Of late, for pleasure, I often find myself turning to Cameron Moll’s Authentic Boredom. On the strength of its useful how-to articles alone, Moll’s blog is worth any web or graphic designer’s time. The author knows his subject, approaches it in fresh ways, and writes in an engagingly natural voice. The site would repay your time even if it were lacking in visual distinction.
But I keep returning to it mainly because I just like looking at it.
The layout is simple and uncluttered yet it is also ornate, filled with small touches that create a strong sense of “place” and visual brand identity. Call it Minimal/Gothic.
It looks like other blogs, yet it looks only like itself. It subtly echoes elements of other designers’ work (for instance, its design alludes to Todd Dominey’s What Do I Know and Shaun Inman’s personal site) yet it achieves its own visual “voice.”
Which is no easy thing to do when creating a site whose structure necessarily resembles the structure of thousands of others. All blogs present the latest content and a means of viewing older content; most use two columns because a two-column format just works; most have simple navigational menus at the top or side, again because such formatting simply works. To achieve originality under such circumstances is no mean feat.
The site’s monochromatic color scheme makes article-specific visual elements pop in a way that is cunning, helpful, and pleasurable: cunning because it teases you into reading instead of scanning; helpful because the small visual elements guide you through the reading experience; pleasurable if you have a working pair of eyes.
The little inset demo graphics not only guide you by demonstrating what is being discussed, they also reward you for having read thus far — like little bon bons or puppy treats.
Experiencing good design is a lot more fun than reading about it, so do yourself a favor.
My wife is six months pregnant, yet I am the one who seems hormonally strung-out and mentally challenged. I can’t remember names, dates, or what we were just talking about. Small frustrations feel like insurmountable obstacles; the most calculated or hackneyed story lines provoke a deep emotional response. I can sit through Notting Hill and not mind it. In the baby store, a tiny bottle of baby shampoo imprinted with a tiny teddy bear logo makes me burst into happy idiot tears.
Every day some baby-related task presents itself. Many are medical. I’m getting check-ups for things I never checked before. Today The Wife and I went for skin cancer screenings (we’re fine). I’m sitting there in my little paper gown, answering the doctor’s questions about moles and blotches and blackheads, and I quote the opinion of my OB/GYN.
I mean my chiropractor but it comes out “my OB/GYN.”
About sums it up.
In response to reader requests, I’ve adjusted this site as follows: the default setting is now higher in contrast; an optional “darker” setting provides even more contrast; and an optional “lighter” setting reproduces the low-contrast former default setting. All three settings are available on the updated contrast-o-meter page. Most browsers will show the changed styles immediately, but a few require you to manually load and refresh the style sheets.
There are 16 years of my life that I can barely remember. On this date eleven years ago, propelled by a power greater than myself, I began crawling up out of the abyss.