Blog Design and the Impact on the Web
I recently read a great article here by Ben Garfinkel of Industrial Brand Creative.
He brings up the point about how blogs are having an effect on how companies have been impacted by consumers. To use his examples, the i-pod nano had some difficulties with cracking screens and susceptibility to scratches, after a blog, and subsequent online offshoots, Apple took notice.
I have personally noticed that blogs have not only been effecting companies marketing strategies and consumer relations, but it seems they are slowly beginning to impact the design of ordinary web pages and content as well. The elimination of tables, the prominence of CSS, and the fluid design, can be said to have become standardized by blogs.
Predominantly, the blog aesthetic consists of the top image bar, a center column of content, which extends down as far as the content requires, and one or two columns on the side containing links (see examples here and here). Though this is rarely adhered to strictly (CSS Zen Garden being one great example with many iterations), we can see elements of this aesthetic in sites like The Guardian, or Veer, both of which have blogs of their own.
As more and more companies add blogs to their sites, the integration of the design will continue to impact the aesthetics of both aspects of their online presence. For this reason, it seems blogs are having an impact not just on marketing or public relations, but on the graphic design community as well.
He brings up the point about how blogs are having an effect on how companies have been impacted by consumers. To use his examples, the i-pod nano had some difficulties with cracking screens and susceptibility to scratches, after a blog, and subsequent online offshoots, Apple took notice.
I have personally noticed that blogs have not only been effecting companies marketing strategies and consumer relations, but it seems they are slowly beginning to impact the design of ordinary web pages and content as well. The elimination of tables, the prominence of CSS, and the fluid design, can be said to have become standardized by blogs.
Predominantly, the blog aesthetic consists of the top image bar, a center column of content, which extends down as far as the content requires, and one or two columns on the side containing links (see examples here and here). Though this is rarely adhered to strictly (CSS Zen Garden being one great example with many iterations), we can see elements of this aesthetic in sites like The Guardian, or Veer, both of which have blogs of their own.
As more and more companies add blogs to their sites, the integration of the design will continue to impact the aesthetics of both aspects of their online presence. For this reason, it seems blogs are having an impact not just on marketing or public relations, but on the graphic design community as well.
