Judging a Blog by Its Cover

[View Discussions]

Does the design of your book review blog really matter?  How do the color and images of your blog represent who you are as a reviewer?  How does blog design affect how your "clients" perceive your skills and abilities as a reviewer?  How did you design your book review blog, and what impression are you hoping to make by the choices you made?

http://astrangeplacecalledhome.blogspot.com

[Rosie of Proses' Roses]

It does to me. I really hate blogs with dark backgrounds with light or neon text, it just hurts my eyes and seems juvenile most of the time. Another thing is clutter, when blogs have a billion widgets and badges, it's just messy and overwhelming.

Another pet peeve is when the main column is tiny (more common on bloggers).

Other things I look for is "about" pages and archives (like what if I want to see a specific type of post), organization, if those are missing than I don't think the blog is as well thought out as it should be.

 

I have a wordpress blog so I can't customize it as much without paying for the services.

 

I will still look around the blog but these are real turn offs. I'm just picky. :D 

[ManOfLaBook.com]

Of course design matters.

 

For example, if you got some fancy shmancy curvy font on your blog there is a good chance that many people won't bother reading it, or if you have many graphics which is difficult to load or too many animated GIFs

 

http://www.ManOfLaBook.com

[Evangeline Han]

Yes, the blog's design matters a lot to me. I dislike blogs with horrible colored backgrounds that makes it difficult to read. Also, cluttered and over-colored blogs are my pet peeve.

[Jennifer Kitchens]

I do have opinions about blog designs.  I like them to be easy to read and be organized so I don't get confused trying to find what I'm looking for/at.  I also like to see an appropriate theme to it that reflects what do. 

 

Personally, I do a romance review blog so I stuck with reds, hearts, roses and such.  I like how it turned out and others have commented that it's cute, so I'm not alone in that thought.  I think you should just make it easy to use/read and make you smile whenever you see it.

 

Clean Romance Reviews

[Jennifer Kitchens]

Thank you!  I really like it - it makes me smile every time I look at it.  The font....the actual blog posts are Cherry Cream Soda.  The titles of the gadgets and tabs are Rock Salt.  The rest is Merriweather.  (I hope that made sense.)  I just picked from what blogger had available - I have no idea if it translates over to anything else.

[Michelle Isenhoff]

"It makes me smile every time I look at it."

 

I like that!  That's what my blog does to me too.  It's a good, satisfying feeling, isn't it?

http://www.michelleisenhoff.wordpress.com

[Lesa]

 

Same here. I prefer to read user friendly uncluttered blogs with two columns, a wide main column, large font, light background/darker text, easy to navigateand  and no flashy things or music.

 So yes, design matters because I won't follow a blog that isn't easy on the eyes.  But on the other hand, a completely sterile blog is blah--- so little tasteful touches of personality to stand out of the crowd and attract a reader's attention is important.  

My bookish blog is not a review blog-- it is about all things books/reading and is inspired by a note written in 1951 that I found in an old book. The design reflects my penchant for user friendly uncluttered blogs. And I hope the Welcome blurb, about page and vintage roses border lets visitors quickly know that Mrs. BG is a cozy quirky chatty sort of blog.

 

Baja Greenawalt's Cozy Book Nook

 

:o) 

[K. C. Blake]

I know that when I am looking for reviewers if I go to a blog on Blogger and they have that book background that comes with the site, I usually go somewhere else.  To me it feels like if a person doesn't put any work into the blog then they probably won't put much work into doing a review.  Just my opinion.

[Rikki]

The design matters a lot.
I hate animated gifs, five hundred images in the sidebar that is longer than the actual number of posts displayed and those childish cartoon figures in banners.
My blog is mainly book related (with some food, and crafts thrown in) and I try to keep it as clean as possible.

Rikki
http://www.rikkidonovan.com

[Phillip Stanley]

Well, I just set mine up. I find that a ton of different buttons, links, etc are a little overwhelming to me. However I like it when people personalize their blogs. I happen to have put a personal friiends spacescape art on mine because I just love spacescapes.

I think that the content of the blog is more important than the fancy "paint job" put on it though. 

[Katie Parker]

With so many professionally-created, free themes out there, it's a shame to find blogs that AREN'T well-designed. Tumblr has some GREAT ones, as does Wordpress. There are a lot of Blogger ones that I just don't care for, though.

Some things I look for, from a purely aesthetic standpoint: use of only a few colors that match well, headers that aren't too tall (you shouldn't have to scroll down to get to the start of the content), and an uncluttered sidebar. I usually like to see an About Me page, too, so I know what kind of reviews to expect (since those are the main kind of book blogs I read).

http://boookish.tumblr.com

[Rikki]

I had no idea tumbl even had blogs. I had a look at yours and I love the very clean look of it. I also liked your post about how to choose books, btw. Must comment on that one later, :).