2016 Design Notes

A discussion about the 2016 re-design of Caitlyn's Masks

OK, so this is an ACTUAL post.  I mention that because all the other posts on this 'test' blog are just here to see what they would look like in this new format.

I wanted to have an actual post about this as I want to offer up some options to see and talk about, but I can only have one 'test' blog. So if I wanted you to see several different header graphics, I'd have to post one a day and have you try and remember each.   Not really conductive to an opinion.

To catch everybody up, this is me doing a major re-design of my cap blog.  Here is what my old blog looked like:

Not bad, but dated.  The layout changes were rather simple... move down to two columns, and extend the 'post' column to be much wider.  This allows me to focus on the images in the posts much more and have larger 'preview' images.   The design changes were a bit more dramatic.  I took out all of the color.  White background, black or dark gray text, light grey column backgrounds.

Here was my first swing:

Once I got this far, I put it up for others to see here.  I made a post about the redesign on the main blog and asked for input:

alexis michelle liked the new look (and was very flattering in complimenting me!), but mainly said that it should be my call.

Courtney Captisa liked it and said that she enjoyed the same white background style on her own blog.

Ambyr said that she liked the layout but "...the header feels ...grim maybe? The mask in black just seems more downbeat to me."

And finally Alectra Play thought it looked too flashy. She went on to say that it was quite a contrast to my current design, but thought that the colors would make it easier to read.  She says she likes the layout and finished by saying that it was professional but had lost some of it's spark, and was maybe too formal.




So that's where I started from today.  The first thing that really jumped out at me was what Ambyr said.  I too felt that the big dark logo was 'grim', but couldn't quite put my finger on it.  I was really missing the forest for the trees, and she nailed it.

I appreciate both alexis' and Courtney's comments.  Knowing that others like it is important.  If I get mostly comments like that, I'll know I'm done.

Then there's Alectra.  I know I can always count on her for a good honest opinion.  I'll admit that I'm a little confused on the 'flashy' description.  To me, it's lost a lot of it's flash.  The previous design had gradients, and stripes, and shadows, and while it was one color in the spectrum (pink) I thought I had used it well and kept the variety up.  So going to black and white and losing all the little flairs like shadows and gradients, to me at least, is far LESS flashy.  So I'm going to put a pin in that part of  her comment and just move on.

She said it was quite a contrast to my previous design.  Thank you!  That's what I was going for.  I didn't want this to be an evolutionary step, I wanted it to be a revolutionary step.  So at least on that point I hit my mark!  The last part of her comments were basically 'too formal and professional' considering the topics I'd be exploring.

Coming from a design background, I like the idea of something looking professional and formal.  I don't want this ever to be confused with a geocities website (remember those!).  I can appreciate that the professional and formal layout may be jarring when it comes to the raunchy TG material I'll be posting.. but I don't think that those things necessarily have to be separate.  Some of my favorite porn (you see it often enough in my caps and obsuras) has a very high quality professional look to it.  It ain't no snapshot!  X-Art, PassionHD, Wowgirls.  Sites like that look professional and formal even though they are all hardcore porn.  So while I appreciate Alectra saying it, it's something that I AM happy with and will have to disagree with her.

Before I get on to the tweaks, I want to say that I love all four of these comments.  Simply having a comment saying that you like it is helpful.  Saying that there are parts that you don't like is helpful and can often point something out to me that I didn't notice.  And lastly even if I disagree, I like the thought that Alectra put into it.  I know that she didn't just glance at it and give it a thumbs up or thumbs down.

OK... so what I focused on was the header logo.  I agree that having it be the only dark thing on the page was a bad idea. I should say that the black and white logo was actually my second attempt.  To fill the space up and not have it be black, I took my 'current' blog logo and just took the dark background out of it.  Here's what it looked like:

My impression was... to much pink.  With no other color on the blog to balance out the option there, it just SCREAMs pink to me.  And not even a good pink.  That color selection works on a dark background but on the white, it's just.... too bold?

So with that in mind, I decided to make it even more basic.  Take out the gradients, and dark colors and make the logo based on the grey I have in the layout:

It still seemed quite heavy, so I reversed it:

And that's where I am now.  I probably won't get as much chance to work on this over the weekend, so I hope I can count on you telling me your opinions.   If you like it, I'd love to hear it.  If you don't like it, I'd love to hear that too.  If you hae specific areas that you like or don't like, I'd love to hear that even more!

For my two cents, I this last one (the light gray on the white background) is a winner.

Thanks for your input everybody!

Caitlyn





Edit:

I tried out what Dee suggested in a comment below by adding a shadow to the banner.  I have to say, I'm not a fan but I don't dislike it as much as I thought I would.  Normally when I go for a shadow effect I have it fairly heavy, but I kept this one a little more subdued and I don't think that it 'breaks' the design.   I'm leaving it up for now but if I had to choose between shadow and no shadow, I think I'd still go without.  Lemme know what you think.

Oh, and just in case I change it back later, here's the banner with the shadow: