ColourLovers.com is probably my favorite design resource. It’s also my favorite source of inspiration, believe it or not. More than once I have been able to simply pull up a color palette and become inspired for an entire layout. And color palettes and color schemes and patterns is what ColourLovers is all about, so make sure you check them out!
WhatTheFont! is my favorite online font resource. The title is hilarious, since it’s obviously a direct spin-off of a popular curse-containing phrase, but more importantly it helps you figure out fonts that you just don’t know the origins of by allowing you to upload a picture. It traces the letters and curves, and comes up with its best guesses as to what the font in question might be.
I have used WhatTheFont! several times, and I’d say that 50% of the time it’s correct, or at least close. I love the fact that it provides names and links to the fonts it thinks may be the one(s), since you can then directly check out and/or download those fonts.
One of the fun parts of maintaining a blog is being able to completely customize the look of it. Whether you self-host using WordPress or another platform, or you rely on Blogger, LiveJournal, or WordPress.com, there are tons of customization options. A lot of the free hosting platforms provide pre-made templates that you can edit. And if you self-host, there are many talented designers out there that have created free themes for you to use at your leisure.
If you find yourself short on time for design, one great idea is to come up with a fantastic look, and then just update its colors several times a year. This way you have a complete design that you’re familiar with and love looking at, but it never gets old because you can simply refresh the colors!
I’m all keeping blog design simple and easy to navigate, but thank goodness we have people who are able to create blogs with more flair than this. This is a blog that harkens back to the days of Netscape Navigator, and bonus points if you remember that.
As we move more into the WYSIWYG world of blogging, the need for html literacy is dwindling. However, there is no such thing as useless information when it can help you out in a pinch. If you want to see real html code at work, check out this entry.
CSS galleries are online galleries that showcase blogs and general websites that creatively and expertly use CSS. I usually check out CSS galleries when I’m interested in finding inspiring CSS designs, or general inspiration to give me some direction to start with when designing a layout for one of my own blogs. But more recently I’ve found that CSS galleries can be used to promote your own blog! In most cases submission rules are simple enough: your site must be designed using CSS only, and should be decent looking. I’ve submitted several of my self-designed blogs to over a dozen galleries, and I’ve only had rejections from two. Not bad, right?
Without further ado, here’s a brief list of some of my favorite CSS galleries:
