Blog Design Secrets From A Blog Designer / part 1

i am a momma to 2. a writer, sometimes. an obsessive magazine-ripper-outer (essentially Pinterest lives in my binders full of clear sheet protectors that sits in wall cabinet). a gardener. a committed spin biker. coral & turquoise make me swoooon. anchors & the sea influence my life.

but a designer? a blog designer? an expert on design – fonts – layout – style – consulting with established bloggers to determine functionality and design aesthetics? yes – this is what i have been building up to for the past 5 years… and i love every single second.

so, today i am sharing some secrets. i love rules & guidelines and design within them in order to create lovely brands & websites. tare you ready… take notes, share on social media, pin to a design board for later… this is good stuff friends!

1: BRAND/LOGO Design

this is THE MOST IMPORTANT THING EVER! whether you just write a little online journal, a mega blog, a darling blog, a business blog, a creative blog… it doesn’t matter. have a brand. a design. something. and then stick with it. add it to your social media platforms. use it on your business cards. notecards. everywhere. as your blog grows & develops & you connect with others, people will notice and begin to “brand” you with your brand.

it doesn’t have to be COMPLETELY the same as your logo,  but certainly inspired. use similar fonts, colors tones, uniqueness. it should truly set the stage for your site design. so make sure you love your brand!!

2: FONTS

i follow a simple font formula…

more often than not, the cursive and the bold fonts are in the brand with the common font being the text. if the cursive font is gentle, i will add this as the post titles like we did here at Fancy Little Things, or a mix font navigation bar like we designed at Thistlewood Farms, but never with the intent to take away from the brand design.

more than 3 fonts on a website design can be overwhelming and distracting to your readers. consider using easy-to-read fonts and test them out before throwing them up on your blog.

3: COLOR

whether i am starting a brand design, a website design, a PDF printable, custom notecards or even blog post graphics like this one, i ALWAYS begin with a color  palette. my favorite place to search is: Design Seeds but I also love hanging out on Pinterest and creating my own.

today i’m using Tulip Hues. once i add the color palette to a new design board on Illustrator, i begin choosing fonts and which colors will be used primary, secondary and as accents! this helps to keep my design focused & intentional.

some of your sidebar titles or post titles might be your brand’s accent color like the deep plum on Woman’s InSite or the dark green text on Everything’s Abuzz.  no matter what though, start with a color palette + great fonts and you’ll have a lovely graphic that people will enjoy looking at, pinning, sharing & coming back for more!

4: SOCIAL MEDIA + SUBSCRIBE PLACEMENT

there are only 2 places that i would recommend these two items; the header or the very top of the sidebar. when new readers visit, they should be able to find this quickly without any fuss or scrolling. if they can’t find them quickly, they will leave and not come back… since they can’t follow you!

my favorite examples are below! there is ZERO chance that you will miss these which means: a greater chance for the new visitor to come back again!

did i promise 8? oh my — well, you’ll just have to subscribe and stop back to check out the last 4. they are prepped, ready to go and can’t wait to share. you’ll be making tweaks and edits to your site while using colors & fonts in a whole new way; intentional!

thank you for making the time to read my tips today!! you can find me designing graphics, writing about friendships that suck, mom & son date ideas and much more on my personal blog, on twitter or pinterest! please be sure to introduce yourself!!

have any questions? feel free to comment below and i’ll respond back!!

© 2013 – 2019, Aimee. All rights reserved. Love it? Please share, pin, tweet or email but do not use my work without permission.