Review Technology Blog

[John Wheal]

I have just finished building a new theme for my technology blog (link below). What do you think?

Website: http://mytechblog.com

I'm only interested in the design and not the actual content of the blog (I'm obviously aware that it needs more).

[asma004]

Yes, Thats good. I think it will be very easy and interesting task. <snip>

[steveorg]

It conveys the point of the site easily and looks professional. I think that I should like it, but it feels squashed and unbalanced. I can't explain that well, but there are two things to point at.

The graphics in the blog seem like they should be square as evidenced by the LinkedIn logo. However, the height is reduced. That may be where my squashed comes from. I suspect that's supposed to be a feature that differentiates you, but it just doesn't feel right.

The top banner black areas on the right bleed to the left in way that makes the whole banner area seem unbalanced.

BTW - Looks like a great product. Can it post to online DBs?

[Design Brasilia]

Can you improve more, I know you have good creativity by presenting up here!

[StripedElephant]

For the most part I like it. I like the navigation and the 3 most featured stories with their 3 big images. However, I know what steveorg is talking about when he says things look squished. That 3 most featured stories section feels like it should be either taller or less wide. Or maybe just the 2 smaller stories on the right side should be more square. I'd also recommend making the thumbnails next to all the articles square as well, it would just have a better feel I think. If you want to keep them rectangular, at least don't have the image stretch out horizontally. Maintaining the correct aspect ratio for images is important.

Also I'm not in love with the blue borders you have around some elements, particularly the ones in the sidebar. It makes things look more busy, less clean. I'd prefer to see no borders around the individual sidebar sections, but rather just an underline under each of their titles, and a single vertical line between the main content and the side bar (maybe a thin gray one?). These blue borders also make the bottom half of your site look somewhat inconsistent from the top half. You have the blue title up there, but it just looks like a different style. Maybe try to make things look more cohesive.

Other than that all I can think of is get yourself a cool logo of some kind to go up there with your title.

[booruguru]

It feels crowded.

Try using a sans-serif font for the headlines on your homepage.

The border of the images looks shaddy, it should be a lighter shade of grey (like #eeeeee).

The page feews crowded and squished together.

I don't care for the header/logo

The navigation bar, however, is just fine. However, the site links (about, contact, etc) clash with the category links. Try having the site links aligned to the right of the screen and the story of the week on the left... (or maybe you could move the whole thing underneath the navigation bar).

There's way too much blue on the screen. You should cut back, especially in the sidebar "categories" area.

I don't think you need a border around the social media icons (or anything in your sidebar, for that matter).

The grey strip on the teaser images is too grey, try a lighter shade or use a different color. I suppose blue would make sense, but you'd have to cut way back on your use of blue everywhere else.


***

Overall, your site is in pretty good shape. You just need to make some tweaks to smooth out the rough edges, so to speak.

[bloggersjoy]

The site looks good with great content leaving out the image that is on the home page. The image looks a bit messy so please improve it or change it.

[ralph.m]

Yes, the design is a little cluttered, although it's reasonably clear what role each part of the site plays. One thing I find a tad awkward is the title of the site, "MyTechBlog". It kind of makes me ask "whose tech blog?" The use of "my" is kind of exclusive in a way. If you are providing something to visitors, it's better to give a sense that this is something for "you". Anyhow, I guess as it's your domain, that's fixed now.

[pantho007]

good site
but you can improve your looking...i mean more colorful

[Piridelli]

Great design, very clean, although it needs more content. Maybe even a better logo. Overall, i like it.
Also you need to make the images fit: the ones down there seem a little squashed.

[nick04]

Hi John Wheal,

First of all it is only my personal opinion and I have no intensions to offend you in any way.

I like the content of your site very much but to be honest your site looks little cluttered. Images especially the border area of your images looks messy, it should be lighter than what you’re using on your site. Black background in your header doesn’t seem like a banner. Most importantly consider removing those borders present in your sidebar and around the social media icons. I would also advise you to replace or completely cut that blue background from the sidebar section of your site. These blue borders are main contributor to make your site unbalanced and unattractive.

Logo is also missing from the header, why don’t you add a good logo on your site? You should also resize or need to maintain the aspect ratio of your images as most of them are looking squashed. All the best, buddy!

[treacle0996]

Hello

I agree with a lot of the previous comments. Generally a really nice site, it looks professional and it's obvious what it's all about.

I agree that the thumbnails look a little squashed.

Nice, intuitive layout. I like the clean, white background. I like the black header and footer.

Not so keen on so much blue - I find it a bit in your face. I like the blue block and top borders in the right column, but would maybe get rid of the borders in the sidebar, or at least reduce them to 1px, or maybe just use a top border again.

I like the navigation. I like the advert placements, enough to get noticed, but they don't take away from the content at all.

I quite like the use of 'My' in the name - it gives it an informal feel.

I like the serif font in the headings, but not keen on the capitalisation of every word (and this is slightly inconsistent in the LinkedIn post).

[Lieto]

— I would remove block blue stroke, make titles a bit smaller and make better buttons (rather then plain blue)
— buttons are used to visually distinguish something — if you have 10 buttons going one after another it doesnt look good, make it a simple underlined text and keep buttons for something else.
— stretched images are killing positive impression, try to avoid that and resize images to tailor it to your needs

after its done it will need just a little bit more design finish in small details and font work
imho