Blog Design Pointers 3

Today's pointers are going out to Michele from her new blog Short Girl, Long Island. She needed help with her new blog, she wasn't quite sure where to start or how to get certain things set up, so... this is what she is working with so far.

My initial thoughts:
• She got everything set up and started posting, but it really almost look like an unfinished page, which can throw people off at first glance.
• I'm not a fan of having the Ads at the top of the sidebar. If you blog is new, just start building it up to the point that it can warrant having ads. Right now having text ads there almost gives it a vibe of a spam type thing.
• The colors and fonts end up feeling sterile.
• it's simple which can be good, but it just seems that it needs more.

Here are my pointers...

1. If the overall design is going to be simple and not graphic heavy, I would suggest having a nice clean font in the header and not have the background be too busy. The font that was used here is called Wisdom Script and can be found here.
2. I'm not a fan of script or handwritten fonts for the blog post titles. I would go with a cleaner legible font that is quick to read and find.
3. How about changing the body font to a medium gray? It give the overall feel a softer touch which comes across more pro looking.
4. I think you should have a profile image at the top of the sidebar that easily shows a little about you and is clickable to lead the reader to a page with an "about me" section. (Michele, write me through email if you would like this graphic).
5. I noticed that there is no navigation on your page. Navigation not only gives the reader more information and/or links to other social media for you, but it also gives visual interest to the overall design.