May 27

Design blogging ain’t what it used to be

I read a lot fewer design blogs than I used to, and one of the big reasons — even bigger than lack of time — is because there’s a lot less good content out there that needs to be kept up with. Designers just aren’t blogging like they used to.

Why? My guesses are 1) social networks like Twitter and Facebook and 2) web design has stalled and it’s just not as much fun to write about as it was 3-4 years ago (there’s also probably a 3) of blogging in general isn’t as close knit or rewarding as it was a few years ago, which I’m sure is another big reason Twitter has taken off).

To test this theory I came up with 10 design bloggers who’ve been blogging since 2004 — when web standards adoption really took off and everyone was writing about it, sharing tips, tricks and their latest work. I wanted to compare the number of blog posts they’d written up to this point in 2004 to the number of blog posts they’ve written so far this year.

I know this isn’t a scientific study or anything, but here’s my quick count:

So, on average these still popular design bloggers have written about 75% less this year than they did in 2004. I guess it speaks again to just how interesting web design’s gotten these last few years.

Feb 6

Another design realign

I updated the design night before last in honor of the already defunct Design Deadline deadline. Unfortunately, Design Deadline didn’t generate enough interest, so instead of having just 6 sites that actually met the deadline, I decided to just go ahead and scrap it. No big deal, in fact I’m already working on another side project. This time something totally unrelated to web design …

Anyway, the biggest change — the ambient background — was all Drew Wilson. And man, did he do a great job. I hope everyone else likes it as much as I do, because I can’t stop starting at it. Thanks again Drew!

I also updated a few other things here and there to give the site better spacing, padding, etc. Nothing drastic, just polish. Next up I’m going to look at possible color changes, a few new categories and, most importantly, better more original (and oft updated) content.

Onward!

Nov 9

Hrm, this Alter Your Temple site looks awfully familiar. Just a tip, Ryan Nalepinski, you probably shouldn’t sign your name to designs you’ve stolen.

Nov 6

Site reorg and realign

I managed to find a little time tonight to update the design of the site and prune away some of the useless posts I had started collecting.

I think — after several months of designs I weren’t happy with and content I wasn’t excited about — I’m starting to finally get somewhere. Look for more, better content coming soon … fingers crossed.

Aug 22

Carsonified rebranding process

If you’re not following Elliot Jay Stocks’s screencasts on the rebranding process he’s undergoing with the Carson Systems brand … well, you should, because they’re good stuff.

Here are Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 over at Carsonified.

Back when I was still reviewing websites daily and thinking constantly about new websites with the Reboot, I got the idea of doing screencast critiques of new sites. Then online video wasn’t where it is today, so I never really pursued it. But after watching Elliot go through and talk about his logo ideas, I wonder if screencast reviews of site designs would be equally as entertaining?

Unfortunately, I’m southern, so people don’t really like listening to my voice. And neither do I for that matter. So maybe not me, but I think someone else could do something really cool with it.

May 11

Grid me a break

So you’ve been waiting for web design to move past the bubbly (no pun intended) “web 2.0″ design aesthetic? I think your wait is over — grid-based design seems to be the new hott.