Sure you can sift through 1,000 of free Wordpress templates, but nothing compares to a custom blog design that differentiates your company or matches your existing website.

Recently a past client of mine recontacted me for a custom Wordpress blog design, as an effort to help promote and expand her online presence as a children’s book author and child development speaker/writer. While designing the blog [view source file] I decided to make a checklist for future custom blog designs of all the various elements to design and consider when dealing with a standard Wordpress template.

While each blog design will vary from project to project, below are the basic areas and elements to consider when designing a custom Wordpress blog, along with images of my client’s new blog.

The header

While a header seems like a pretty typical area to always include in a blog design, a few things to include in the header area include:

» Logo/name of the blog
» Tagline
» Navigation
» Subscription and social networking buttons
» Search box

Also when designing elements such as the navigation, consider things such as rollovers and image sprites and how they will look and interact.

Main content area

This area typically requires the most attention, as there are various areas and elements to be considered. To keep things a clearer I broke down the main content area:

Text/copy styles:

» Titles of each post (H1)
» H2, H3, H4, H5, and H6 subtitle styling
» Paragraph text, address and preformatted text
» Quoted text
» Ordered lists
» Unordered lists
» bold, italic, underline and strike-through text
» Hyperlink color/rollover
» Image styling (ie: border color/thickness)

Post meta data:

» Comments
» ‘Published on’ and/or ‘publish by’
» Excerpt text (ie: Continue reading »)
» Tags
» Categories

Page/article navigation:

» Excerpt text (ie: Read more »)
» Page navigation links

Page and individual article appearance:

» How many posts will appear per page
» How each post will be divided from the previous and next post

Sidebar(s)

This area will most likely be the most unique from blog to blog. From single sidebars to double sidebars to sidebars with sidebars this is where you can get creative and also add great functionality to a blog. Here are things to consider when designing or choosing sidebar items:

» Social media links
» Subscription links (RSS/Email)
» Info about the blog
» Search functionality
» Categories
» Popular articles
» Most commented articles
» Flickr photo stream
» Recent news
» Twitter update(s)
» Advertisements
» Recent posts
» Blogroll (other blogs you like)
» Links
» Email forms
» Contact information
» Archives

Comments

Intrigue visitors to comment by having a well designed comment area. When designing the comments section consider the design and layout for:

» The number of comments on the post
» Gravatars
» Anonymous reader icons
» Data and time of comment
» Hyperlinks within comments
» Persons name/handle
» The authors reply in the comments (make it stand out from the readers)
» How the comments will be separated from the previous and next comments
» What number comment they are reading (ie: 2 of 15)
» Text styling

‘Leave a comment’ form

» Fields you would like the commentor to fill out (ie: name, website, twitter, message)
» Submit button
» Subscribe to comments by RSS
» Notification of comments by email
» Mandatory field indicators (ie: *)
» ‘Remember me’ check boxes
» Comment ‘preview’ button/option
» Bot prevention question field
» Text styling/formatting for user

Footer

The footer is another area that you can get creative with if you like or just leave room for copyright information. Here are some things to consider:

» Copyright info
» Navigation
» Contact info
» Social media links
» Resources
» ‘Back to top’ scrolls
» RSS and email subscribe options
» About info
» Hosting info

Other information to consider

If I’m handing off the PSD file to be coded I also like to include an instructions file that includes information such as:

» Background repeats (ie: repeat-x, repeat-y)
» Posts shown per page
» Line height of text (ie: 1.5em)
» Line height of lists (ie: 1.75em)
» Rollover information for buttons, images and text
» Visited, inactive and active link color
» Lettering spacing (where/when needed)
» Image border thickness (ie: 3px)
» URLs to all links (if your developers are setting that up)
» Any jQuery plugins
» How many posts show show in the sidebars “Top Posts”
» How the ‘Read more’ should be stated (ie: Continue reading this article »)

While the blog is still being developed by WPCoder, you can view the entire image source file until then. Will update with link once theme is up and live.

What other items would you add to the checklist above?

Sweet Tweets is a weekend feature to The Design Cubicle highlighting some of my favorite, and other Twitterer’s design-related links discovered via Twitter throughout the work week – because having resources and staying up-to-date is important in growth and development.

Week of 11-2-09:

Essential infographics and data visualization blogs
“In the tradition of Inspired Mag’s huge lists, here goes a new one – all the blogs with cool data visualization eye candy in the same place! Enjoy and leave some comments with suggestions, questions and so on.”

Wordpress visual cheat sheet
“WordPress Visual Cheat Sheet is the new document, of the Visual Cheat Sheet family, that contains a practical reference guide to WordPress 2.8. This cheat sheet (5 pages) contains the full reference guide to WP Template Tags with detailed descriptions and sample code.”

50 creative web agencies
“Web agencies are the ones that make the trends regarding webdesign. There are a lot of freelancers and companies nowadays. Some are great and some are not… well… we selected a few of great ones to showcase their work.”

Well designed contact pages
“Contact pages are often overlooked during the design process of a site. It’s all too easy just to slap on a standard contact form and leave it at that. However, some designers go the extra mile, and it really pays off.”

6 ways to take your webdesign from good to great
“The difference between good and great webdesign is relatively small. The average person may not be able to explain the tangible differences that make up great design, but they can usually spot a design they like.”

Effective uses of typography within web design
“Not only do we showcase typography in the classic sense, but also illustrate that the combination of web design and great typography can be used effectively, along with clever color selection, and create usable web sites thats base design is dominated by text, for either navigation, a good headline, a logo or even used for the entire content.”

The Golden Section
“This program is a unique design tool for artists, designers, programmers, photographers. It allows you to design using the golden section proportion visually over your preferred design software.”

Layout solutions to improve your designs
“The 8 techniques include sliders, tabs, progressive layouts, structured grids, modal windows, rollover elements, accordions and mega drop-down-menus.”

Dan Cederholm on bulletproof web design, CSS3 and dribbble
“Today’s entry  in our series of web deisgn interviews is Dan Cederholm. Dan is a recognized expert in the field of standards-based web design and has worked with Google, MTV, AIGA, ESPN, Blogger, Fast Company, Inc.com, and many more. He’s a renowned speaker and author and blogs about web design related topics at SimpleBits.”

Visual branding: context is key
“Well-established companies with strong recognition face an interesting challenge when they seek to redirect or revitalize their brand. Change needs to be signaled and a new message is called for, yet there might be considerable value in preserving the existing brand mark. It’s a conundrum: how can a brand identity be redirected without also changing the company’s mark? The answer is to look not at the mark itself, but at what surrounds it and supports it: the context.”

What were some of your favorite Tweeted design resources from the past week? Share in the comments below.

A while back I wrote an article posing the question if Twitter was taking over RSS? To summarize the post: since the popularity of Twitter increased and more information was being shared and spread quicker than I could open up my RSS reader, I began thinking if RSS was starting to become “old school”.

Only thing was before Twitter lists were introduced, I still found myself enjoying RSS feeds simply for that fact that I was able to organize my information and see only what I wanted to see…. Now we can do just that with Twitter lists!

Below I have organized 3 separate lists: My favorite design blogs I read on a regular basis, typography resources/info and my personal favorite ‘Top Twits’ list.

» Favorite design blogs
» Typography tweets
» My personal favorites designers

As I encounter more great resources the list will be expanding, so check back often.

Also, if you are not already feel free to add myself (@behoff) and/or follow TDCBrand updates on Twitter.

Created some lists on your own? Feel free to share in the comments below.

Having grown up from a very early age painting, drawing and doodling, I never really put much thought into how my fine art background played a role in my work as a graphic designer, or maybe I just took it for granted.

Just the other day while reading the introduction of the book, Logo, Font and Lettering Bible by Leslie Cabarga, I came across an interesting statement that made me stop and think about how an artistic background enhances my work:

“The difference between a designer and an actual artist is, a designer can indicate preferences and arrange preexisting graphic elements but cannot draw well enough to bring his best visions to fruition by his own hand. A designer’s inability to draw may also unconsciously limit his ability to conceptualize.”

While still on the thought of this statement and how it effects my own work, I asked my graphic designer followers on Twitter to submit an example of their work if they also come from a strong artistic, drawing background. Here’s what they had to show, with links to their website and Twitter accounts.

Also, I am always on the lookout for contributors for upcoming posts, so if you would like to participate on future articles subscribe for free by email or RSS and/or follow me on Twitter.

Von Glitschka (@vonster)

Kyle Richardson (@enrichdesign)

Andy Mangold (@andymangold)

Blake Tallos (@blakeanthony)

Ivy Knight (@margeeta)

Juhi Chitravanshi (@vedica)

Joe Akers (@bcollective)

Fernando Lins (@fernandolins)

Sara Colleran (@dickgenius)

Adam Garcia (@adamrgarcia)

Kumail Hunaid (@kumailht)

Scott Gamble

Omar Mena (@chomas22)

André Castelo (@andrecastelo)

Monfa Cabrera (@monfa)

Robert Wilson (@robertwilsoniv)

Sharon Samples (@artgyrl)

Simon Wild (@simonwild)

Jonathan Lackey (@zuno)

Oran Parker (@oranparker)

Leon Lloyd (@leonrlloyd)

Dave Mott (@dmott70)

Wan Kimm Cheng (@cwkimm)

Roger Haus (@rogerhaus)

Jason Tang (@freaksigner)

Patrick Micka (@pmicka)

Omair Rais (@omairrais)

Justine Galvez (@juzgalvez)

Galang Wibowo (@gustopo)

Gilbert Ruiz (@gilbertruiz)

Sandra Van Winkle (@SandraVanWinkle)

Thadd Fiala (@thadd_f)

Brian Hoff (@behoff)

Sweet Tweets is a weekend feature to The Design Cubicle highlighting some of my favorite, and other Twitterer’s design-related links discovered via Twitter throughout the work week – because having resources and staying up-to-date is important in growth and development.

Week of 10-26-09:

How to create your best web layouts ever
“Ah, the blank canvas: probably my favourite part of the design process…”

Freelancers preparation for vacation
“If you’re a freelancer looking to go on a vacation, here are a few things you will want to take into consideration before packing those bags!”

Clean and well-designed websites
“Ive been looking around the web to try and find some examples of clean well structured sites, this maybe a unique layout or just simply presented well with some good typography, spacing or initial first impression of the site, here are just a few of the ones im liking.”

Wordpress website design process
“Let’s take a look at the process of tweaking Wordpress to transform it from a blogging platform to taking on the job of a typical Content Management System.”

Discussion on Wordpress for designers
“In the first in a series of short form interviews we ask renowned web designers and front end developers a few questions about their areas of interest as well as their opinion on the future of web design. First up is Elliot Jay Stocks, web designer, author and globe trotting speaker.”

Personal branding success in 15 steps
“Before talking about the how of personal branding, it’s essential to talk about why it’s essential for your business and your life.”

Beautiful uses of typography in web design
“Typography in web and print design industry in our earlier articles and very well know the importance of Typography in web and print designs, so today we are here with  a round-up of beautiful web designs showing creative use of typography.”

Video walk-through of an identity design process
Artist Von Glitschka walks through his logo design process and allows us to peek inside his project folder.

Essential PDF documents every designer should download
“It has taken me almost an entire year to compile, but I have finally created a followup entry to the original “30 Essential PDF Documents Every Designer Should Download” Article.”

What were some of your favorite Tweeted design resources from the past week? Share in the comments below.

Also, HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

It’s giveaway time once again on The Design Cubicle, and this time PrintRunner has offered 250 free business cards each to 5 readers of TDC!

PrintRunner offers are high quality, glossy, double-sided, full-color business cards, but depending on your preference can offer full-color, black and white, one sided and two sided cards. In addition to their business card printing services they also offer high quality print jobs on brochures, flyers, posters, catalogs, stickers and more. Continue reading below on how to win.

The Giveaway Details:

Five readers will each receive 250 free business cards (with free shipping – limited to U.S. residents). These are high quality, glossy, double-sided, full-color business cards.

To enter the contest, tweet your favorite Design Cubicle article followed by the hashtag #designcubicle (ie: 10 Common Typography Mistakes - http://bit.ly/3G54jI #designcubicle) and subscribe to TDC by RSS or email.

The contest will run through the weekend with five winners selected on Monday, November 2nd using a random number generator [random.org]

Official Rules:

• Tweet as many times as you like, but you can only win once
• Open to U.S. residents only
• Must be 18 and over and not an employee or a relative of an employee of PrintRunner LLC
• No purchase necessary

Good luck and happy tweetin’ to all! Also, hope everyone has a great upcoming Halloween!

With the Future of Web Design (FOWD) conference only a few weeks away — November 16th and 17th to be exact — I thought it would be interesting to discover what TDC readers are going to be attending. It would be great to meet and interact with you all in person, so please leave a comment below with your Twitter account and shoot me some Tweets while you’re there!

I will also be also posting updates on Twitter from FOWD on the 17th, so feel free to follow the hashtag on Twitter #TDCFOWD.

What is FOWD?

The Future of Wed Design is 2 day conference that takes place in London, New York City and Miami. The event, run by the folks at Carsonified, is aimed at creatives, designers and anyone else who cares about web design.

Featuring some of the best web designers in the field, speakers include a few well known names such as Dan Cederholm (Simplebits), Elliot Jay Stocks, Jason Santa Maria, Dan Rubin, Bill Buxton (Microsoft) and more.

Topics covered will include ‘Real World Accessibility for Web Designers’, ‘Wordpress Theme Development for Web Designers’, ‘How to Design Effective Web Content’, and ‘Best Practices in Web Typography’ — to name a few.

Hope to see some of you there! Tickets are still available if you would like to attend, but if you are unable to make it I will be posting a recap here on TDC, so make sure you subscribe.

Remember you can also follow me on Twitter and the hashtag #TDCFOWD on November 17th for live updates.

I could stare at typefaces for hours on end. Everything from their curves, swoops, sexy calligraphic lines, to the personalities — doesn’t the OneLeigh ‘g’ look sad and crumbled below? — that draw me in for a closer look. I enjoy everything about them!

While spending time in awe looking at type specimen sheets, there is usually one character sticks out for me —the lowercase letter g, especially those with closed or partially closed loops (also known as a double story).

With swooping necks, quaint ears and abstract loops, the lowercase g has become a beautiful character to fall in love with, and type designers have been creating some extremely lovely and mesmerizing ones for years.

Below are a 30+ standout (below the baseline) lowercase g’s for your viewing pleasure.

*Free font

*Free font

What’s your favorite lowercase g? Have one that’s not included? Please share in the comments below.

With thousands of blog templates available for free online, nothing compares to a custom designed blog that will represent your brand and showcase your writing.

In the midst of redesigning TDC (stay posted for the redesign in upcoming weeks!) I had researched other blog designs and have gathered some of my favorites I came across to share with all of you. Below are 32 enticing blog and news websites with beautifully designed custom blogs.

TheBoldItalic

Biggest Apple

Alpine Camp blog

Viget Labs: Advance blog

Think. Do. Create blog

Squarespace blog

Jonathan Snook

Jason Santa Maria

Purple Raincloud

Carbonica

arktyp

Sushi & Robots

Rob Across America

ATEASEWEB.com

5 Pieces

Owltastic

Objectified blog

North

New to York

Max Voltar

Made in England

Viget Labs: Inspire

Ghostly International

cynosura

CNN (recently redesigned)

Brand New

Bobulate

Big Spaceship

bigcartel

Bearskinrug

AIGA

Ad Fed

What are some of your favorite designed blog and news websites?

**Apologies for not bringing any new, original posts to TDC this past week. I have been out of office and tied up, but nonetheless I was still able to gather up some ‘Sweet Tweets’ for all of you. Hope you enjoy the great roundup!

Sweet Tweets is a weekend feature to The Design Cubicle highlighting some of my favorite, and other Twitterer’s design-related links discovered via Twitter throughout the work week – because having resources and staying up-to-date is important in growth and development.

Week of 10-19-09:

7 Things Web Designers Hate Hearing from Clients
“One of the most difficult aspects of being a web designer is dealing with clients that “just don’t get it”. In this article, we’ll discuss seven things that often make the job of web designers difficult when dealing with unreasonable demands from clients. The goal in this article is not only to identify these common situations, but also to share with you some ways to avoid them and explain to your clients why their demands can’t or won’t be met.”

Grid Based Website Inspiration
“Grid based websites have become very popular over the past year. With a lot of heavier websites users are thrown off or confused because the information is showcased to them in an unorganized way. You can give dominance over other elements without making the website too crowded or overbearing. I love looking at grid based sites – because they are so easy to read and view.”

Prepress tips for graphic designers
“When you design artwork for print, standard practice is to send a PDF to your printer. But are you 100% sure you got the settings right? Are you confident the size is correct? Have the colours been set to print standards or client brand guidelines? What about font usage?”

How to choose a logo designer
“With such a plethora of choice it may be hard to find the right designer for your specific needs. Below is a short guide to help you make the right choice when choosing a logo designer. These points could also be useful when hiring a web designer, graphic designer, or any designer for that matter.”

Preparing and Planning for a Redesign
“So many businesses out there set up a website and then think, “There, that’s done with” and never bother to re-evaluate their website’s design or position in the marketplace.”

8 Different Ways to Beautifully Style Your Lists
“The use of HTML lists (<ol> for an ordered list, <ul> for an unordered list) is very common these days. Today, we’re going to look a little bit further than creating regular lists, by showing 8 different ways to beautifully style your HTML lists with CSS. We’ll use some pure CSS techniques to make a bored list look awesome (and even have some extra functionality).”

Tips for the Journey of Choosing a Business Name
“It’s a long, arduous road, coming up with a brandable business name. Here are my tips for your road trip to reaching your desired destination, a memorable and trusted brand name.”

25 Examples of Clean and Well Designed Web Sites
“I’ve been looking around the web to try and find some examples of clean well structured sites, this maybe a unique layout or just simply presented well with some good typography, spacing or initial first impression of the site, here are just a few of the ones im liking.”

Tips for Designing an Awesome Coming Soon Page
“Unlike the traditional under construction pages from the early days of the web, coming soon pages can nowadays prove to be handy tools when launching a new website. Forget yellow hard hats and flashing signs, let’s take a look at what benefits can be seen from some of the best launching soon pages.”

Showcase of Web Design in Ireland
“To give you an insight into some of the interesting stuff happening, I’ve interviewed several high profile Irish designers involved in the web industry and how they feel Ireland is making an impact on the rest of the world, along with a showcase of some of the more inspiring websites being produced.”

Getting to No
“I’ve been selling website design and development work for over 10 years, so you’d think I’d have this stuff licked. Hardly. I used to think the hard part was “getting to yes,” but over time, I’ve learned that the hardest part isn’t closing the deal, but figuring out which deals are actually worth closing. It all begins with taking a hard look at the prospect you’re talking to, and keeping an eye on early behaviors that all too frequently lead to problems.”

What were some of your favorite Tweeted design resources from the past week? Share in the comments below.