Long Time Coming
It’s been a while since this site has seen some action. The last post was November of 2008, and while that’s pretty horrible, I’m sure this isn’t the first site to fall victim to neglect. Now, many months, a fresh coat of paint and a new CMS later I have to say it’s good to be back.
The itch to redesign started last fall, and after many iterations (you’re looking at version six) it was time to build out the templates. That was the easy part. In the midst of the redesign I got it in my head that I needed to graduate from WordPress to a more robust and flexible platform. I’d been working with ExpressionEngine for a while and found it easy to implement and a breeze to adapt to whatever configuration I wanted to throw at it. With that thrown into the equation, I shelved the idea of a quick launch as I didn’t have the time to work on the back-end with a full time job and freelance gigs (not to mention being the father of a three year old).
So the clock ticked on, but eventually I found myself with enough time to start a local build out of EE and began the process of setting up my site, piece by piece. Slowly but surely the site began to take form and after a couple of months tweaking here and there it was ready for prime time. Again I have to give props to the ExpressionEngine team for making a CMS that is not only simple to get up and running, but is also rather easy to move from a local environment to remote server. Just a few configuration changes later and it was good to go. I’d also like to add that the excellent ExpressionEngine screencasts by Ryan Irelan and the wonderful support of the EE community made the process of building and migrating a painless endeavor.
As for the design itself, I tried my best to adhere to a simple grid layout (fluid that is) while adding some nice, progressively enhanced touches: rounded corners via border-radius, subtle use of text-shadow and box-shadow, use of nth child to style the appearance of the posts on the home page, as well as a little jQuery thrown in here and there for good measure.
As is the case for any redesign, this is and will always be a work in progress. I’m not finished with it by any means, but to finally have it live is a great feeling.
Comments on this Post
Dan Ott
October 24, 2009Well Brad, I think you did an awesome job on this site. Lots of little details that are pretty kick-ass.
Nice work, my man.
Bradford Dielman
October 24, 2009Thanks, Dan! Like I said, I’m still adding (or removing) things here and there, but this design is a bit more flexible than the one before so it’s much easier and more fun to experiment.
Nate Klaiber
October 24, 2009Again, congrats Brad. I know you have put your blood, sweat, and tears into it - and it shows. It is very well refined.
It’s nice to see it living and breathing now - and you can iterate however you see fit.
Eric G. Wiley
October 24, 2009Mmmm. I love the smell of a fresh, new comment field.
Nice digs you’ve built yourself here, Brad!
Bradford Dielman
October 24, 2009Nate and Eric - Thanks guys! Now that the redesign is done I can devote more time to writing something every now and then. ;)
Brad C
October 24, 2009The site really does look good in person. I’ve seen screens of the design for a while, but looks so much crisper in cold clean HTML.
Bradford Dielman
October 24, 2009Thanks, Brad! Static comps never look as good as the real thing. In my opinion. :)
Josh Walsh
October 27, 2009I like the hover effects on the comments, and the use of type kid. Looks fantastic.
Bradford Dielman
October 28, 2009Thanks, Josh. More refinements to come, time permitting of course. ;)
Dana Kashubeck
November 29, 2009OMG! HOW DID I MISS THIS!!! Congratulations, Brad. I know there was a lot of time and effort here and it is beautiful. You’ve done a great job and I look forward to keeping up with (hopefully) your posts.
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