Effective Blog Design Through Art Blogs

The importance of design in art blogs and blogs, in general, can't be understated. When human attention has been divided between so many stimuli and shifts so quickly, the importance of a good first visual impression can decide whether a blog will be successful or not. If a blog is arranged in an unappealing or confusing manner, a reader will not stay long enough to consume its content, regardless of the quality. Design is also an effective tool to make a blog appear different or stand out among all of the other art blogs.

The key to effective blog design comes in different parts. There are several things that must be accounted for: layout, color scheme, and font. Below are sections describing how to best approach each part individually and make your blog stand out on the internet.

Layout

Layout is one of the most important, subtle parts of a blog. A unique layout on your page can make it both interesting and memorable for readers. Layout also describes how your blog will appear; one of the unsaid standards of art blogs is to have an aesthetically appealing blog. The nature of the topic necessitates that you think about what your blog will look like. To make a successful art blog, in addition to being aesthetically pleasing, the blog needs to focus the reader's attention towards the work, which is usually presented via large, high resolution images. A very clear hierarchy of importance is visible in successful blogs.

napX1oR.png?3

The blog, Contemporary Art Daily, a successful and sponsored blog, is a good illustration of the hierarchy. To attract readers to a blog discussing art, the focus is clearly on the art. Each post on the blog begins with a large, easily read title. Immediately below are pictures of the work being discussed. While the post might have some text included; a press release, artist statement, or a brief summary, usually the post consists of images of the work and links to see more work.

At this point, it is important to remember the purpose of an art blog. While some people might be interested in opinions, many readers just want to see new work, by the blogger or by someone else. This is the most important part when designing a blog. If a reader's attention is split or they are confused and can't find what they want, they won't visit the page anymore.

For your own blog, it would be best to think about laying out the page to allow a lot of attention to be afforded to the work. Highly patterned backgrounds, small images, excessive amounts of text- all must be considered when thinking about the larger layout of your blog as a whole. What detracts attention from the things you're trying to post? Is it easy to navigate between different posts? Can readers figure out how to use your blog?

oCNn8A7.png?1

With the focus of the blog being on the content of the post, the other visual elements of the page need to subscribe to this. The background of a blog is a very important thing. An interesting, eye-catching background is a very easy way to attract attention on the first visit; however, it is not always necessary. Some of the most popular and successful blogs like ffffound.com and artthreat.net, use the lack of a background to further emphasize the content of the posts.

1K3s9BZ.jpg?1
aoheGSm.png?1

Notice how the lack of a background to this web page draws the eye to the art that is being emphasized.

While this is a popular and common trait, never say never. The background doesn't necessarily have to be white. Rules are meant to be broken, but the important thing to always remember about layout is: How does it affect the purpose of my blog? Does it help it or does it hurt it? You are always able to take bold and untested steps into layout, but if it doesn't help your purpose, it will usually come off as gimmicky or poorly designed.

Colors

The color scheme of a blog is another important part to consider. Colors have a strong ability to connect with people on a subconscious, emotional level. Color psychology is the study of how colors affect our moods and thoughts. It is a useful thing to familiarize yourself with when trying to decide the color scheme for your blog. A brief introduction can be found here.

A color scheme for a blog can be any number of colors, but like layout, it is important to think about the blog as a whole. Wooster Collective is a good example:

6SifPic.jpg?1

Notice how the lack of a

Wooster Collective is a blog dedicated to street art and we can see that reflected in the chosen colors. The dark grey and black background emphasize the "street" aspect of the blog. The colors are like that you would find on the street. The blue and red are used as highlights to emphasize important information like titles and headings.

You can see that the colors are serving a function for the blog, in addition to making it look good. When we see blue or red, we know that the information is important in this blog, it'll usually link to another page. The grey and black signify the background, where you can find the posts and other information.

The colors in your blog will help to describe it. Is it a dark blog concerning dark topics and works? You might consider using a darker color scheme to help show the feeling of darkness. Using yellows and greens and bright colors wouldn't help your readers to feel the dark that you want to portray. Is it a blog about digital art? You might be interested in silvers and other colors associated with technology.

The colors in your blog speak without using words. To really make the most of your blog, understanding how the colors in it function and help the purpose. If the colors compliment your themes and purpose, you'll find that they strengthen and reinforce the purpose. It'll make it look good and help people work through your blog.

Font

Font is also a very important part of a blog. Due to the sparse nature of the text in art blogs, the choice of font becomes very important. Font, like layout and color choices, should serve the purpose of your blog as a whole. It is another part of the blog that needs to work and compliment the other design choices that have been made on the blog.

Much like color psychology, fonts can raise subconscious emotions and thoughts inside of us. A brief overview of typography can be found here. A good example of a blog that effectively uses font is BOOOOOOOOM!:

6JPP2Ap.png?1

BOOOOOOOOM! uses a typeface that is easy to read, but also unique. Instead of using Arial or Times New Roman, BOOOOOOOOM! chooses to use a font that emphasizes the found nature of the blog. The blog is about finding art on Tumblr and sharing it, and the thinness of font makes it appear that it was typed quickly after the art was found. It shows the purpose of the blog through the type of font that was chosen.

When choosing a font for your blog, you must consider what you want the font to do for the blog. A font without serifs (the hanging ends on letters in some typefaces) tends to emphasize a more modern kind of feeling, while a very scripted font can lend itself to the feeling of being antiquated.

Fonts are similar to color. They come packed with their own connotations, and like color, font needs to be chosen with the purpose of the blog in mind. If the font is trying to do something opposite the point of the blog, readers wont be interested in looking at the font, and the blog will ultimately suffer. Choosing a good blog will help and encourage readers to look at the things that you want to say, which is why you got in to blogging in the first place, right?

Comment

In addition to choosing effective visuals, the decision to allow comments from users on your blog is important. When a blog allows online discussion, users are able to freely express their views and exchange opinions. The purpose of the online comments is to carry on a dialogue, and use the writing as a way to simulate face-to-face conversation. When blogs add a comment function, audiences are given the opportunity to share their ideas with others, which is beneficial to audience communication. Just as visuals do, adding a comment function has the ability to change the way users view your blog. Without allowing comments, users may develop a relationship with the writer that may seem authoritative. They only have the ability to read and learn from the writer as opposed to contributing to the blog themselves as a writer as well. Allowing comments on your blog may create a more collaborative atmosphere between the writers and readers. The decision to allow or not allow comments is not detrimental to the effectiveness of your blog as there are many successful blogs that allow comments, and many that do not. The choice to add a comment function simply depends on what you are looking to convey as the creator of your blog.

Blog as a Whole

With all of this in mind, thinking of starting a blog from scratch might be somewhat intimidating. It doesn't have to be. The more that you understand what you want your blog to do, the easier it will be for you to make the choices about the design.

Digital writing in the blogging era has changed to include a lot more than just written words. We can see that all of these choices involved ultimately reflect and contribute (or detract) from your digital writing. This isn't just limited to art blogs however. This page illustrates the importance of good visual design in food blogs, and this page discusses design importance in film blogs. Clearly the design of your blog is important if you are looking for success in the blogging world and standing out and being heard has come to rely on good design.

Bibilography

http://www.booooooom.com/

http://artthreat.net/

http://ffffound.com/

http://www.contemporaryartdaily.com/

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/colors1.html

http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/3052-Typography-101-The-Basics

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License