Comments on: Aaron Brazell, the Roaming Gnome

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 03:18:19 +0000

I love the design discussion -and I’m looking forward to chris’s post tomorrow with more details ;)
Matt

By: Blog Herald Paint Job and My New Gig » Technology, Blogging and Politics

Blog Herald Paint Job and My New Gig » Technology, Blogging and Politics — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 01:40:11 +0000

[...] It would be arrogant to think I can single handedly change things over at Blog Herald, but if you recall I spoke somewhat negatively about the direction I felt it was going as a blog that once was the premiere source for blogging news and, erm, blogging. However, today is also my day as I have started as a regular writer for the blog. [...]

By: Aaron

Aaron — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 00:39:31 +0000

Chris: Would be good to see screenies of serif v. sans-serif typefacing for this blog. I have a certain empathy toward sans-serif too. I think it’s the new black.

Jerald: shebang, bud! Don’t hate the playa, hate the game. :)

By: Chris P.

Chris P. — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 00:11:20 +0000

Mike,

You raised some great points, and I’ve taken them all into consideration (and some into implementation).

I originally wanted the site to be entirely in serif fonts, and I still think it will look 1000 times cooler if that’s the case. I’d be interested to receive feedback from the community at large regarding that, because in my opinion, serif fonts are what newspapers are all about!

Anyhoo, I’ll post more about this design on Pearsonified tomorrow, and I’ll shed some light on just about everything. I’d like to add that I have very mixed emotions about the design itself, but as far as the code that drives the site goes? I think it’s slick, and I know that the BH crew now has a wicked publishing tool that is impressively extensible.

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 23:29:01 +0000

Told ya Chris is still tweaking :)

Matty

By: Jerald Sheets

Jerald Sheets — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 15:37:10 +0000

Geez, Aaron… what’s with the tie?

Nice work, man. Love the exposure. Good luck with the new rag.

By: Mike Rundle

Mike Rundle — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 15:28:33 +0000

Looks like you guys switched up the footer headers…. good call.

By: Aaron Brazell

Aaron Brazell — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 13:05:36 +0000

Ah… I’m glad that in this case, I can just blog. It’s nice to not have to skirmish on the design. :)

By: Mike Rundle

Mike Rundle — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 07:27:01 +0000

Just an honest opinion from another designer. Also, the section headings in the footer look like an "inspired homage" to Dan Cederholm's work on Cork'd.com.... just a heads up.

By: Blogging as a Buzzword (or why Politicians Shouldn’t Blog) at The Blog Herald

Mon, 19 Jun 2006 02:45:15 +0000

[...] General Jun 18 at 9:40 pm by Aaron -Aside from my first entry introducing myself, this is my first real content post and I figure I should come out swinging for the fences. I figure, cause a stir, make some powerful enemies, and then step back and wait for te counter attack. Except in this case, there won’t be a counter-attack because we’re talking about people who view blogging as a buzzword and don’t truly understand it or how to use it. They’ll never Technorati their names or their opponents and they’ll never find themselves in Google’s blog search, because they don’t understand effective blogging. I’m talking about politicians, of course, and to a certain extent, the mainstream media. Now, I’m into politics. Big time. I have a political blog that is just about as snarky and conspiratorial as they come. But I’m not talking about political bloggers. I’m talking about the folks who like to hold the blog banner high and tell their constituents or television viewers, newspaper readers or radio listeners that they blog and therefore they should be taken seriously as next-gen, cutting edge people. They have it together. They are on the front line. Yet, they don’t understand conversation. [...]

By: Matt

Matt — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 23:29:54 +0000

Hence the reason I hide my face ;)

By: Aaron Brazell

Aaron Brazell — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 22:41:35 +0000

MAn, I feel self conscious with that big ol’ mug of mine right there on page 1. Somehow it didn’t seem that big when I sent it to you. :o

By: Matt

Matt — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 20:01:42 +0000

We have some tweaking to do yet – I wouldn’t call anything final here until tomorrow morning. We still have a few holes to fill here and there…

Matt

By: David Krug

David Krug — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 19:45:40 +0000

Although I must admit there are a few spaces I would mix and match and change up a few things. The top bar looks cool if they put something up there.

By: David Krug

David Krug — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 19:41:38 +0000

Mike, your not being critical just for criticalness are you? That would be so very 9rulesy of you.

By: New Design: A work in progress today at The Blog Herald: more blog news more often

Sun, 18 Jun 2006 19:18:44 +0000

[...] I’ll also take a brief moment to introduce The Roaming Gnome himself – Aaron Brazell as one of our new columnists. Aaron will be writing a regular column here at The Blog Herald. We’ll also be announcing a few more correspondents in the near future. [...]

By: Mike Rundle

Mike Rundle — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 18:31:29 +0000

Hmm, the top of the site instantly reminds me of a Blogger blog with that dark stripe, I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.

The newspaper-look is cool (header, date under logo) but the lack of any other serif fonts on the page seems like the metaphors are mixing a bit, especially with the 3D rendered sidebar headings. And can it be considered a footer if it takes up 80% of the page height :)