One thing I have always believed is that a blog should look good. That's my preference. Some of you may not feel so strongly about that, and that's okay. But I've been designing my own blogs for awhile now, and I like them to look their best. For that reason it was kind of hard to let the old look go.
But I wanted something that was completely unique. The older version is freely available from the original designer, but in another blogging format. I modified that design for my own use on Blogger, and I've always given credit at the bottom of my blog. But over the weekend I had images in my head of something I think is even better, so I began working.
What I came up with is something with a similar feel, but this new one is brighter in some areas, and all of the artwork was done by me. I didn't want a drastic change, but I think a new look will be a refreshing change after years of the old look. Not everyone will agree that the new one is better because the older one was very good, but I like the new one more.
So, what do you think about the new look of The Everyday Adventurer? Be honest, I love constructive criticism. You can see the old version in the picture above. One important thing for me is that I now have a completely unique look that you will not find anywhere else. I think this new look has a bit more depth to it than the old one. And besides, I really love tinkering around with my blog.
Hi Ratty. happy new year to you!
ReplyDeleteI love this new look. I am a fan of black backgrounds to be honest but this background is lovely too and fits well with your site. It all looks great!
I like the new look of your blog, Ratty. Very unique! I like to change the look of my blog from time to time too, but I can only change colors, not designing it.
ReplyDeleteIt looks great. It has sort of an "Indiana Jones" feel to it. Perfect look for an adventurer's blog
ReplyDeleteRatty - I think the new design is awesome. As Ann said, it kind of looks like "Indiana Jones". If anything, it's very original. Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteJeff
The header is great but the dark background is off-putting. Some of the type in the sidebars is almost impossible to read...
ReplyDeleteLooks great to me..I can read everything clearly. The only thing you might want to change is the footer where you explain who you are..I think the color should be changed to be clearer..maybe white..not sure.
ReplyDeleteGood luck.
I have been wanting to change the look of my blog too..but not good with html.
Looks fantastic... Works well with IE, Opera, Firefox, Safari, Chrome and on my mobile phone. The sidebar is tricky to read on my Kindle, but fine elsewhere. :-)
ReplyDelete@Bemused26
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you too! I like darker backgrounds too. I tried several before I settled on this one. Each one gave the blog a different feel.
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@Icy BC
If you ever decide to try to change more on your blogs than just the color you can use the Blogger template designer's Add CSS section. Find a few sites that give some examples. You can easily reverse the changes you make without messing anything up.
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@Ann
Some of the newer "Indiana Jones" look is a happy coincidence but I've always somewhat tried for that look.
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@Glacier Hiker
Thanks. I started out with a very different idea for the new look. The background is really what does it here. It's amazing how a different background can change the entire feel and look.
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@Grace
Thanks for the help. Some of the other backgrounds I tried didn't come out as well. As I go along, I'll test out some other colors for the sidebar type to see if I can make it easier to read. Sometimes compromises have to be made to make everything look as good as possible. I like to keep the sidebar a little darker so that it doesn't get in the way of the main post section.
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@dAwN
I'll look into the color of the text in the footer as well as the sidebar. I've kept it a little darker on purpose so far to keep the focus on the post section. White is sometimes a little too bright, but some other color might work to improve things.
As I told Icy, do a search for CSS code examples and use Blogger's template designer. It makes it easy to edit your blog and also to reverse any mistakes.
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@John
I'm glad to know it works well with all of those browsers. I checked with the three most popular, but I didn't try Opera or Safari yet. I'm a little bit of a perfectionist, so I'd love to fix the Kindle problem as soon as I can test it out on a device like that.
I like your new look.I even Google Plused it.
ReplyDelete@Mike Golch
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you like it. I was a little worried about changing it because the old old look was so good. The guy that designed that one is very talented. But I'm really proud of this new one. Thanks for the Google Plus.
I like it! It seems less cluttered and easier to read. I like the background a lot.
ReplyDeleteNice work!
@Lin
ReplyDeleteThanks. Clutter is something I want to work on even further. The background I originally had for this idea was completely different. It was good, but this one seems to add much more depth to the site.
The background color matches very well with the theme -adventure, and nature.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good work.
@Rainfield
ReplyDeleteThank you. I value your opinion very much. I chose all the colors very carefully so they would be just the way you say they are. Even the background image is a world map that is a mixture of points of adventure and nature.
I love the new look! I have no problem reading the sidebars at all... but it's possible that my cat eyes are better than many humans' eyes. In fact, the same can be said about my human's close-up vision - hers is also pretty good. And I love the color combination. Plus I think the background suits your personality.
ReplyDeleteOh, and BTW, I am looking at it on Safari and nothing is out of place!
ReplyDelete@Sparkle
ReplyDeleteThanks. I think the background makes viewing the sidebar slightly difficult for some people, but I won't change it. I may change the color of the text there slightly, but only if I can improve it. I'm glad everything is looking good on Safari. That's the only browser I really don't have right now, and I was wondering how it all came out.
I think its a good way to go with this new look in this new year. You new template is definitely giving your blog a very new and bright look. So my thumbs up for the new one.
ReplyDelete@Elvirah
ReplyDeleteYeah, I thought it was about time for a bit of an update for that exact reason. The old look was very good, but sometimes things need freshening up a bit.