Comments on: Design Review: Darjan Panic

By: hanif

hanif — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:43:04 +0000

that site ordinary great… because the owner was a designer about website. if we cant make great design, because we didnt understand much of the design web. So, we use the make premium theme or free theme. Conditional. but nice tips… I still reading in here…

By: didik

didik — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 13:40:07 +0000

hello, I am from Indonesia and I love the themes as well. Good Luck

By: Michael Martin

Michael Martin — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 11:59:14 +0000

Kristarella – That’s true. There is no rule that you have to follow the rules. And breaking the “rules” will certainly get you noticed. As you said, that could well be what he was going for.

I love the themes as well. I’d seen all of them in the WP theme directory before, and loved them. I was surprised to find them again here. He’s a great designer.

And lol – As for the responses, I think I’m just lucky to have such a great set of readers.

By: kristarella

kristarella — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 06:01:34 +0000

Oh and those free Wordpress templates are cool! I especially love the Sweetbuzz ones.

By: kristarella

kristarella — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 06:00:21 +0000

How is it that every post your write invokes a response?

I think that’s really cool how he’s branded himself and gone with it on the site. He could reuse that logo in all kinds of different ways. I also like the colours he’s chosen, that blue is easy to look at.
I agree with your observation of the lack of grid-ness. Maybe that’s what he was going for, I’m not sure. There’s no prescription for everything to be ordered, but it can make it easier to find things.

I agree that there’s a reason some things are popular (re: milo’s comment) – because they work and people like them. Generally the single sidebar, and block of text thing works (as well as keeping lines, which Veerl’es done) because it’s easy to read and easy to maintain etc. There’s always exceptions for those that can design well (also an exception for those that can’t and then manage to mess up a default style). It’s like music – have you ever noticed how half the rock songs out there have the same rif? It’s because it’s good!

By: Michael Martin

Michael Martin — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 00:11:15 +0000

That’s true. Never lose your individualism.

And you too. Always fun to have a chat!

By: milo

milo — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 00:08:37 +0000

Good points, but trends come an go, your own unique style stays. Pick the trendy stuff, that suits/helps and leave the rest aside.
Btw: thanks for the nice conversation.

By: Michael Martin

Michael Martin — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 23:56:17 +0000

True, but there are some advantages to following some common trends. I mean, the most popular trends are the most popular for a reason.

If a best practice really is a best practice, then it’s often worth emulating.

And if a user knows how to work a site, purely of popular web design standards, then that’s an added bonus for your usability.

It’s never good to just copy others blindly though. I always put my own slant on things, and every website is unique, so you have to design with that in mind as well.

By: milo

milo — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 23:36:35 +0000

With CSS and PS almost everything is possible, so why share the same layout like the other half on net?

By: Michael Martin

Michael Martin — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 23:27:08 +0000

Fair enough. Design is all taste. Your own blog uses a pretty unique layout and design, so I knew you’d prefer a design being individual. Good creativity is always a good thing.