I have rebooted!
May 1st, 2006
So here it is folks, the shiny new website, as promised and I hope you like it. I have re-designed the site as part of the CSS Reboot and if you feel so inclined, you can rate it by viewing my profile.
So what has changed around here? Quite a lot actually, gone is my modified K2 theme and in with the dark monkey and I am proud to welcome the addition of a regular comic called “Pandemic” by a grafitti artist called JZY. One of the things I wanted to do with this was to tone down bell and whistle plugins and roll with a focus on what I write, I plan to integrate a few more things but hey, time was tight and I needed to launch.
This is what my site looked like before the reboot:
This has been quite a big deal for me, I have a) never taken part in something like this and b) had an awful lot to learn in order to do the custom job that is now at your mercy. Please let me know what you think of it as feedback is always welcome.
Wow, feels good to be typing again instead of coding, I have been busy with work recently so was a little concerned I was going to run out of time. Many hrs have been spent in front of my computer in the last month and I thought at one point I may even be on the cards for divorcee of the year awards. Caroline has been patient with me and I have battled on and I think it has been worth the effort although there will no doubt be some refining going on over the next week or so.
There is nothing quite like a deadline to help you focus, it is harder to focus on a deadline when you have a family about, I am looking forward to not having the night time responsibility of building every night when I get in from building all day. I spent the day today in the park with my daughter and we had a ball and I am looking forward to doing more of things like that… oh yeah, and perhaps avoid that divorcees award 
Anyway, that is my brief little write up on what I have done, I look forward to any feedback you may have and lets see what the future hold for us.
I’m back in full effect and I ain’t going anywhere soon!
void Author Comment
May 1st, 2006
Love that resolution-dependent layout for the Pandemic ad. Very clever.
Alan Author Comment
May 1st, 2006
Yeah, I liked it when I first saw it in action, I think it still needs a little bit of tweaking but I will wait and see if folk are having problems with it.
Matt Brett Author Comment
May 2nd, 2006
Great job on the Reboot! I love how everything feels worn. I realize this is hard to pull off when you have lots of plain text as well - but your choice of colours componsated nicely for these areas. And that monkey… he’s just awesome!
Good idea to have the right side bump down under the content area, but I wonder if you could take that a step further? I have my browser window open pretty wide and most sites built for 1024×768 fit it in without forcing horizontal scrollbars. But I have to open it up another 100 pixels or so for your site. Maybe you could break the sidebar into 2 columns and have the comic in it’s own? So if the window isn’t wide enough for both, the comic would get bumped down first, then the sidebar links, etc. Just a thought, but I’m sure many would appreciate that.
Alan Author Comment
May 2nd, 2006
Thanks for the kind words Matt, I have been playing with a resolution dependent layout on this design so the feedback is welcome (Still having teething issues with the onload event in IE).
To be honest there are still a few things I would like to integrate so the sidebar is still wide open to the old tinker tweak syndrome I’m sure most web developers have a dose of…
I also want to give a little more love to the much neglected 800×600 resolution on the site but this was a “phase 2″ thing based on my current stats.
Cheers
Luke L Author Comment
May 2nd, 2006
Thanks for the comment on my site, gave me a much needed boost. As for your site, well, what can I say. Wow. Love it, the monkey reminds me so much of the monkeys in ‘where’s your head at’. The comic is amazing (I’m definetly going to keep up to date with it). Brilliant work man, 10/10.
Alan Author Comment
May 3rd, 2006
No worries about the comments, I like what you did, I consider this to be a social event as well as testing my skills so it is nice to POP in and give encouragement to folks.
I am still only on page 4 of the reboots as it is hard finding time to get through them all properly. At one point I decided to do a few at the other end also. Maybe I’ll get through them all by the time the next reboot comes around
Oh yeah, and cheers for the props… consider me boosted
Jared Christensen Author Comment
May 4th, 2006
This is just sexy! My only constructive criticism would be that the font (is that Trebuchet?) is kind of hard to read. But I love the work black-on-black look!
Alan Author Comment
May 4th, 2006
Hi Jared
Glad you like what I have done, I have just stumbled across an article pointing out all of the black sites that have been launched as part of the reboot.
I don’t necessarily think it is that bad thing in my case as I would like to think this site isn’t a stereotype.
With regards to the text, I have been humming & hawing over the font face for the main body copy since I saw how legible the comments were. I wanted to experiment with different font faces with this design but I would have to say Trebuchet is my favourite online typeface so maybe I will use that.
Cheers for the “constructive” critisism, I appreciate it.
Jared Christensen Author Comment
May 19th, 2006
Heh, I had meant to type “I love the WORN black-on-black look!” in my last comment. I suck at typing.
I had said that the font was hard to read, but I’m going to refine that statement by adding that I think there’s some CSS styling going on that is making the kerning between characters irregular. I don’t mean to harp on it, it’s just one of those important details. So to recap: Trebuchet = good; character spacing = irregular. Your design = still sexy, regardless.
Alan Author Comment
May 19th, 2006
Hello again Jared
Please do harp on about the typography on my site, that was kind of the focus when I went to make it because I had never done it before.
I have no formal design background so it is always a learning curve and I very much welcome the input from those who do know.
On that note I do have to pull you up though, I am using Georgia for my main body copy
The reason I used it was because it added to the worn look however I am sitting at my computer just now to take what you have said onboard and hopefully tweak it so that it is easier to read.
Having said that I do use Trebuchet for these comments and they look rather nice even if I do say so myself!
After the feedback kicking about about the release of a lot of dark sites on the reboot, I am eager to make sure that the site remains usable.
My increasing interest in colour contrast is likely to come into play as well as I do realise that this plays a massive part in how people view your site.
Anyway, this is turning into a mini post, I will go and see what I can do about it…
Cheers!