In “How to Create a Blog Design from Scratch?” I talked about the first step you need to take when learning how to create a blog design. The first step being figure out what you need to know and the price you must pay in order to get there. I also talked about how most people tend to skip this step and dive in blindly. The following is the result of not knowing what you need to learn and do in order to create a good blog design.

This is you on drugs. Nah, I am just kidding… No, really this is you on drugs.

As you can see without a plan, you risk spending your time and energy into the wrong areas. This can take place over months or even years until you reach a point where you can create an awesome blog design. Some make it, but most end up quitting from the lack of results. In order to avoid wasting your efforts in the wrong areas, you need to figure out what you need to know in order to create a blog design in the beginning.

What you need to know

The good news is that most of the knowledge you need to gather is applicable to all blog softwares. The only difference in what you need to learn will be the tools you use to integrate your blog design into the blog software of your choice. Each blog software has their own system of integrating templates so you will have to learn the specifics for each blog software you want to design for.

For example, you will need to learn bits and pieces of php in order to integrate your blog design into WordPress. On the other hand, if you want to integrate your blog design into Textpattern, you will need to learn their custom textile tags. The benefit with Textpattern is that you don’t need to know php and the textile tags are very similar to regular old html. Which blog software you end up choosing to design for is really up to your personal preferences and needs. I will discuss the pros and cons of designing for different blog softwares in a future article.

I would just like to note before talking about the different areas that this is what I feel you need to know in order to build a great blog design. It is based on my opinions, experiences, and observations. You are free to disagree with me, which would be a fun discussion, but I honestly think it is pretty hard to build a great blog design consistently without the right knowledge. You could get lucky or go with your gut feeling and end up creating a great blog design, but I doubt you can do it again without the following fundamental basics.

1. Blog design

The art and science of blog design is a careful balance of many different factors that include usability, aesthetics, typography, images, readability, contrast, and color. Blog design and web design are largely intertwined. Blog design is web design, but with a pin-point laser focus on the specific needs of blogs, its users, and its authors. Careful attention must be paid to the differences so while you learn web design, ask yourself how you will apply this to blog design.

2. Typography

When you take away all the graphics, a good blog design is essentially an assortment of well placed text in the right areas in order to communicate your message. Typography can not be overlooked in your blog design and while your regular readers won’t be able to tell what mistakes you made in your design, they will be able to sense that something is wrong instinctively and be turned away. Read as much as you can in this area.

3. Color

Color has the ability to evoke emotions as it gives life to an other wise boring design. It also has the ability to direct attention to certain elements on your blog. It is very versatile in its use and your use if it will depend on what you want to communicate. Without the knowledge in this area, your application of color might have unintended effects on your readers that could sabotage your blog.

4. Usability

Usability has been gaining a lot of focus in recent years and for good reason. A blog design is an interface between a reader and the information you have on your blog. If the interface is hard to use or impossible to use, then the information will never get to the reader. This will increase the likelihood that the reader will leave your blog thinking that what they are looking for isn’t there when it very well could be.

5. CSS/XHTML

Let’s make this clear, CSS/XHTML are tools a designer uses to create a blog design. These tools change from time to time as technology evolves. At this time these are the tools you need to learn in order to make your blog design really come to life. Without the ability to integrate your blog design into the blog software of your choice, your blog design will just be a pretty picture.

In the last few years, hiring someone to code your design is becoming a more popular option. While you could probably get away with hiring someone to do your coding, you will end up losing a lot of flexibility when it comes to making changes to your design. Knowing your code inside and out will allow you to make your blog designs really come to life.

6. Blogging

While having experience and knowledge with blogging from the author’s point of view is not required, it damn well should be. It will help you understand what is important to put emphasis on and what makes a blog successful. This will allow you to create a design that can take a blog’s success even further.

How much do you need to know?

I admit, it seems like a lot to learn, especially if you are new to designing anything for the internet. While you do not have to master each of the previous categories to design a great blog design, the more you know, the better your blog design will be in general. How much you need to know of each subject depends on your goals and if you are willing to pay the price for them.

Creating a blog design with no equal

If you want to be the best, I recommend trying to get as good as you can in all of the subjects. Get your skills to above average in all the areas as fast as you can and then focus on one area at time to get as good as you can be.

Making little tweaks to an existing blog design

If you just want to make your blog design a little better, you can get away with just knowing bits and pieces of each area. Focus on the areas you feel will give you the most return on investment, but first make sure you get your skills in each area to a basic level. It won’t take that much effort or time to get it to a basic level.

Create a good blog design

If you are somewhere between the two, you are going to have to play around with how much you need to know. If you find that your blog design is not at the level you want it to be, then you need to invest more time in your weak areas. Don’t neglect to work on your strong areas as well, because it can never be too strong.

Let’s revisit our map from earlier

This is you with a plan to get to an awesome blog design.

Ok, maybe I exaggerated with the drawing a bit, because even with a plan there will be rough spots where you get stuck, but at least you know where you are going. This will result in a much faster learning speed than having nothing.

In the next article in this series, I will talk about gathering resources from the print world. Subscribe today for free and get updates on future articles.

Footnote

1. Icons used in Blog design and Usability sections are from Fast Icon. They are free, so go grab them if you like it or grab some other ones.