Fresh Coat of Paint

Some time in the middle of last week, I suddenly got fed up with my site’s design. It was probably all the work on the new theme which did it; after a few weeks staring at the same design and code, I’d just had enough. A case of digital parricide?

Mobile has now taken its place in the great Flickr set in the sky. It will live on, of course, in Tarski, which we hope to release early this week.

I’ve taken to calling this theme ‘Strawberry Fields’; I’m not completely sure why. It’s a bit more visually sparky than the previous theme’s somewhat austere demeanor, but of course in terms of layout it’s far simpler.

Initially I was trying to pare things down, which is why I opted for a single column design. I felt the site had grown a bit unwieldy; it was trying to do too much. This design is less cerebral and more fun. Hope you enjoy it.

15 responses

very soothing
;)

~ rabsteen #

Looking good! I still think the fish needs… well, more ion cannon action. ;-)

~ ceejayoz #

Very cool. I like that background too.

What do you have against the Firefox link outline? I don’t know if it’s just me, but I like seeing it…

~ Thame #

Looks nice. Comments aren’t quite as clever as the time before, though submission is very well laid out.

Lack of a completely crisp edge at the borders is a bit weird, though; my eyes keep getting drawn off to either side.

~ eric #

I love it.

~ Jim #

Very, very nice. It’s almost soothing to look at. The gradiated edges really distress my eyes, though.

~ Richard #

I really like the simplicity of it all. Only minor gripe, and it’s very minor, the 9rules logo seems far too large and out of place where you’ve got it right now.

Apart from that very cool stuff.

~ khaled #

Thanks for the comments, guys. I’ve dropped the opacity on that gradient, so it should be a bit less distracting now.

Khaled: I might cut the logo down in size a little. Where do you think a better place would be for it? The little about blurb on the front page was one place I considered, and at the bottom with the recent articles would be another.

It ended up there on the right because I wanted to keep the header small and functional, and there’s honestly not much space anywhere else. Then the idea came to me of putting it out there on the right, and it seemed appropriate: I’m part of the Network, but the Network isn’t the site, if you see what I mean.

~ Benedict #

I wub you…

The logo should be at the bottom of your page, or somewhere mixed next to your navbar. I like the style you’ve created, though the background color is somewhat cheesy - alas i tried to come up with some other color, the only thing that seemed fitted was changing it to gray and making it lighter - but that would make it pretty boring to watch.

Good job m8 - You should’ve kept it for CSS Reboot, you could’ve even won a prize.

~ Rusty #

The redesign looks nice, although, I have to admit that I really miss the old layout. It really set your site apart from all the others. I admire a nonconformist. But after all, it’s the great content that keeps me coming back for more, not the fish.

~ Angela #

I hope that releasing Tarski will bring a little more sophistication to blog design more generally; it’s more likely to influence people than my old design and miniscule readership. At some point no doubt I’ll make something with an equivalent level of complexity and style, but for the moment, this is a more soothing workplace. I spend a fair amount of time on this site, and I’m sufficiently overworked, overtired and overstretched that this less complex and less severe theme actually makes my life easier. :)

~ Benedict #

Love, love, love the redesign! It flows well and doesn’t overpower the content like some designs do. It’s a compliment to your writing.

Great job, bud.

~ Ryan #

Yay, the firefox outlines are back…

~ Thame #

The new design is soft on the eyes - almost to soft for my tastes. To be honest - I think I like the old one better.

~ WD Milner #

Yeah, having lived with it for a little I’m inclined to agree it’s maybe too low-contrast. I’ve upped the contrast somewhat, it seems improved.

~ Benedict #