[The_Programmer-]

Right now I think my layout sucks. Just the combination of the header, background image and articles suck. Could you recommend anything to me? I also need some room for Google Ads. And I haven't added the projects, about, and contact page yet.

http://kensclark.com/

[Nykc]

Way too much noise with that background image. If you want to use an image like that I suggest wrapper the content of the site in a <div id=content> or a <section id=content> and adding a background color like #FAFAFA or even #FEFEFE so your text is not getting lost in the image.

Also yellow & gray make me want to punch innocent kittens, consider using a color scheme generator freely available on the web, personally I like using a tool like this...
Kewl Color Scheme Tool

Feel free to widen your page anything less than at minimum 960px is wasting real estate. I tend to design for 1024x768 as my base - although most browsers are around 1280 now. Personally if I ever have to sidescroll on a site to view content I will leave without hesitation, so stick to 1024 max.

[The_Programmer-]

Nykc, does this look like a good layout or should I move stuff around? Any ideas? (Sorry for my crappy skills in Paint.)

This post has been edited by The_Programmer-: 14 October 2012 - 01:34 PM

[The_Programmer-]

If I do follow through with the above design I have no idea how big to make each part and the spacing to put between them.

Edit: Of course I'm designing it on a resolution of 1024 x 768. And if someone has a screen bigger than that resolution should I put a plain color background in that fills the extra width/height?

This post has been edited by The_Programmer-: 14 October 2012 - 02:00 PM

[The_Programmer-]

I made the header 100 pixels tall, what should I size the other stuff to?

[modi123_1]

Quote

If I do follow through with the above design I have no idea how big to make each part and the spacing to put between them.

Edit: Of course I'm designing it on a resolution of 1024 x 768. And if someone has a screen bigger than that resolution should I put a plain color background in that fills the extra width/height

Quote

I made the header 100 pixels tall, what should I size the other stuff to?

Webpages typically float bits around.. like the footer should always sink to the bottom and the articles area flexes to show all the data it needs to be.. that's why there's scrollbars. So if your header image is 100px that shouldn't affect your article area or the footer.

[Nykc]

I like your mock-up as it is much more simple - the right color scheme, font-sizing and line-heights and you will have a nice little layout. I am actually making a new blog layout that is simplistic as well. - based off of http://eff.org

As a developer - I like simplicity
As a designer - I hate my developer side but we have ways of working things out.

Feel free to post your questions, we are here to help

This post has been edited by Nykc: 15 October 2012 - 08:31 PM

[GetSet]

The_Programmer-, on 13 October 2012 - 02:40 PM, said:

Right now I think my layout sucks. Just the combination of the header, background image and articles suck. Could you recommend anything to me? I also need some room for Google Ads. And I haven't added the projects, about, and contact page yet.

http://kensclark.com/

Forget the layout, focus on getting the blog going. Dont think "magical", just accomplish your goal. Add visual polish later.

Your color theme is too dark.
You seem to be switching from theme to theme per internal link, net result, there is no theme.
Use just one theme throughout the site, on the whole.

This post has been edited by GetSet: 21 October 2012 - 07:53 PM