Ok, here goes, been writing this for a while. Might come with more/updates later.
A graphic designers guide to fashion blog layout
0)Where to begin? The most frequently asked question about blogs is... where? Blogspot? Wordpress? Tumblr? Livejournal? There is LOTS of places offering free bloggin. There isn't a real answer though, it's a matter of preferences. Blogspot is ready out-of-the box, easy and simple. Wordpress* is what I'd reccomend, it's simple and still highly customizable and the most diverse of them (lots of high-end websites build upon wp). Tumblr is great if you have a showcase of inspiration, but hard to customize and can be a bit messy. Livejournal is also good, but is better for journals than blogs (suprise suprise)
1)Space: use it! Nobody has a resolution on their screen lower than 800 x 600, so use what you got. Minimum width for content should be 500 pixels (then you have 300 left. 500 px content, 200 px sidebar and 50 px on each side is a good rule). You can successfully use more though, as most users today use minimum 1024 x 768 (per january 2008, only 8% use 800x600 or lower). Fashion blogging is a very visual medium, so there is no point in having a blog that is 300 px wide with tiny images. This is no definite rule, depending on your design you might use more or less.
2)Whitespace: use that too! While it is important to use the space you got, space on the internet doesn't cost anything (at least the space where you don't put anything). So, if you have a blog with lots of pictures, some text and some headlines, be sure to use some whitespace. Whitespace is a term that means space without content, and is used to bring more attention to the content. If your blog is crammed to the brim, people won't know where to look - and will probably just move on. Remember, fashion blogs is a dime a dozen, so make sure yours stand out and make it easy for your reader. When thinking about the design for your blog, remember that design isn't about making things look fancy, but presenting your content.
3)Design: underneath the content! The most important thing about design is for it to enhance your content. If your blog is well-designed, but the content stinks, people will look at it, think "wow" - but never return. And nobody wants that. Second of all, design should visualize what it's all about. So sit down, make yourself a warm nice cup-o-tea and spend 5 minutes to think about what your blog is about, what you will post, what kind of styles you like. If you are a grungy neo-punk dressed up in doc martens and julius you don't choose a pink layout - and vica verca. Think about the colors that are frequently used in the pictures you blog and use them. And don't worry about being to cliché, unless you are just in it for the money, it's always better to have 10 loyal readers than 50 of which nobody actually gives a damn.
4)Hierarchy, top-to-bottom (with heels). Think about what you want readers to see first. That would be the title of your blog, then the first headline, then the introduction etc... Make sure you decide how a reader will experience your blog, what they read first, what won't they even bother reading... etc. You can control this with colors, font and most important: size of the type.
5)Tall: like a 3m fashion model! Too many blogs have... 20, 30 posts on their front page. This is nice and dandy if you have some pictures of yourself in there, and one picture per post. However, if you (like I have a tendency of doing) feels like sharing lots of pictures and visuals, consider cutting it down a bit. Concider the fact that not everyone has überconnections, and whilest you think that "but it just takes two seconds to load", it wont do so for others, at least not the first time. Most blog-hosts also have a option to put in a "more"-tag. Click to read the rest of this entry.
6)DIY or go pro? Most of the time, you should be responsible of your own layouts. There are lots of free templates out there, and most are easy enough to customize to suit your needs. If you are running a income-bringing commercial blog you would probably be best off with a professional graphic designer. It is easy to say "but everyone can do that! Why should I pay something that my brother can do in photoshop?". Most graphic designers have lots of experience and knows that the smalles differences can make a difference. But for personal blogs, DIY is the way to go, don't overthing it, let the flaws present your flaws, perfect is sooo 90s!!!
7)HEEELP! This damn code-thing is so darn advanced!!!** Yep, that is the downside of it, and it's hard to customize layouts without it. What you need to worry about mainly though, is the css-file. The good thing about css is that it's easy to understand, if you think logical. You can read the basics at
http://www.w3schools.com/ and you should know enough to customize a blog layout
*I read rumors that wordpress.com cost money to customize. If you have a server, you should download the system from wordpress.org, if not I'd reccomend taking the cost, it's well worth the cost. Hosting and domains come cheap today, and you will stand stronger with your own domain. However, think closely about your name.
**You can also post in this thread specific questions, and I'll try to ansver
(That's kind of embarrassing, but you definitely should know!) Yes, I guess that's kind of creepy but... your blog made me want to start blogging!
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