Redesign!

Don't panic! You haven't come to a new web site.

Doesn't seem that long ago when I started this blog. 3 years, 1 month, and 95 blog posts later - it's time to do a rethink.

I finally built up the courage to do some radical work on the blog design. When I first set up the blog, I had chosen an old-paper and wallpaper background look, called "Scribe", created by Todd Dominey. It appealed to me as a contradiction to the high-tech medium on which blogs exist.

Over that time, I kept tinkering with the surrounding elements, namely gadgets, in the blog. I added complexity with enthusiasm, then hesitatingly retreated to simplicity. Most recently I added a gadget to display my Twitter updates, that seemed to bring the blog down yesterday, when the Twitter site once again failed.

Meanwhile in the web design environment, so much has happened. In the tug of war between functionality and design, it is design that is determining marketability as functionality becomes mature and standardizes. There has been an emergence of a digital fashion, user experience and web design chatterati with its endless, all-knowing, yet ever-changing recommendations.

Design in the end is not a science, no matter how much "experts" on this may try to convince you otherwise. However as artists, designers are to be respected.

Last time I had picked one of the standard blogger templates for the design, this time I was looking to pick an uncommon theme and modify it to my own taste. Browsing online, I was suprised at how much blog design has evolved and the number of specialist designers dedicated to this. It took me several days to go through the many impressive and detailed designs and form an idea of the range and possibilties.

To me the Charcoal theme, originally by Jinsona of web2feel.com, and adapted to blogger platform by Blogger Templates, stood out. I liked the design, but not quite the colour. For this I had to do a lot of modification work, that helped me familiarise with the design construction and elements.

I've always had a preference for dark colour backgrounds, and on computer screens it seems easier on the eyes. Strangely enough, it even seems that dark colour websites help save the environment by reducing energy usage (See Blackle).

As noted, an all white web page uses about 74 watts to display, while an all black page uses only 59 watts.
     - ecoIron Blog

I doubt if I have enough visitors to justify the redesign in environmental terms. The basic truth is that I changed the blog design to this, 'cause I felt like it. Hope you like it too.