Blog Design

Very interesting thoughts on blog design from web designer Eric Siegmund:

This “personal publishing revolution” that many of us are participating in has created new opportunities for expression, but it’s also created new problems that authors and journalists never before had to deal with.

How many mainstream journalists, for example, ever question what typeface and size will be used when the newspaper publishes their reports? How many novelists get to weigh in on details such as page color and width, or line-height? These things are generally beyond their control, and thus beyond their caring. And, in any event, every copy of the newspaper or book is going to look like every other copy, so why sweat it?

That’s no longer the case with blogging. Bloggers are writers and technicians, whether they like it or not. They are responsible for both the creation and the delivery of content. Trouble is, every visitor sees a potentially different version of that content, depending on their choices of operating system, platform, browser, monitor settings, etc.

Oh, sure, it’s possible to blog without knowing a whit about web design principles; that’s the beauty of the beast. But it’s irresponsible to be unaware of the consequences of bad design…if you care about your readers, anyway.

Interestingly, web design standards and web browser technology have progressed to the point where you can shift much of the burden of meeting reader expectations back to the reader. You no longer have to tell her what font to use, at what size, for example. You can leave those choices up to her. But this means that you relinquish control. It might mean that you provide suggestions for how your blog will be presented, instead of requirements…..

Very thoughtful stuff, check it out bloggers and blog readers – hey that’s everyone.