Blakems.com Redesigns

May 11, 2004

Along with all of the other redesigns this week, blogger, mp3.com, Dave Shea’s latest work and possible others this week. Blakems.com has a new look, with new features, and of course that “new design smell”. I got down and dirty with this version of blakems.com, you will notice I have moved my blog to the home page, and navigation has changed a bit. Here are some of the specs that I decided on with this design.

• Built using XHTML Strict and CSS 2.0
• Comments are now fully operational(I hope, I am using Movable type 3.0Beta)
• Transparent PNG images used throughout(if you are using IE, sorry, you will miss out and will only be served with transparent GIFs)
• Each section can easily change to different tab image
• Choose your preferred Color Theme 1 or Color Theme 2
• A new XML 2.0 Feed is available.

I will cover some of the techniques used in a later entry to come, many of the other techniques used are based on articles from A List Apart. The tabs are based on Douglas Bowman’s Sliding Doors of CSS and my 404 page and other error pages is based on Ian Lloyd’s The Perfect 404. Several other design decisions were based on ideas I learned through A List Apart. Please note that some of the sections have not yet been redesigned, it is always a work in progress with a personal website redesign. So sit back and enjoy the ride.

Caveat: There are still some display issues on Internet Explorer and also some spacing issues in the navigation bar on Safari, I am working on them currently, so don’t be surprised if they disappear by the week’s end.