Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
Now that blogs are ubiquitous — the effort to keep track of their vast and ever-expanding numbers reminds me of when McDonald’s gave up trying to keep public count of their burger sales and just went with “billions and billions served” on their marquees — the competiton for eyeballs is so numerically overwhelming that good writing, consistency, and a notable personality aren’t a guarantee of reaching and keeping an audience anymore.
In this era — which will be known in the history books as the Blogs Out the Ass Epoch — a key and growing asset in making your site memorable is quality visual design. Whether your goal is to project a pleasing, striking, or even kick-in-the-crotch offensive image, visual design can help tie it all together into an assertive whole.
In that spirit, blogger and graphic designer Karen Rani of Troll Baby Graphics is doing her part to make the blogosphere a little more salubrious to the wandering eye by holding an Extreme Blog Makeover Contest (Or should it be Exteme Makeover Blog Contest? Are the blogs extreme or the makeover? Hmm).
A winner will be drawn at random on January 21 from among submissions to [email protected] to receive an Extreme Makeover package consisting of:
– Design and Layout of a New or Existing Blog
– 2 buttons
– 1 choice of a Blog Explosion Banner Set (3 Banners), or 2 Teasers.
Though all of these examples veritably drip with estrogen, Rani assures me that she can slug it out in the graphic testosterone trenches as well, stating, “All designs made for this contest will be made with your input, completely custom made, just for you!”
Despite the suspiciously girly exclamation point, I believe her.
Submissions will be accepted until January 20th at noon, ET – you have nothing to lose but drab design.
