Posts Tagged ‘Blogging Platforms’

40 Kick-Ass Personal Blog Designs

It has almost been a year while since we last published a round-up of our favorite personal blog designs, making this post well overdue. And what a difference a year makes! Different design techniques, new and refreshing ideas and with the further support for CSS3 properties, designers have have been able to push their personal blog designs to even higher levels.

Having said that and putting all of the marvelous blog designs we have in this article aside and based on our previous showcases, it does seem that the art of the personal blog is diminishing. Bare in mind we are not talking about personal portfolios, we are strictly talking about personal blog designs.
Maybe with the feature rich services offered by Facebook, Twitter, Posterous, Tumblr and even WordPress.com, and with portfolio services like Carbonmade, Deviantart and Behance the need for a personalized blog design is no longer a necessity. We do sincerely hope this is not the case.

Anyway, in this article you will find 40 Kick-Ass personal blog designs for your web design inspiration.

Design Made in Germany

Design Made in Germany

Look at That!

Look at That!

Squaregirl

Squaregirl

Salvator

Salvator

Grain & Gram – The New Gentleman's Journal

Grain & Gram - The New Gentleman's Journal

Andrew Greig

Andrew Greig

The Import

The Import

BlissfullyAware

BlissfullyAware

Christoph Zillgens

Christoph Zillgens

Design or Die

Design or Die

A Life in Translation

A Life in Translation

Full Disclosure

Full Disclosure

Joe Nyaggah

Joe Nyaggah

Dash Station

Dash Station

Strange Native

Strange Native

Brian Hoff

Brian Hoff

McKinney

McKinney

Design Mind

Design Mind

FÆBRIC

FÆBRIC

The Design Buzz

The Design Buzz

Quipsologies

Quipsologies

Brand New

Brand New

The Hickensian

The Hickensian

The Design Cubicle

The Design Cubicle

Veerle's blog 3.0

Veerle's blog 3.0

Jake Przespo

Jake Przespo

The Brooklyn Circus

The Brooklyn Circus

SimpleBits

SimpleBits

Design Swap

Design Swap

LivingDesign

LivingDesign

What Katie Does

What Katie Does

Ivana's Projects

Ivana's Projects

Photo Matt

Photo Matt

Cafundó Estúdio Criativo

Cafundó Estúdio Criativo

Design is Dead

Design is Dead

Creative Everyone

Creative Everyone

Anotherfaceinthecrowd

Anotherfaceinthecrowd

Life Around Me

Life Around Me

ohasuper

ohasuper

Christoph Zillgens

Christoph Zillgens

Web is beautiful

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Free Book Competition “WordPress 3 Site Blueprints”, Comment to Win

It has been a while since we last ran a good web design book giveaway, and if you are a WordPress developer or you are currently learning WP, you will certainly love this competition. What we have on offer is the chance for two of our readers to win one of two PDF ebooks, entitled WordPress 3 Site Blueprints that usual sells for $32. It has been written by Heather R. Wallace and its a book that will show you everything you will ever need to build a varied collection of feature-rich customized WordPress websites.

This competition will run for the next 14 days, and all you have to do for a chance to win your own copy is leave a comment below telling us why you love WordPress. Winners will be chosen at random and will be notified by email. Best of luck to everyone :)

About the Book: WordPress 3 Site Blueprints

WordPress 3 Site BlueprintsWhile some books merely talk about the capabilities of WordPress in general and leave you to figure out how they apply to your situation, WordPress 3 Site Blueprints takes a different approach. The first chapter will show you how to migrate from an existing static website to a WordPress blog. Each of the other chapters is devoted to the construction of a different type of site that can be created with WordPress and the right combination of themes and/or plugins. As you follow along, you will learn by doing because each of these nine chapters shows you how to build a WordPress-powered site from start to finish. That means that, by the time you reach the end of every chapter, you will have a fully-functional site online.

You can also download a sample chapter, bly clicking here: Chapter No.4 “Project 4: Building a Local Classified Ads Website”.

How to win this book

This competition will run for the next 14 days, and all you have to do for a chance to win your own copy is leave a comment below telling us Why you love WordPress. The winners will be selected at random and will be informed directly after the competition ends via email. Good luck to everyone :)


The Best Free to use Posterous Themes

Don't mistake Posterous as another micro-blogging service, it is much, much bigger than that. There are no limits to what you can do with it and there are seemingly no limits to what you can post to it – photos (auto resizing), audio files and links, documents and video (auto conversion)… You could use it as a simple blog, or as a day-to-day "lifestreaming" service that can automatically post to other popular social media services such as Flickr, Twitter and Facebook, and does fully support the use of custom themes which truly sets it apart from the rest, and this is what this post focuses on – The best free to use Posterous themes.

If you would like to develop your own themes or would just like to edit an existing one, this guide will explain how: Custom Themes – Posterous for Developers →

How to Install a Posterous Theme

Post Press

Post Press Posterous ThemePost Press Theme Downloads →

John D. Turner Theme

John D. Turner Theme Posterous ThemeJohn D. Turner Theme Theme Downloads →

Mad Men

Mad Men Posterous ThemeMad Men Theme Downloads →

My.List

My.List Posterous ThemeMy.List Theme Downloads →

Tabby 2

Tabby 2 Posterous ThemeTabby 2 Theme Downloads →

Colourise

Colourise Posterous ThemeColourise Theme Downloads →

Austero

Austero Posterous ThemeAustero Theme Downloads →

Tealicious

Tealicious Posterous ThemeTealicious Theme Downloads →

Conjuction

Conjuction Posterous ThemeConjuction Theme Downloads →

Bookeh

Bookeh Posterous ThemeBookeh Theme Downloads →

Slate

Slate Posterous ThemeSlate Theme Downloads →

Blackout

Blackout Posterous ThemeBlackout Theme Downloads →

Proofing

Proofing Posterous ThemeProofing Theme Downloads →

Tabby

Tabby Posterous ThemeTabby Theme Downloads →

Wellness

Wellness Posterous ThemeWellness Theme Downloads →

Contra

Contra Posterous ThemeContra Theme Downloads →

Stripes

Stripes Posterous ThemeStripes Theme Downloads →

Symphonic

Symphonic Posterous ThemeSymphonic Theme Downloads →

Tumblr Themes

Tumblr Themes
One of the worst kept secrets about Posterous is that you can and are allowed to install Tumblr themes. As Tumblrs evolution has been longer they do have a bigger selection and better variety of amazing themes you could use. Download Official Tumblr Themes →

You can also find more Tumblr themes here:
7 Brilliant Minimalist Tumblr Themes →
34 Amazing Tumblr Themes →

About the author…

This article has been written by Jiri Nadvornik, he is a student of ?VUT in the Czech Republic, he loves Python and Django and he occasionally works for posterous.smartcode.cz. You can follow him on twitter here: @nadvornix.

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50 Examples of Large Photography Backgrounds within Web Design »
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A Showcase of 50 Amazing Personal Blog Web Designs »
50 Creative Examples of Illustrations in Web Design »
50 Professional Web Design Agency Web Sites »
50 Bright and Vibrant Web Designs – Color Inspiration »
50 Impressive Magazine and Newspaper Styled Web Designs »
50 Inspirational and Fresh Minimally Designed Web Sites »
50 Creative and Inspirational Personal Portfolio Websites »
50 Inspiring Web Application and Service Web Site Designs »
50 Examples of Effective Uses of Typography Within Web Design »
50 Beautifully Crafted Corporate Ecommerce Web Designs »
50 Creative Examples of Vintage and Retro in Web Design »


9 More Useful and Free Downloadable Web Design Books

A few months ago we published a popular article called 12 Useful and Free Downloadable Web Design Books, and the positive response we received from our readers was phenomenal. But, just as there is with most things, there is always room for improvement.
With the help of readers and authors we have discovered another 9 free web design books we felt were worthy enough to bring to your attention, you will find these book below.

Just as with the previous Free Web Design Book Article, I have not offered a critique of each book, as I feel that would not be fair on the author. If an author spends so much of there valuable time (in some cases months and months) and writes a detailed book on web design, in my eyes they deserve only praise and appreciation. I hope you find these books useful.

If you would like to view the original article, you can click here: 12 Useful and Free Downloadable Web Design Books →

Designing for the Web

Designing for the Web
Author: Mark Boulton.
About the Book: A Practical Guide to Designing for the Web aims to teach you techniques for designing your website using the principles of graphic design.
Featuring five sections, each covering a core aspect of graphic design: Getting Started, Research, Typography, Colour, and Layout. Learn solid graphic design theory that you can simply apply to your designs, making the difference from a good design to a great one.
Designing for the Web →
View the HTML Version →

Taking Your Talent to the Web

Taking Your Talent to the Web
Author: Jeffrey Zeldman.
About the Book: This book was originally written in 2001 for print designers whose clients want websites, print art directors who’d like to move into full–time web and interaction design, homepage creators who are ready to turn pro, and professionals who seek to deepen their web skills and understanding.
The dot-com crash killed this book. Now it lives again. While browser references and modem speeds may reek of 2001, much of the advice about transitioning to the web still holds true.
Taking Your Talent to the Web →
Download the PDF →

Dive Into HTML 5

Dive Into HTML 5
Author: Mark Pilgrim.
About the Book: Dive Into HTML 5 is an ongoing book that seeks to elaborate on a hand-picked Selection of features from the HTML5 specification and other fine Standards. The final manuscript will be eventually published on paper by O’Reilly, under the Google Press imprint.
Dive Into HTML 5 →
View the HTML Version →

jQuery Fundamentals

jQuery Fundamentals
Author: Rebecca Murphey.
About the Book: The purpose of this book is to provide an overview of the jQuery JavaScript library; when you're done with the book, you should be able to complete basic tasks using jQuery, and have a solid basis from which to continue your learning. This book was designed as material to be used in a classroom setting, but you may find it useful for individual study.
jQuery Fundamentals →
View the HTML Version →

Data Structures and Algorithms

Data Structures and Algorithms
Author: Granville Barnett and Luca Del Tongo.
About the Book: Put simply this book is the result of a series of emails sent back and forth between the two authors during the development of a library for the .NET framework of the same name. The conversation started of something like "Why don't we create a more aesthetically pleasing way to present our pseudocode?" After a few weeks this new presentation style had in fact grown into pseudocode listings with chunks of text describing how the data structure or algorithm in question works and various other things about it. At this point we thought, "What the
heck, let's make this thing into a book!"
Data Structures and Algorithms →
Download the PDF →

Design Your Imagination

Design Your Imagination
Author: WebGuru India.
About the Book: Design Your Imagination is a one stop resource for the beginners and learners of website design. Though this e-book is mainly targeted for the beginners of website design, it might prove helpful for the experienced web designers as well. This free web design e-book is clearly divided into 28 chapters and in each chapter a specific topic is illustrated with ample examples. The language is as lucid as possible and proper care has been taken to keep intact the flow of writing.
Design Your Imagination →
Download the PDF →

Building Android Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

Building Android Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
Author: Jonathan Stark.
About the Book: Device-agnostic mobile apps are the wave of the future, and this book shows you how to create one product that can be used on several mobile operating systems. You'll find guidelines for using the free PhoneGap framework to converty our product into a native Android app. And you'll learn why releasing your product as a web app first helps you find, fix, and test bugs much faster than if you went straight to the Android Market with a product built with the official Android SDK.
Building Android Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript →
View the HTML Version →

The Web Book

The Web Book
Author: Robert Schifreen.
About the Book: The Web Book contains all the information you need to create a Web site from scratch. It covers everything from registering a domain name and renting some hosting space, to creating your first HTML page, to building full online database applications with PHP and MySQL. It also tells you how to market and promote your site, and how to make money from it.
The Web Book →
Download the PDF →

Building Accessible Websites

Building Accessible Websites
Building Accessible Websites →
View the HTML Version →

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7 Brilliant Minimalist Tumblr Themes

When I sat down to write this post, my first intention was to write about minimal design and how popular they have become over the last few years. Of course, I couldn’t do that without listing some clever examples. But while I was on the hunt for what to include in that list I got a message from a friend. She was looking for some Tumbler themes. So with Tumbler on the brain, we now have 7 incredible minimalist Tumbler themes!

If you aren’t familiar with Tumblr, it’s one of the big boys in the world of hosted micro-blogs. When Twitter doesn’t give you enough room to portray your message, but it’s not necessarily normal blog post length, it will fit perfectly into your Tumblr blog. You can post photos, quotes, text, videos or audio. You can post through your Tumblr dashboard, post with your phone, post through email or even with the desktop client. There are tons of things you can do with your Tumblr blog, including the use of customized themes.

Ok, you really just want to see the themes right? Here you go…

1. Ultralite

Ultralite
Ultralite has a very clean feel with abundant white space to showcase all your content. There’s a splash of orange to make links and titles stand out, which give it just the right amount of color.
Ultralite Download and Demo →

2. Whisper

Whisper
If you like truly minimalist Tumbler themes, you’ll love Whisper. Whisper is exactly what this theme does. The text on the page is barely there unless you hover over it. Then it darkens to reveal the content more clearly.
Whisper Download and Demo →

3. Journal

Journal
The Journal theme boasts a clean black header that crowns your white space. Links are your traditional blue, leaving no distractions to the content you want the world to see. Talk about brilliant web design.
Journal Download and Demo →

4. Knight

Knight
The Knight Tumbler theme has an earthy, smooth feel to it. Of course it should if it was truly created by a leather maker as it says it is. The dark earthy boxes encompassed by perfectly clean lines slightly light up as you hover of them.
Knight Download and Demo →

5. Sleek

Sleek
Sleek says it all. Lots of white space. A smooth blend at the top gives way to the simple black header. Beside each post you have a matte black Twitter icon.
Sleek Download and Demo →

6. Nine of Mine

Nine of Mine
Brilliantly classic. You get the expected white space we all love so dearly combined with bold, yet simple headlines. The first post of each day will have a light grey date next to your headline.
Nine of Mine Download and Demo →

7. Orange Peel

Orange Peel
If you love the look of minimalist designs but just can’t bring yourself to let go of the color, then Orange Peel may be the mother of web design for your Tumbler themes. Mostly black and white, this one has orange “peels” scattered throughout the theme. Notes, quotes, dates and links are all in a modern shade of orange.
Orange Peel Download and Demo →

About the Author

Veronica is a freelance writer and social media writer. She works with several web design firms and enjoys discovering quality Tumbler themes, WordPress themes and of course – new social media icons.

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