 2011 05:11 am Brandon Cook
(Twitter: @brandon_m_cook)
Thanks Brandon. Yes, I think the simpler the better, although I still tweak it every so often :)
24 Nov 2011 02:11 pm Andrew Kelsall (@AndrewKelsall)
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