Source: Blog Design Blog

Introduction

A big problem with blogs these days is that a lot of them look pretty much like each other so it is hard to tell them apart and worst, it makes them easy to forget. While the quality of your content will have a large effect on whether or not your material was worth remembering, the blog design will either make or break the user’s experience when they are reading your content.

In a previous article in the blog design 101 series, the importance of the peak-end rule was established. The peak-end rule being how a person codes their experience in a memory by taking the most intense feeling during that experience and combining it with the experience felt at the end. In this article, I will take it a step further and show you how to use the peak-end rule to your advantage.

In a study testing usability and the peak-end rule, they found out that a single experience of a particularly pleasant design feature will leave a stronger impression than several experiences of a feature that is less pleasant. (1) What this means for blog design is that if you only have time to do one thing very good or a bunch of things so-so, opt for that one thing. So that it sticks out in the mind of the user.

5 Ways to make your blog design unforgettable

1. Break the “norm”

Breaking the norm means taking something that is generally done in your area and doing something that breaks out of it. An example of this would be taking a color scheme that often gets used in your area and using something totally different. This makes people take notice.

2. Pay attention to overlooked areas

Common overlooked areas that have a large effect on a user’s experience are comment designs and posts’ footer designs. Pay special attention to these and give it more time than usual in order to really bring it out and make it worth talking about.

3. Increase the functionality of your blog design

Blog design is not just a piece of artwork to hang up and admire, but of course there are some you can certainly hang up. A blog design is more of an interface between the reader and the content you have on your blog. An easy way of making your blog design more functional is to add a script or plugin that makes your blog design better. And if you make one that really meets a need of your readers, then it will be noticeable and most of all memorable to the user as you took the extra step.

4. Take one design feature and run with it

First of all, you must bring your overall blog design to at least a basic level of standard. What is a basic level of standard? Make sure it is usable and easy to use. After that, start taking the most important blog design elements and take it as far as you can. Explore the edges of that blog design element. Make it as aesthetically appealing as you can, as easy to use as possible, or as simple as possible. Get creative with this, there are an endless amount of things you can do to make it better.

5. Unique blog design

A unique blog design tailored to your specific needs, message, and audience goes a long way in setting yourself apart from others in a great way. Not only does it speak professionalism, but it also shows your commitment to your blog when you spend that much time or money on it.

Conclusion

Remember, don’t do something different just for the sake of being different. Focus on differentiating your blog design in a positive way. This will make your blog design unforgettable.

by Erin Ferree
Source: elf design

A blog can do many jobs for your small business: help you communicate with customers, attract potential clients, publish your thinking, and get search engine attention. They can save you money because a basic blog can be inexpensive to design. Blogs are also easy to maintain yourself— the software is easy to learn, and you can post samples of your work, updates to your services and much more.

In order to take advantage of all the benefits blogging can have for your business, you’ll have to create a blog that looks attractive, matches your business’s brand and also works well for your business. Here’s how, in seven simple steps.

1. Decide on your blog platform. This is not strictly a design question, but your choice of blog software will determine how the blog needs to be designed, so I have included it in this process. There are many platforms to choose from, but two of the biggest contenders are WordPress and Typepad.

WordPress is a free blog platform, but it also requires that you install the software to run it on your own web server. You also have to update your WordPress installation regularly. WordPress also requires more HTML coding to customize your design. On the other hand, WordPress does offer a lot of code modules and plug-ins to make your blog more functional. I recommend WordPress to tech-savvy clients who can install and maintain their own software or clients who have more budget to design, code and maintain their blogs.

Typepad is a managed blog solution— which means that the company that makes Typepad manages the updates and runs the backend software for you. Typepad does have a small monthly fee associated with it, but if you don’t want to be responsible for your own blog software, it can be well worth the cost. Options for designing a Typepad blog are a bit more limited, but this too can be a good thing from a budget standpoint. Typepad also offers some code modules and plug-ins— enough for a basic to intermediate blogger.

2. Design your own blog or start from a template. Designing your own blog will result in a more unique look. And, if you’ve chosen to use Typepad as your blog provider, designing a customized blog is pretty simple, as long as you stick with the basic layouts that they offer.

If you use a template, some of the following steps may become unnecessary. If you like the color palette or font choices in your template (and if they match your brand design), you may just be “good to go”. However, a template has its’ downsides. It can look generic, or worse yet, your competition could decide to use the same template. This can confuse users and make your blog less effective.

3. Create your blog header. You could use a standard blog header, which consists of simple text on a colored background. But, designing a banner graphic is an easy way to make your blog stand out and can also make it more engaging and memorable. If you have other materials already designed for your brand, you’ll want the header to match your other materials (such as your website, business card, brochure, etc.).

The header graphic should include your logo, blog title, and blog subhead. You can also include a photo or other graphics from your Visual Vocabulary in the header graphic to increase visual interest and to help distinguish your blog from others.

You’ll need the final header file to have the same width as your blog— each template is different, so check your provider. You’ll also need to optimize this file for the web, and save it as a GIF, JPG or PNG to upload to your blog.

A sample header image with logo, blog tagline, and additional branded graphics.

4. Determine your sidebar content. The sidebar area of your blog is a place where you can include promotional areas (for example, a box promoting a product you sell, or a sign up box for your newsletter) or link to the content in your blog in different ways (organized by categories, or archived according to the month they were written in, for example). The sidebar is also a perfect place to promote your other online presences— like your main website, or your Twitter feed. And, you can use the sidebar to offer visitors ways to subscribe to the blog as well.

There are other tools, called widgets, that can help your blog display a variety of information. Your blog provider will have a gallery of widgets that are available to install. Just make sure to choose widgets that contribute to your brand and the message of your blog, and not just ones that seem “cool”.

In this example, the sidebar has: 1. A promotion for her latest book and a link to download a sample chapter
2. A sign-up box for her newsletter
3. A link to sign up for updates of the blog to be emailed to you
4. Links to her social media pages (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Plaxo and YouTube)
5. A contact form to allow people to contact her privately
6. Her latest Twitter posts
7. A list of the Categories on her blog
8. A link to her “About” page

5. Set the number of columns. You’ll need a main text column where you can publish your posts and articles. You can have either 1 or 2 sidebar columns for your links and widgets. How many you’ll need for the sidebar will be determined by the content in those columns. Consider the design of the content and whether that design would look better in one wide column or two skinnier columns. And, consider the amount of sidebar content you have— you want to be sure that the sidebar doesn’t scroll on too long.

6. Choose your font palette. You can customize the fonts for your body copy, headlines, sidebar items and all of the other fonts on your blog. You should limit your font style choices to 1 or 2 typefaces (whether you choose Arial, Verdana, Georgia, or some other style) for consistency. Then, specify the weights of the fonts in each case (bold or regular), and whether the font is regular or italic. You can also choose the colors for each font, which I’ll talk about more in the next step.

7. Create your color palette. You want the overall color palette for your blog to echo the rest of your brand. The color palette should be similar to your website, business card, brochure, Twitter page, newsletter and other designed pieces. That way, the blog will reinforce the other pieces visually, and will help contribute to your business’s memorability.

You can choose the color for the background of the blog, for the background of the sidebar, and for the background of the main post area.

You can also choose the colors for each font. For body copy, you want to choose a color that has the highest possible contrast with the background to promote legibility. For example, black text on a white background is the highest possible contrast. For headlines and subheads, pick a color that is dark enough to be legible and that matches your brand’s color palette.

Dates can be in a color, black or grey— choose this based on the importance of the date to your blog. If it’s important that your users notice the dates, choose black or a bright color. If the date is not a priority, choose a muted or light color, or grey.

Links should be in a contrasting, noticeable color— often a bright color. As a general rule, blue is a good choice for links because it’s a standard color— since links were blue in the early days of the Internet, many people associate this color with “things you can click on”.

With these 7 steps, you’ll design a blog that will help your business to reap the many benefits of blogging— easily and affordably!

About the Author

Erin Ferree, founder of elf design, helps small businesses stand out from their competition so that they can connect with their best customers. She does this by working with business owners to define their brands, and then using that definition to create logos, marketing materials and websites that show how they shine.

She also believes that all of a business’s brand materials should be not just pretty, but also designed effectively and strategically. This produces a winning combination of materials that communicate visually, look stunning and are designed effectively, which help her clients reach their target audiences.

She writes about design, branding and marketing through her eBooks, her blog at www.not-just-pretty.com, and in free articles in her newsletter, “Stand Out”, which you can subscribe to at http://www.elf-design.com/newsletter.html.