The Blog: Death to the Designer?
I installed a blog on a website a few years ago with MOVEABLE TYPE, and I was thrilled with the ease in which I could update the site with this tool. However, within a year I became overwhelmed with graduate schoolwork and the blog died. Within six months after my neglect, I had to unlink and demolish the blog because several spam artists had discovered the abandoned site and had used it to push Viagra ads. I was too blog-illiterate to understand that I could eliminate that problem if I turned off the “comments” (like the designers did at the Nike + Gawker Media’s Art of Speed blog).
Now that I have more time on my hands I thought I’d surf the Web to discover new blog options. I felt a little like Tommy Lee Jones as Roarke during a bad day at the La Brea Tar Pits after this experience. Capable designers seem limited, and many of those non-designers cannot write. However, some blogs appear downright provocative; so, even if the writer cannot design, the content often provides the impetus for their journalistic successes. But great design is what this article is all about, and there’s no reason why great writing can’t use a format that utilizes innovative CSS options…
Linda Goin carries an A.A. in graphic design, a B.F.A. in visual communications with a minor in business and marketing and an M.A. in American History with a minor in the Reformation. While the latter degree doesn't seem to fit with the first two educational experiences, Linda used her 25-year design expertise on archaeological digs and in the study of material culture. Now she uses her education and experiences in social media experiments.