I’ll be the first to admit I’m not the most knowledgeable when it comes to web design. The most experience I have with coding is changing my myspace layout in 2009. I have seen so many amazing personal sites that I would love to replicate, but unfortunately do not have the talent or skills to do so. Still, there were some changes that could still be made to this site. Staying within the confines of the WordPress customization parameters, I found a few places where my blog was lacking.
For mostly aesthetic reasons, but also touching on the principle of a websites purpose, I felt that my website lacking a header made it seem too bare.
I decided to update with a photo of a Keith Herring mural from my neighborhood. I walk past it quite a lot and have a strong connection with it, so I felt it was a good representation of the content and tone of my blog and the kind of direction you can expect when you visit the site. As I continue creating it can be updated with something I have personally created, but for now I feel a header brings a more polished feel to blog as a whole.
The second change I made was removing the tags section on the side bar of the blog. Initially I thought it would help with navigation, but looking back it looks very messy. I think removing the clump of tags streamlines navigation and makes it feel less overwhelming. The tags can still be used but simplifying seemed like the best way for a user to actually navigate through my content without becoming confused.
Finally, I had set up a portfolio page but had never gotten around to filling it out with my own work. Unfinished pages are the first sign of a bad website, so I wanted to right that. I chose from a range of work, from completed oil pieces to sketches, to showcase the extent of my abilities. I am a self-taught artist, and these are all pieces I am proud of in one way or another.
Even taking into account my limited knowledge of website design, there are still minor tweaks I can make that can vastly improve a website.
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