2. INTRODUCTION 1 LIFESTYLE 30
Current Section Title
BUSINESS 2
4 NONPROFIT 44
DESIGN 9 TECHNOLOGY 50
ENTERTAINMENT 19 CONCLUSION 57
2
3. INTRODUCTION.
81% of U.S. online consumers trust information and advice from
blogs. But how do you get people to be interested in your blog?
We’ve mentioned before that your website homepage is like the front
door to your business. The same goes for your blog. If you’re not
attracting people visually, how will you get them to trust what you’re
blogging?
A common issue we see with blog design is finding a balance between
visual design and effective content presentation. Blogs are chalk full of
images, text and links that need to be shown off just right – otherwise it
just turns the reader away because they can’t make heads or tails of
what’s going on.
That’s why we’ve put together a variety of well-designed blog
homepages to get you on the right track to designing the perfect blog
for your readers.
5. PANDODAILY.
An important aspect of a well-designed blog is a consistent color scheme and style. Pandodaily is using 3
different fonts that look great together when unified by the colors of the blog.
6. START UP QUOTE.
Start Up Quote does a great job at taking simple content and conveying it in an interesting and attractive
manner. The black background makes the colorful, tiled quotes pop and draw visitors right to the meat and
potatoes of the blog.
7. THE NEXT WEB.
The Next Web makes great use of a two column design. They use the left side bar to showcase both
“Popular” and “Latest” articles while displaying their top stories on the right with a variety of thumbnails. The
text heavy layout gives room to include more keywords for your search optimization.
8. VENTURE BEAT.
Never underestimate the power of image placement. When you first arrive on the VB website, you
immediately notice the five main articles at the top of the page. The contrasting black, white, and red make
the headlines stand out.
10. ABDUZEEDO.
As a design blog, the use of thumbnails is key to keeping visitors satisfied and interested in the visual
content. You’ll also notice the sleek, unobtrusive, social icons in the top right corner. Everything about the
blog screams sleek.
11. AWWWARDS.
Awwwards blog should be nothing less than amazing. And it is. You can see that the navigation, fonts, and
links are all consistent in design and color. Evenly sized and spaced tiles makes it easy to scroll through
large amount of content.
12. DESIGN MILK.
Aside from the creative logo, Design Milk uses a very simple layout to show off its blog posts. The sidebar to
the right is perfect for showing off thumbnails that draw readers into new articles. The social icons in the top
right are a pleasant addition to the overall look and feel of the site.
13. GOMEDIAZINE.
The blue and orange color scheme of Gomediazine work remarkably well with the light background and grey
font. Other than the ad on the right, this website is very clean of clutter and still avoids looking bland.
14. HELLO BAR.
Everything from the background to the social media buttons spew character. Hello Bar did a fantastic job
taking a simple layout and giving it a personality of its own.
15. LOOKS LIKE GOOD DESIGN.
For visual heavy content, a layout similar to this design blog provides readers with a convenient way to
simply scroll through loads of posts. We have a dark background with bright links and light bordered tiles
that make everything stand out.
16. MODERNERD.
You may not notice at first, but Modernerd has a subtle background design. This blog is an example of how
less is more. We have text heavy posts, simple navigation buttons, and an even simpler logo. Minimalist
blog designs are rare but greatly appreciated when done correctly.
17. WEBDESIGNER DEPOT.
The banner of Webdesigner Depot stands out with its bright colors and subtle details while working itself into
the design of the entire blog. The color scheme, background and fonts are all consistent. This keeps the
blog from looking like any basic WordPress or blogger template.
18. WE LOVE TYPOGRAPHY.
We love typography! The simple, yet visually striking layout of this typography focused blog gives readers
the option of sorting posts based on color. You can also adjust the layout of the website by changing the
arrangement of the grid.
20. 500PX.
This is another two column blog that uses the sidebar as an effective way to showcase a variety of
thumbnails. The stats, social links, and related article information on the right side of each post is perfect for
keeping readers interested.
21. COOL HUNTING.
Cool Hunting has a slick navigation bar. These clean boxes with small font add to the overall look of the site.
The top stories are also represented by three well sized thumbnails that draw the reader’s eyes.
22. GET ADDICTED TO.
Get Addicted To has a simple, yet creative logo that stands out among all the white space. The large
slideshow and rows of small icons give the site a clean, clutter free layout.
23. GET THE FIVE.
This site has posts set up in groups of five. The individual slideshows use five dots in the top right corners to
indicate slide positions and subtle arrows on the left and right to navigate through the 5 slides. The tags in
the left sidebar give ample opportunity to include high ranking keywords.
24. I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER.
We’re sure you’ve stumbled upon this website at one point or other. The design aspect that stands out is the
simple set of social sharing icons at the top and to the right.
25. MASHABLE.
Mashable breaks its content into 3 noticeable sections on the homepage. The new posts are listed on the
left in the smallest sized thumbnails, The “Next Big Thing” posts are displayed in the center column as
medium-sized thumbnails, and the “What’s Hot” posts are shown to the right as large thumbnails.
26. PICTORY.
The black background showcases the featured articles in an aesthetically pleasing layout. Pictory uses
white and yellow font to create much needed contrast and keeps the site from looking too dark.
27. THE BURNING HOUSE.
This blog feels a lot like an Instagram filter. The simple layout, small text, and rounded corners makes this
site a pleasure to navigate.
28. THE OATMEAL.
Whether you enjoy the comics and jokes as much as we do doesn't matter. The design take away from this
blog is the overall consistency of the website. Everything from the colors, fonts, navigation buttons, and
thumbnails is in tune with the brand.
29. THE OPEN PHOTOBLOG.
It is very rare that a blog can pull off a “dark theme.” A design style that utilizes a color scheme on the dark
side of the color spectrum has its problems. The issue with dark themes, is that font becomes harder to read
against dark backgrounds and tends to strain the reader’s eyes. This, whoever, was done right.
31. ADVENTURE JOURNAL.
An attractive design feature of this blog are the articles displayed in the center column. Normally you’d find
the smaller thumbnails on either the right or left of a site, but hardly ever in the center. This makes it easier
to spot and doesn't draw the reader too far from the main content.
32. APARTMENT THERAPY.
The left sidebar is designed to showcase a large number of categories and articles without over stretching
the page vertically. No one likes to scroll to the bottom of a page just to see some related articles.
33. BRIT+CO.
First off, the color scheme is warm and welcoming. Second, the homepage is another great example of
clean and clutter free. layout One thing that many blogs don’t do enough of is including a profile image. For
personal blogs, it bolds well to introduce yourself to your readers.
34. DELICIOUS DAYS.
Personally, I think it is difficult to avoid fonts like Helvetica, Tahoma, Calibri and the assortment of other new
style fonts when the idea of Times New Roman brings you back to college term papers. Delicious Days finds
a way to use a more formal style font by designing the layout to match.
35. DETECTIVE D DUBS.
The design of this particular blog plays more on the interactive side. The sidebar doubles as the navigation
bar and has a simple and integrated Twitter feed. All of the articles are displayed on the homepage in
evenly-sized tiles that flip to reveal titles and text when hovered over.
36. DOOCE.
Dooce makes great use of white space. The issue with many blogs is that the combination of images and
text in close proximity to one another create a very cluttered and confusing experience for readers.
37. DWELL.
Dwell breaks its content into a few well-organized sections. The big space saver is the slideshow at the top of
the page. You’ll notice that there are eight articles compiled into that slideshow for readers to browse through.
38. ECOKI.
A textured background and angled header gives this blog a look and feel of its own. Although the particular
layout doesn’t differ from many others, the small details set it apart.
39. FOODILY.
Aside from the appetizing background image, Foodily’s large search bar creates an amazingly convenient
feature for readers.
40. JOHNNY CUPCAKES.
We’ve talked about brand consistency before and Johnny Cupcakes knows a thing or two about that. The
blog’s simple color scheme and matching fonts creates a unified user experience from shop to blog.
41. SVBTLE.
In case you didn’t notice, SVTBLE has a clean and sleek look. One great feature is the subtle navigation bar
in the bottom left corner of the site. It’s almost as if it were designed with subtlety in mind.
42. THE SATORIALIST.
The sidebar is simple and packed with well-organized content. Each section of the sidebar is evenly
separated from one another while maintaining a consistent look throughout the site.
43. WE HEART.
Every inch of the site is filled with colorful and attractive content without appearing cluttered. We Heart uses
a variety of tiles and even spacing to pull off this complete look. Even the social media links have been
turned into tiles to fill in empty space!
45. CHARITY: WATER.
The Charity: Water blog does a great job at presenting high quality images in a centered slideshow. The red
tags give the blog flare while the subtle social icons keep it from being too distracting.
46. CURE.
Another great example of a textured background and textured design elements that give this blog a distinct
personality.
47. GIRL SCOUTS.
The Girl Scouts take design elements from a three column layout and sprinkle it with a personal touch. The
header graphics and wide range of colors make for a very pleasant reader experience.
48. SALVATION ARMY.
The clean navigation bar, large slideshow, and colorful social buttons draw the reader to the important
elements of this blog. Posts are neatly positioned and easily accessible to visitors.
49. UNECO.
This simple and interactive blog layout offers users a friendly and visual experience. Readers can use the
small arrows to the left and right to navigate through posts. The small navigation bar and clean sidebar don’t
distract from the main content.
51. ENGADGET.
For the most part, Engadget has a very basic blog set up. The design aspect that sets it apart is its slightly
more interactive top banner and the text heavy sidebar that makes headlines the main attraction and not the
thumbnails. The layout design allows for longer headlines and links to improve SEO ranking.
52. GIZMODO.
Gizmodo, unlike many other tech blogs, is not much for scrolling. When you visit the site, you’ll notice that
the homepage doesn’t really scroll beyond the end of the sidebar. This is possible because the sidebar
actually scrolls independently of the homepage which makes it easer for readers.
53. TECH CRUNCH.
You can always tell you’re on Tech Crunch when you come across an article. This is because of their bright
and sometimes obnoxious neon green text, icons, or logo. This isn’t a horrible thing when done with
restraint, and can set your site apart with a very simple design change.
54. THE VERGE.
The colors! The Verge utilizes transparent color overlays to spice up their thumbnails and make those
headlines stand out like sore thumbs. The layout houses a large number of optimized links and headers to
achieve better ranking in search engines.
55. TREE HUGGER.
Once again, bright and sometimes obnoxious colors can bold quite well for a blog if done right. Treehugger’s
neon green bars and white font sure pop on the page.
56. WIRED.
What most people forget to focus on when designing a blog or even a website, is the importance of their
logo. This logo not only acts as your “We’re Open” sign, but also seconds as a link to your homepage.
People will always look for it when navigating back to the blog homepage. Just make sure it’s inviting!
57. CONCLUSION.
As you can see in these examples, every blog has its own
character and personality. Remember to think about how your
design will reflect that character – and if your target readership is
right for it. Ask yourself questions about your content such as:
• “Is it text heavy or image heavy?”
• “Will these colors make it hard to read my articles?”
• “Can my readers see all the categories?”
Designing your blog is less about the graphics, colors, and text,
and more about the layout of your content for the readers.
There’s no point having a great looking blog if readers are having
trouble getting to the actual content, the content they trust. With
any design project, remember to do your research and have fun!
SHARE COLLECTION
58. LOOKING TO
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