Well-Designed Weblogs: An Introduction
The Well-Designed Weblogs series is a subjective and non-scientific selection of usable and readable weblogs that are defined as having:
An aesthetically pleasing design that has been accomplished through the use of stylesheets rather than layout tables, font tags, and inline images.
Some of these weblogs have received the attention they deserve, some have not. Some you might have seen before, some you might not. Some validate, some don’t. Some are updated frequently, some are not. Some have something to say, some have not.
They have been selected because they look good, in very different ways.
Now, with this disclaimer out of the way, it would seem that a surprising amount of these weblogs are built with the separation of structure, behavior, and presentation in mind, thereby aiming for accessibility, faster load times, and device independent markup; that a majority are updated regularly, and that most of them are well worth a read.
A few weblogs that incorrectly use tables for layout have been included because their use of tables is sensible and restrained, and because their design takes considerable advantage of the power of stylesheets.
Look. Read. Be inspired.
The Volumes
Related Posts
Further Reading
- Nielsen, Jakob (2003), Usability 101, Alertbox, August 25, 2003
- O'Rourke, Sean (2003), Web site usability, marketingterms.com
- Travis, Davis (2003), Bluffers' Guide to ISO 9241, USERFOCUS
Addendum
This is a response to questions raised in the comments and elsewhere:
Reason and Context
Reasons for including a particular site in the list have been left out, for practical as well as for experimental reasons. The lists are therefore to be seen as exhibitions rather than reviews. However, given the limitations of the format of these exhibitions, it is important that all designs be judged on their own rather than in this particular context.
Aesthetics and Standards
The definition of well-designed implies the use of criteria that are outside the realm of aesthetics, since neither stylesheets nor layout tables necessarily relate to the visual aspects of a website.
This is to be seen as an endorsement of web standards, and a nod of approval to the designers and developers that use them.
The importance of such standards cannot be overestimated:
Web Standards reduce the cost and complexity of website development while increasing the accessibility and long-term viability of any site published on the web.
From a different perspective, one might think of this as getting the "moral" aspect of the selection out of the way, so that ones full attention can be directed towards the superficial.
In practice, these non-visual aspects also act as a way to filter out otherwise good-looking sites. However, once a weblog has met these criteria, the degree to which it separates structure, presentation and behavior, or the size, validity, or efficiency of its markup and style has no impact on the final decision on whether it should be included or not.
Still, a few words of caution might be in place for those seriously striving for accessibility and device independent markup:
The job is not done just because you've managed to import a stylesheet.
Even some of the sites in Well-Designed Weblogs would be well advised to take greater care in using proper structural elements, such as headings for headings, lists for lists, and make better use of background images and image-replacement techniques.
Personal Preferences
The lists are based on color, and on the way the screenshots work together visually. The overall objective has been to create a harmonious arrangement of colors and patterns, to the extent where a number of weblogs have been excluded from each volume because their color schemes or layouts didn't fit in.
It would also seem that the lists have been compiled with a preference for blue and grey color schemes, two-column layouts, and dark text on light backgrounds. To some extent they have, but these are also colors, layouts, and foreground/background combinations that have proven themselves to work well for many people, under different circumstances. It could also be argued that these design parameters reflect their distribution among the sample population, however limited and subjectively selected this population may be.
But a great designer can make almost any color scheme and layout work. An effort to include such exceptions has been made.
The selection may further seem biased towards centered content. It is. Nine times out of ten, a weblog's design does not warrant a left or right align, and would look much better centered. More importantly, having to turn left or right soon gets uncomfortable for the reader. And there are better ways to make heads turn.
But let us not forget why we are here: the main focus, after all, is on aesthetically pleasing designs. A great deal of talent, passion, and love went into the making of these sites, as did hours and hours of work. The screenshots do not do them justice.
Further Reading
- Allen, Dean (2001), Reading Design, A List Apart, Issue No. 128, November 23, 2001
- Nehamas, Alexander (2000), An Essay on Beauty and Judgment
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8 Ways to Sunday
Trackback on February 12, 2004 at 3:35 pm
Well Designed Weblogs
Lars Holst has an interesting gallery of "well-designed weblogs" on display over at his blog Mono. Have a look if you're considering a weblog redesign project. And really, who isn't?
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Trackback on February 12, 2004 at 3:39 pm
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