I sat here and watched a lot of bloggers re-design their blogs. Shoe did it, Cow did it, and Chow did, too. Meanwhile, I sat here, really disliking the look and feel of JoeTech.com. It was time for a change.
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(click the images to view full size)
I started with a click on an ad I saw on JohnCow.com for Logo Samurai. I am always a little cautious about hiring designers online, but the portfolio looked good enough, and I figured $30 was a small price to pay to check them out. I opted, as well, for the additional 3 designs just so I would feel like I wasn’t settling with the first one (I ultimately did). My order was confirmed and I was promised logos within 3 days. 2 days later, I got my logos. These guys turned out to be fast, professional, and capable of giving me a great logo. I cannot stress this more: Go to them if you have a logo need. I should point out that they are working on an affiliate program, but it’s not yet in place. My statements here are driven completely by my satisfaction. Anyway…
With my logo completed, all I needed was a new design. I had gotten a couple quotes because while I know my way around Photoshop, I know someone who creates WP themes for a living could do far better than I could. Unfortunately, I don’t have the $1,000+ in my budget that I was quoted (worth it… I just don’t have it), so what you see here is my own stab at it. I think it came out ok for my first time doing it, but it could use improvement, too.
Along with a new look comes a few new features:
- Get reviewed for free. (Click the menu link for info)
- 125×125 ad spots (Want one? They’re on sale)
- Popular Posts (scroll to the bottom)
- Contact page (no spam, please)
- About page (had to do it)
I’m interested in any feedback, good or bad!
No related posts.
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on December 9th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
Hey joe!
I liked the logo and your goat-beard in that! ;)
seriously, the logo creator is really a professional player.
I really like your new design………Keep it up man!
on December 9th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Nasir:
Thanks. There’s still some kinks to work out (like I noticed that the text in this comment form is puke green (eww). Logo Samurai rocks and will be doing my logos from now on.
on December 9th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
Hi Joe,
Love the new look. Very professional looking.
Now I know where to go to get my logo when I get to that point in my journey.
on December 9th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
EJ: Thanks. I think it’s at least a good departure from my old free theme.
on December 9th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
I like it. This is a good change.
on December 9th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
Stephan: Thanks. I’m hoping it’s easier for people to read and navigate, too.
on December 9th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
I can’t believe this is your first try, it looks great, well done. I’ve been looking at a lot of templates over the last day and this is one of the most memorable ones. Just one thing, when I clicked on comments an error message came up about 4 or 5 times saying stack overflow on line and then a couple of different line numbers.
on December 9th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
clairec23: Thanks. This one’s not a template, but my own design… I basically stripped everything but a little CSS out of the Greene Marinee theme I was using and re-did it. I’ll have to find out what the comments issue is all about. Thanks for the heads up on that.
on December 9th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
excellent layout and neatly arranged site. I adore your work. hmm may be its time for me to migrate to self hosting instead of free hosting
on December 9th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
Joe, site looks good and its nice to get some info on reliable, inexpensive designers.
If your looking for suggestions: I would suggest that you spread the five menu items across the width of all three columns.
-rockon
on December 9th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
Looks better than the previous one. Really quite cool. Congratulations.
on December 9th, 2007 at 9:08 pm
I really like your new theme and your logo. It’s very cool and modern looking.
on December 9th, 2007 at 9:30 pm
Hi there,
Dropping by for the first time but I really like your theme. The caricature of you is spot on. I also like the gradient nature of the comments. Very nice and clean overall.
on December 9th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
etomyam: Thanks for the compliments. Self hosting definitely has its advantages, and it’s not too bad of a deal when you have enough sites hosted. I have 30 at the moment, so it comes out to about $3/month/site.
on December 9th, 2007 at 11:25 pm
GeologyJoe: The menu items were initially images and then I thought better of it, so I changed them to be dynamic. I may end up spreading themacross the width of the whole site, but I’m not 100 percent sure, yet, if I’m going to add another item.
on December 9th, 2007 at 11:28 pm
pink, laura, and miriam: Thanks for the kind words.
clairec23: While at my dad’s house, I saw the problem you spoke of in IE7 and it’s terribly annoying. I’m sorry about that and will figure out why that’s happening.
on December 10th, 2007 at 12:45 am
Hi Joe,you had good looking website.nice,keep working guys..!
on December 10th, 2007 at 2:40 am
Nice new look! I like the logo too. But maybe you can make a better use of the header? Did you mention that anywhere?
on December 10th, 2007 at 3:04 am
Nice and clean! Strange: big white space above “download the toolbar”. Why?
on December 10th, 2007 at 3:06 am
Mif: thanks
Mary_Freebies: Thanks. I’ve been thinking about what I might put in the hader space. Any ideas?
on December 10th, 2007 at 3:08 am
gLf: That’s the Alexa graph that should be showing up there. Maybe it’s just loading slow.
on December 10th, 2007 at 8:00 am
Hi Joe, Nice new look and logo and user friendy and spacious too.
best of luck from the team at NSR Free Movie Streams.
on December 11th, 2007 at 9:34 am
Very cool design. I’ve been wanting to do a caracature of my self for my avatar, and I like how they did yours.
Lookin’ good!
on December 11th, 2007 at 10:11 am
Norman and Scoot: Thanks.
on December 11th, 2007 at 10:47 am
Maybe it’s just an IE thing? It’s happening more often this time. But obviously it isn’t stopping anyone from commenting ;)
on December 11th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Hey Joe,
I really like the new design and logo. I am glad that you told me about Samurai. Maybe I will use them for my next logo.
Here are my suggestions:
1. Move your popular posts way up in your theme. These are important for keeping readers at your site.
2. Width issue – I am using a 19in screen and your theme is slightly larger than my screen size.
Other than that, great job!
on December 11th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
clairec23: I just narrowed it down to the MyAvatars WordPress plug-in. I deactivated it and it’s all better.
on December 11th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
Fred: Thanks for the comments. As for the issues:
1. Good call… I put them down there to fill that space, but now I have some ideas about how to move some things around. I’ll be making some more small changes before the new year, and moving those up is one of the changes.
2. The width of the site compared to your screen will depend more on the resolution and not really on the screen size. What resolution are you at?
on December 11th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Love the redesign – we also love people criticism on our site. so free review right over here: http://www.asktheadmin.com
on December 11th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
LOVEEE THE DESIGN!! Keep up the good work!
-Mike
on December 11th, 2007 at 6:46 pm
Looking good! The santa hat icon is a cute touch!
on December 11th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
Thanks, John and Mike.
Laura: Welcome back, as always. Thanks RE: the santa hat. I just figured that if the RSS icon could have one, so could I.
on December 11th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
cool look yaar :D
on December 12th, 2007 at 10:13 am
Joe if its anything like my redesign in you are going to be very happy, my site took on a new life after my redesign, although I will tell you your old banner took on a life of its own in regards to branding, I saw that thing everywhere.
on December 12th, 2007 at 10:28 am
narendra: Are you a pirate? =)
MSMM: I’m already feeling more connected to my readers with this new design. As well, I personally like the redesign. The old logo header (which I hated but just did in about 5 seconds to have something up there) got around a little, but the new one will be all over the place in 2008. I have some big things planned.
on December 13th, 2007 at 5:08 am
what a revolution! your site’s new look rocks! i wish i had the know-how to renovate my blog as you do.
http://myconsolingasylum.blogspot.com
on December 13th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
Million Dollar Site!!!!
Looks Great! Smells Great! You’re Great!
Ok, no more a** kissing. Really Joe, the design is awesome. I tried to get a caricature of my self, long time goal for a logo. But they never really turned out. You lucky jhaga;uervner’vuhioe’uvbe’vmv!!!!
Much <3
on December 13th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
Thanks, Zang!
BadEvan: Thanks. Your site’s pretty nice, too. You should check out Logo Samurai for a logo. They’re awesome. Thanks for all the Entrecard traffic, by the way.
on December 14th, 2007 at 9:03 am
Nice logo, unfortunately my Open The Door logo isn`t too much of what I have expected..
But it`s neither a easy idea to follow..
I have payed 30$ for a logo that I`ll not use..
Still I like the one they gived to you.. it looks awsome.
my2cents
on December 14th, 2007 at 9:15 am
Cristian: Sorry to hear it. Let them know that you’re unhappy with it. They may be willing to hear what you don’t like about it and make some changes. Of course, $30 for logo design is not a lot, so you could be stuck with what you’ve got, but express your concerns to them in a polite manner and see what happens.
on December 14th, 2007 at 10:22 pm
The thing that attracts more is logo.
on December 31st, 2007 at 3:24 pm
[...] month didn’t see a lot of posts as the holidays kept me busy, I managed to give JoeTech.com a huge makeover, which seems to have been met with open arms by my readers. Then I joined Entrecard (if you [...]