Wednesday 16 July 2008

Scrubs Up Nice

The more eagle-eyed AVPS reader may have spotted the odd minor cosmetic change here abouts. I sat down this evening with my web design consultant and she came up with something without any frills but is about a million times better than the previous standard template. It couldn't come soon enough if you ask me. The old design had grated on me so much that I wanted to claw my eyes out every time a glanced at it. Extreme I know, but it happens to be true.

To mark this blog's elevation into the ranks of the better designed (and because I haven't got much else that can be said) it's probably best I draw attention to the latest additions to the jolly old blogroll. Since the last expansion splurge the following have been assimilated to the historic bloc of counter-hegemonic bloggage: Aled Dilwyn Fisher, Anti-Zionists Against Anti-Semitism, Bad Science, Bent Society, Cov Green Voice, Cruella-Blog, Green Left Blog, Infantile and Disorderly, Left Now, Long March of the Penguins, Militant Worker, Postman Patel, Raw Dawg Buffalo, Robbie Segal, Sadie's Tavern, Scribo Ergo Sum, The Heathlander, The Junius Blog, and USDAW Activist. Any more for any more? Let me know in the comments if there's owt decent that deserves inclusion.

I'm also in a bit of a musical mood, so how about Royksopp's What Else is There?

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your 'web design consultant' didn't come up with anything – she merely fiddled a couple of colours and fonts.

Of course, to your backwards 1980s technophobe mind that appears like some great feat of web design wizardry ;-)

I'll accept your awe and adoration though, of course.

Leftwing Criminologist said...

like it, but i'm not a fan of the font for the blog title. LWC is undergoinga revamp hopefully in the next week.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the link comrade
Your blog looks good with a new coat of paint.
Greetings from Australia
Militant Worker

Phil said...

Re the title font, it depends on the computer you're using. It looks absolutely kick ass on my home machine but not so great on the office computer. Such is life.

Anonymous said...

Re: Font

We may be experiencing a 'font-smoothing' problem.

One way to solve it: buy a Mac.

*ducks*

Anonymous said...

Or download Safari for Windows*





*experimentation in the BC household ongoing.

Anonymous said...

Think you might like my mate jack's very excellent blog
http://socialistcephalopod.wordpress.com/

Anonymous said...

Cheers for the link. :D

I'll be sure to reciprocate.

Anonymous said...

Oh, and there was a remix of that Royksopp tune that made it far better. Pale Faced Duke or something, can't quite recall who did it. Sounded superb, though.

Jim Jepps said...

Very nice redesign (except the blog title font).

Obviously I'm very keen on spending hundreds of pounds buying a new machine to improve the header that i never look at as I read the blog on a feed anyway - but my linux kissing, firefox cuddling soul is much too keen on free stuff to do that.

It's the tragedy of web design that what looks good on one machine can be pantstastic on another.

Some people try to please all audiences - but I applaud your brave stand in sticking two fingers up at 80% of readers to whom this will look like a dog's breakfast.

Wink.

Ed said...

I like the colours better than the old one but I think I must have the wrong sort of PC for the title font.

Phil said...

Hands up everyone who gets a horribly blocky title font! Is there anyone bar me and Brother S who see it how it was intended?

We'll have to get on the case anyhow.

Anonymous said...

*raises hand*

Jim Jepps said...

Oh Phil - you disappoint me - never listen to the people - they don't know what's good for them.

Surely by forcing them to look at a jarring header font you can help *Bretchian stylee* to undermine the modernist paradigm in favour of a no nonsense materialist aesthetic that allows us to forget such things as "style".

Nice fonts don't sell papers comrade... well, actually... they probably do now I come to think of it. Carry on.

Anonymous said...

Well, how's that?

Does the description under the main title look pants too?

Font-smoothing ftw, btw.

Phil said...

Looks much better on the office comp, so chances are it will look hunky-dory for the others. Is it smoother for everyone else?

Jim Jepps said...

Main header looks tres chic now. And as I said before the main thrust of the redesign is very attractive - well done.

Description under neath looks fine... I wonder if a bit of bold might be in order? My only other bit of unsolicited advice left is over post headers - is this the same font as the main subheader?

I think the "rule" is to use a maximum of two different fonts... but what are rules anyway?

Anonymous said...

Rules be damned :p

Link headers and post headers are the same font (bog-standard Courier) as the description (and the dearly departed blog title), all other text is good ole Trebuchet.

I don't think there are any others in there. All I've done is use the font and colour editor in blogger. I don't know blogger's xml well enough at the moment to offer my amazing web design skills without getting into murky waters quite quickly.

If he'd only take my advice and move to wordpress, but that's another argument altogether *sigh*

Jim Jepps said...

Trebuchet rocks! All the best blogs use it.

Courier on the other hand seems to have a problem when it goes bold... not horrid... as such... it just pales into comparison with trebuchet's awesome power.

Wordpress - blech! I must be missing something because it feels like a clunk-o-matic when I'm playing with it... it's probably like the force and I'm just trying too hard.

Anonymous said...

But Trebuchet is so .... pedestrian :(

I hated wordpress when I first played with it many moons ago, but I like it very much now.

It beats the pants off blogger, imo, fwiw, lol, etc.

Merseymike said...

Be nice if you could add my blog as a blogging sociologist....

Jim Jepps said...

If you don't like pedestrian then why not use a blinking cursive script or comics sans... oh yeah... because that would be MADNESS!!!!

With a font you want readable, clean and smooth... step forward Monsiour Trebuchet - your time has come.

Phil said...

Mike, consider the job done. Any chance of a recip?

Trebuchet - wasn't that a medieval siege engine? ;)

Anonymous said...

Trebuchet - wasn't that a medieval siege engine?

This is why your judgement shouldn't be trusted as regards the future of your blogging design (and, as it follows, blogging platform).