I've started a new feature. Great Design is a way for me to showcase other book bloggers that have put the effort forward to learn how to do great design work. If you would like to be considered for this feature please fill out the form!
What resources have you used in your design? Are there any websites you'd recommend for resources?
For graphics, I use GIMP. I wouldn't say that I prefer it to Photoshop or other similar programs, but it's free so anyone can download and use it, and it's basic function is the same. I'm hardly an expert at graphics, but the more that I play around with it the more I learn. Maybe eventually I'll invest in Photoshop.
If you're like me and only have a basic knowledge of coding (or none!), then Google can be your best friend. I am constantly tweaking little things on my blog, and I often resort to Google searches to find tips and tricks or tutorials for specific things that I want to do.
Blogger Buster has some great tutorials on everything from blog customization to search engine optimization (SEO).
You can find some amazing Photoshop and graphics tutorials on sites like DeviantArt.
If you're going to be looking for graphics to use online, then make sure that they're free to use or that you acquire any needed permissions before you start slapping other people's art onto your blog, though! Even if you credit the artist, it is still a violation of copyright to use without permission. Or you could use your camera and take your own great pictures to use in your graphics.
What do you like most about your design?
I wanted to create a blog design that was simple without being plain. I wanted it to look clean. And I wanted it to be almost but not quite monochrome, because I didn't want it to distract from my content or to clash with all of the book cover art that I have to include in my posts. The black, gray, and blue work for me because the blue is close enough to gray to be the ALMOST monochrome that I was looking for, while still keeping some color. I think I've achieved what I set out to do for the most part, and that makes me really happy. I do still have a lot of little things that I am always tweaking or trying to improve upon or changing my mind about, but for the most part I'm really pleased with it. And I'll continue working at those little things that start to bother me in order to make it cleaner until I get sick of the whole thing and start over, which is bound to happen eventually. :)
What has been the biggest difficulty in getting your design to be how you want it?
The biggest difficulty has definitely been making it look right in freaking Internet Explorer. I hate IE so much. Y'all don't even know. I don't know what it is about IE, but it always has to be different and mess with the look of whatever you're trying to do. Certain code strings don't work in IE, and certain styles will not display properly, etc. So if I wanted most of my readers to see the page properly, which I obviously did, I had to spend days trying to figure out what particular elements IE was screwing up, and either removing them or putting special exceptions for Internet Explorer into my code. PAIN IN THE BUTT! But worth it, in the end. I actually just figured out not long ago what one of the problems was. It took me weeks of messing with it, getting frustrated, trying to ignore it for a while, going back to it. Haha. So definitely that.
Another thing is just some of the fine tuning of the coding - little things that you don't really think about until you see it messing up your alignment or leaving big gaps in places or making things look off center, etc. Adjusting margins and padding. Making sure that you fix the code so that your header doesn't get pushed to the left or become squished/resized or cut off. Getting rid of weird spaces and gaps showing up in some places. These things require some experimentation and adjustment to get them just how you like them. It isn't difficult, but it can be time consuming trying to get everything spaced just the way you want it.
Have you enjoyed learning about design?
I've definitely enjoyed it. I have a do-it-yourself mentality. I don't like paying someone to do something that I know I'm capable of doing on my own with a little bit of effort. Plus, I'm sort of a control freak, so having that full control of how my blog looks is a plus. I've always had an aptitude for creativity as well as technical things like messing with code. I like problem solving also, so when a coding mishap surfaces it sort of drives me to keep learning and working at fixing it. But anyone could do something as simple as what I have done with my blog with a couple of days to work on it and some Googling of coding and graphics tutorials. Even if you're not sure if you can do it, just make a test blog and dive right in and start learning. Don't be worried if you're confused. The more you read tutorials and play around with it the more you will understand! It can be a lot of fun, and it's a wonderful feeling of accomplishment when your blog finally reflects you and looks pretty doing it.
Check out The Mimosa Stimulus to see the beautiful design created by Jenny!
Categories: Great Designs
Thank you for featuring me, Rie!
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