Consider the Appearance of Your Blog-Based Website
Before you get too far down the road with your artist blog, it’s essential to take time to consider the overall appearance of your blog.
The best approach is to keep it simple and allow your work to be the focal point. Sometimes artists add unnecessary elements that distract or cause people to bounce away. Examples of this would be a busy patterned background, music, adobe flash – anything that is distracting or makes your site hard to load are not beneficial to building a thriving home base.
Most blogging platforms will allow you to select a theme for your blog. This theme will set your site’s overall look, feel, and style.
Some platforms include these elements in a template. Most themes and templates allow for some customization, but you want to make sure you choose one that lends itself to your work and goals.
A suitable theme will have built-in elements that make it easier and quicker for you to do certain things. For example, some themes lend themselves to displaying work in a portfolio or gallery format, as one example of how you might choose a theme.
Choosing a theme can be overwhelming as you will typically have many from which to choose. Consider some of the following as you hone in on a theme or template for your site.
Here are some things to consider for your artist blog appearance.
Does it allow your work to be the focus?
Can you use a custom header that features your work front and center?
What kind of customization does it allow?
Do you like the layout?
Would you like your blog to have a sidebar?
Do you like the color schemes and fonts available?
Each blogging platform works a little bit differently. Below are links about themes and templates for some commonly used platforms.
WordPress.com – all about themes.
Understanding Squarespace Templates
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Photo by Hal Gatewood on Unsplash
