Two New Blog Sites
For this project, I have created two blog sites and I have included a link so that you may review both websites side-by-side. Blog 1 at https://daveonwebdesign.wordpress.com/ was created by using Wordpress and Blog 2, which happens to be this site, was created using Blogger. Both sites were designed using a Content management system and themes provided by Wordpress and Blogger. The theme for Blog 1 is called Edin and still requires the position only images provided by the Wordpress template to be replaced by new images that relate to the text content but the layout and scope of the project is virtually complete. The theme for Blog 2 is called Contempo and is complete in every way along with the actual images that relate to the imputed text content. I have made a considerable number of changes to the typography, layout, color, and content in both sites as compared to the original templates.
Defining the Blog Client and the Goals of the Blog Site
This project began by first defining the blog client and overall goals of the blog. I decided the blog author of this site would be myself and the blog content would publish regular updated content like creative reviews, articles, diary entries and notes on the creative process and specifically my web design projects. The blog audience will be general readers, web designers, perspective employers and clients who are interested in my professional work. The blog name for both blogs is Dave on Web Design and this will be
an excellent way to publicize my work as well as promote my portfolio website and my business.
Content for the blog sites
I chose to use completely self-generated creative content for my blog site, namely my previous project summaries as the blogs meat and potatoes. I also populated the blog with pictures of my projects as a visual reference relating to the articles in the blog. I rewrote some of the summaries to make them a more suitable as blog article entries.
Typography
With Wordpress and Blog 1, I was unable to access the CSS controls without upgrading from the basic plan to a more costly one, so I did as much as I could to the typography of this site without the aid of manually manipulating the CSS or the HTML. The result was generally ok, but of course I would have liked to have more control over the typography and layout by accessing the CSS code.
With Blogger and Blog 2, I found it was easier to change the look of the site’s typography and layout. I also found with Blog 2, that I was also able to access the HTML and make minor tweaks to the HTML code so that user links would open in another window instead of forcing the user to leave the blog site, which is as we all know is a website production no-no.
I found a way to customize the typography of the header in blog 2 using text as image instead of using live text within the template. It gave me more control over the typography of the header text. The Blogger interface allows you limited control over the typography of text in the header so I thought it would be prudent to do something extra special for the header of this blog site. I created the header logo using illustrator and converted it into a png image with a transparent background and imported the image into the template as a background and as you can see this effect works quite well. It gives the blog site a little more personality by combining a light weight and contemporary sans serif font called arial for the words “Dave on” and a bold and stylized display font called Cobalt Alien Gradient for the words “Web Design”. Another cool feature of the header logo is that if you click the logo it will take you back to the home page. That feature is already part of the template and I didn't have to make special revisions to the Blogger template's html to make this happen.
For the body of blog site 2, I used two weights and sizes of Arial. Bold for the headings and regular for the body text. The headings have a larger type size than the body text and the headings of the full-length blog articles are accented with a dark blue color to match the header background picture. This creates a nice contrast between the headings and the body text and allows them to pop out at the reader. The body text is a medium gray color to make the text easy for the user to read against the white background. I found the Blogger template seems to be a little finicky and doesn't want to do updates to color changes sometimes. When this happens, I just revert the color back to black and then return to the color that I wish and the theme will finally update to the new color choice.
For the full length articles, I have imbedded the appropriate images that relate to the article and flowed the body text around the images. The images are nicely integrated into the text blocks and the text is still easy to read.
I created captions for several of the images imbedded within the body text and these are styled as small italic arial. Because the smaller italic captions look different from the surrounding body text, they stand out and they are easier to read.
I chose a dynamic and contemporary, dark blue image as the main background image in the header at the top of the page from the background library in Blogger. This attractive image of fiber optic cables contrasts well behind the Dave on Web Design logo on top. I was able to blur the fiber optics image within the background library of Blogger and this effect focuses the user’s attention on the header logo and the smaller by-line text with a depth of field illusion created by the blurred background image.
Built-in Responsive Design
Both the Wordpress and Blogger CMS sites are designed to be totally responsive "right out of the box", which is extremely convenient and a huge time saver because we all know it takes a long time to style a custom site to work on all device sizes and I love this standard RWD feature.
Conclusion
I am satisfied with the results of both blogs and I have enjoyed this experience of working with both Wordpress and Blogger. CMS templates allow you to create customizable websites much faster than building a custom site from scratch and some businesses might prefer this approach to substantially reduce their web design costs.
If you would like more information about the professional graphic and web design services which I can provide your business, or if you require a free quote, please follow the link to my website located at http://www.littlefield.ca and you will be able contact me from there.
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| A Content Management System Comparison |
For this project, I have created two blog sites and I have included a link so that you may review both websites side-by-side. Blog 1 at https://daveonwebdesign.wordpress.com/ was created by using Wordpress and Blog 2, which happens to be this site, was created using Blogger. Both sites were designed using a Content management system and themes provided by Wordpress and Blogger. The theme for Blog 1 is called Edin and still requires the position only images provided by the Wordpress template to be replaced by new images that relate to the text content but the layout and scope of the project is virtually complete. The theme for Blog 2 is called Contempo and is complete in every way along with the actual images that relate to the imputed text content. I have made a considerable number of changes to the typography, layout, color, and content in both sites as compared to the original templates.
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| Basic blog site layout on Wordpress |
Defining the Blog Client and the Goals of the Blog Site
This project began by first defining the blog client and overall goals of the blog. I decided the blog author of this site would be myself and the blog content would publish regular updated content like creative reviews, articles, diary entries and notes on the creative process and specifically my web design projects. The blog audience will be general readers, web designers, perspective employers and clients who are interested in my professional work. The blog name for both blogs is Dave on Web Design and this will be
an excellent way to publicize my work as well as promote my portfolio website and my business.
Content for the blog sites
I chose to use completely self-generated creative content for my blog site, namely my previous project summaries as the blogs meat and potatoes. I also populated the blog with pictures of my projects as a visual reference relating to the articles in the blog. I rewrote some of the summaries to make them a more suitable as blog article entries.
Typography
With Wordpress and Blog 1, I was unable to access the CSS controls without upgrading from the basic plan to a more costly one, so I did as much as I could to the typography of this site without the aid of manually manipulating the CSS or the HTML. The result was generally ok, but of course I would have liked to have more control over the typography and layout by accessing the CSS code.
 |
| The creation of a unique site heading is possible |
With Blogger and Blog 2, I found it was easier to change the look of the site’s typography and layout. I also found with Blog 2, that I was also able to access the HTML and make minor tweaks to the HTML code so that user links would open in another window instead of forcing the user to leave the blog site, which is as we all know is a website production no-no.
I found a way to customize the typography of the header in blog 2 using text as image instead of using live text within the template. It gave me more control over the typography of the header text. The Blogger interface allows you limited control over the typography of text in the header so I thought it would be prudent to do something extra special for the header of this blog site. I created the header logo using illustrator and converted it into a png image with a transparent background and imported the image into the template as a background and as you can see this effect works quite well. It gives the blog site a little more personality by combining a light weight and contemporary sans serif font called arial for the words “Dave on” and a bold and stylized display font called Cobalt Alien Gradient for the words “Web Design”. Another cool feature of the header logo is that if you click the logo it will take you back to the home page. That feature is already part of the template and I didn't have to make special revisions to the Blogger template's html to make this happen.
For the body of blog site 2, I used two weights and sizes of Arial. Bold for the headings and regular for the body text. The headings have a larger type size than the body text and the headings of the full-length blog articles are accented with a dark blue color to match the header background picture. This creates a nice contrast between the headings and the body text and allows them to pop out at the reader. The body text is a medium gray color to make the text easy for the user to read against the white background. I found the Blogger template seems to be a little finicky and doesn't want to do updates to color changes sometimes. When this happens, I just revert the color back to black and then return to the color that I wish and the theme will finally update to the new color choice.
For the full length articles, I have imbedded the appropriate images that relate to the article and flowed the body text around the images. The images are nicely integrated into the text blocks and the text is still easy to read.
I created captions for several of the images imbedded within the body text and these are styled as small italic arial. Because the smaller italic captions look different from the surrounding body text, they stand out and they are easier to read.
I chose a dynamic and contemporary, dark blue image as the main background image in the header at the top of the page from the background library in Blogger. This attractive image of fiber optic cables contrasts well behind the Dave on Web Design logo on top. I was able to blur the fiber optics image within the background library of Blogger and this effect focuses the user’s attention on the header logo and the smaller by-line text with a depth of field illusion created by the blurred background image.
Built-in Responsive Design
Both the Wordpress and Blogger CMS sites are designed to be totally responsive "right out of the box", which is extremely convenient and a huge time saver because we all know it takes a long time to style a custom site to work on all device sizes and I love this standard RWD feature.
Conclusion
I am satisfied with the results of both blogs and I have enjoyed this experience of working with both Wordpress and Blogger. CMS templates allow you to create customizable websites much faster than building a custom site from scratch and some businesses might prefer this approach to substantially reduce their web design costs.
If you would like more information about the professional graphic and web design services which I can provide your business, or if you require a free quote, please follow the link to my website located at http://www.littlefield.ca and you will be able contact me from there.
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