blog redesign

New Blog Design (v6) and Direction

by Melvin · Jan 28, 2018

You may have noticed the new design layout as soon as I published the previous blog post but I wanted to dedicate a blog post about it which details why I went with a design like this plus the blog’s new direction.

I may have been excessively using the phrase ‘new direction’ in my posts as that’s something I seem to be throwing around ever since I got a day job and had less time to write. But the reason why I wanted to touch upon that is because the new layout is very clean and also doesn’t have any sidebar anymore.

Sidebars are synonymous with blogs especially if the blog aims to monetize through ads however this blog hasn’t been really making any money anymore nor is it pressured to do so. In the past I’ve made money through advertisements in general and even when I became less active, I still kinda left a section for ads in the sidebar which was usually plastered with affiliate banners of products/services that I use if the ad spot is not taken.

Now without a sidebar, coupled with a pretty clean layout, it becomes even more of a personal blog where I can focus on writing things as they come to mind without any pressure whatsoever of appeasing potential advertisers. It also allows me to focus on the blog as a personal brand where the look can reflect back on me as a person and what I do career-wise.

It’s almost like an online portfolio, but not strictly since I’m not really showcasing anything other than my crappy writing. So it’s quite different than say a portfolio of a graphic designer or a web developer where they can easily showcase their work quite prominently. Mine is really just a blog, a personal one that highlights my personality and perhaps the nature of what I do albeit in a very subtle way.

The layout forces me to make use of images and photos that blend with the design. I’ve dabbled with photography years ago and maybe this allows me to rekindle and refresh my interest on the hobby. Some of you know that I’m allergic to making use of imagery in my blogs so this gives me an opportunity to change that.

All in all, the design changes mirror my blogging journey and the direction I’m heading to. Majority of my time spent with it was with the aim of making money having started during my college days, scrimping money to pay for a domain name and hosting, and staying up all night writing up content and networking with as many bloggers as humanly possible.

I made some money here and there and enjoyed the whole ride but I ultimately took a more normal path after school. Found a job that allowed me to grow but at the same time still continued blogging with a different goal.

Hope you like the new design and if not, feel free to leave comments with your feedback. 🙂

Blog Design Update for 2014

by Melvin · May 18, 2014

I hinted at a blog design makeover in my previous blog post and here it is now. Unfortunately, it’s not 100% complete yet and because the current blog theme during the time looked more messed up while this is being cooked up, I decided making this new design live is a reasonable decision rather than continuing with a messed up theme.

There will still be lots of changes that is going to happen over the next few weeks and months however in terms of the layout and structure, this will be it. 🙂 As you can see it is simpler and cleaner than ever and with less elements to be distracted about. I will still run ads as they come but it will not be in the same quantity as it used to before.

Finally, I am still feeling my way on the things that I can do with the new template which by the way is from Genesis of Studiopress still. As hinted on the temporary header, I would like to make the design more picture-oriented. Not that I would start posting pictures solely and forget about writing text, but I’d like to see if I can add something more “artistic” and “creative” to the way I do things and by that I mean running this personal blog. I also don’t have a logo yet considering the old one simply can’t be transferred here. I also wanted a new logo to refresh things up and I’m fortunate to tap the services of a talented graphics designer which happened to be my friend. I’m excited!

As always, let me know what you think and what I can improve more in the design. I will be writing a full blog post on the blog redesign once it’s completed and I’ll go in-depth on what the changes mean to me and to you as my reader.

Looking for a New Theme for Redesign 5.0

by Melvin · May 9, 2014

This blog has undergone 4 design changes since it was started in 2009. It’s amazing how each of the blog designs are so different from each other and have different focus. And contrary to what people think when I made these changes, countless hours were actually spent in planning and tweaking the design to make sure they fit in based on how I envision it.

Of course a lot has changed since the last redesign. First is me reverting back to casual posting without any more focus on making money and growing my readership. Second is me leaning towards a simple, even ‘old school’ blog template. No interest in magazine themes anymore, nor do I want carousels and all those fancy stuff that just increase load time. All I want is a theme that features my writing and rambling. Nothing more, nothing less.

With that being said, I am probably sticking to Studiopress as they have some of the best ‘simple and clean’ themes available around. In fact the current design which is called ‘eleven 40’ is still great but since it’s been running this same theme for more than 2 years now, I decided that a change is inevitable.

Well, let’s just say that the theme-searching and overall design planning starts now. Do you have any Studiopress theme that you can suggest to me? Or even no Studiopress theme would also work fine if I happen to like the theme. Feel free to share what you think in the comment form below