A Sharper Image For Arbenting, And Free Business Cards For You!

24 Comments

So Angie has been hard at work redesigning the site, consulting with some fellow tweeters for the tweaks, and moving Arbenting in to it’s next stage. After much deliberation, we decided that a sleeker, more professional look was in order. We hope that it’s as pleasing as the previous incarnation of the site, which we couldn’t be prouder of. It was more a matter of the blog design never having been intended to hold the entire site.

So after a bit of restructuring, and consistent re-evaluation, we have the new look and layout for the world to see. Now we wanted the redesign announcement to be a bit more than just another blog news post, so we have incorporated a give-a-way to go along with it. We have been given 1000 free business cards by UPrinting to give away to our readers and subscribers, so here’s your chance. Do you need some business cards to help advertise your personal endeavors? Then let us hook you up!

It couldn’t be easier for you to get your name in the drawing! Simply reply with a comment to this post, and tell us that you are interested in the free business card printing (and if you want, what you think of the new site layout). But do let us know if you want to be considered for the drawing, otherwise, well, you won’t be. We will assign a number to each comment and use a random number generator to select 2 winners! Each will receive 500 free business cards from UPrinting (**keep in mind that UPrinting can only ship to the US and Canada for free**). We will announce the winners three weeks after the post goes up, so get your comments in for your chance to win.

24 Comments »

Graphic Identity blog said:

UPrinting business card printing is something that everyone would dream to have, professionaly designed for the pro
Your site layout is nice… just two cents from me: why don’t you add some color or graphic elements to the sidebar links titles? I think it would add some consistency to the floral graphics on your header and the post footer… Style up the sidebar a bit, won’t distract your reader from reading your great post I guess.
All the best!

# 8 September 2008 at 4:01 am

Andrew Houle said:

Great job on the redesign, Angie!

Andrew Houles last blog post..Contest, Guest Posts + Site News

# 8 September 2008 at 4:28 am

John Campbell said:

I like the redesign, it is a lot easier to read than the older design.

Best,

John

http://www.designbump.com

John Campbells last blog post..30+ Adobe Illustrator Tutorials : Matering Your Tools and Options

# 8 September 2008 at 4:43 am

Matt said:

This design is much better, nice work Angie.

Matts last blog post..Friday’s Five: Week 10

# 8 September 2008 at 6:32 am

Lisa T said:

Hi,
I signed up to your site last week, I’ve been finding it extremely helpful. Thanks for being out there!

Lisa T

P.S.-I’d love to win some Business Cards!

# 8 September 2008 at 1:33 pm

Cindy Moore said:

I can always use new business cards. I’m also redoing my professional website. That’s why only my blog is listed.

# 8 September 2008 at 2:10 pm

LIli said:

Love the colour sceme

# 8 September 2008 at 4:51 pm

Maggie Wolfe Riley said:

I like it, but I loved the luscious banner on the old one. I like the background color/color-scheme better on this one, though. No more random Safari small text column layout issue - yay! What is the rectangle in the upper right of the background? omg - it’s another Safari thing - not visible in Firefox. Weird. I’ll send you another screen shot! Safari is a very standards compliant browser, so it’s sort of odd that it seems to be the one having glitches It’s not a bad glitch, though, just odd.

I think the little scribble underline on hover on the navigation links needs to be a contrasting color, because it is difficult to see. The light tan would look good, or the blue, actually. Just a lighter color for visibility.

I also think, and this is just my opinion of course, that you could “grow” more vines or add a little more depth/interest to the background at the top, and maybe add some at the foot, too. I did love the richness of the old design. And the title of the posts could be more prominent - or different - something about the dashed underline and understated size makes it almost look like an ad instead of the main content. Maybe it’s the UPrint banner below it, though.

Oh, here’s another Safari thing - the descriptions (labels) of the text fields for the comment form are off - I didn’t look at your code, but clear-left so they’ll align left above the fields? or something.

I think I’d like to see a little more color, too - footer and header a different color? I do like a white background for content, though.

Very nice, and I hope my comments are helpful!

# 8 September 2008 at 8:56 pm

Maggie Wolfe Riley said:

oh - I see what the rectangle at the top right is - the right side of the background is getting pushed down… weird - when I stretched my browser out, it didn’t go up, but stuck where it was. And left a gap between it and the left side. Sigh. I guess I’ll send you a screen shot!

# 8 September 2008 at 8:58 pm

Maggie Wolfe Riley said:

So now I see what the issue REALLY is - it’s the background color, and Firefox and Safari interpret it differently. In Firefox, it’s perfectly matched with the background images, so the gap doesn’t show, but in Safari, the background-color is a lighter shade of brown, so the gaps show. Stupid browsers!! Gah.

# 8 September 2008 at 9:01 pm

Angie Bowen said:

Thanks for all of the feedback everyone. I’m taking all suggestions into consideration. I already know a few minor changes that I’ll be making and will be playing with some of the other suggestions as well.

And good luck to all who have entered so far in the contest!

@Maggie - What version of Safari are you using? I tested it in version 3.1.2 and it’s fine. I guess this is my first lesson in the importance of using web safe colors.

# 8 September 2008 at 9:30 pm

Danny Tatom said:

I’d love some free business cards

& I can’t say that I like or dislike the new layout compared to the old, simply because I didn’t see the old one. But, this one seems to be coming together nicely. :]

# 9 September 2008 at 12:23 am

Janko said:

This is much better! I like it a lot, great work!

There is only one minority that I’d change. Some elements look rough, like rounded corners for example. But that’s just my opinion

Jankos last blog post..10 sketchy fonts for web designers

# 9 September 2008 at 2:12 am

mike in Ohio said:

I like the clean and simple look, but someone mentioned that you have a banner or design at the top? I don’t see anything. I view it in Camino, and Firefox and its just brown with cream colored text boxes. I would like to see some sort of design banner, just o let me know that i am on the right page.

Sign me up for free business cards.

Mike

mike in Ohios last blog post..OSU Main Library Brochure

# 9 September 2008 at 5:47 am

Devlin said:

I like the new design, I don’t know about the fluctuating colors on the navigation tags, but other wise great. Sign me up for the business card entry.

# 9 September 2008 at 11:58 am

Psyho said:

Hi:)
I sure could use some business cards
Great job on the new design, I’ve noticed one glitch though: in FF 3, the string “Mail (will not be published) (required)” is split after “Mail”, and “Mail” appears next to name text field.

Cheers!
Adam

# 9 September 2008 at 2:20 pm

Maggie Wolfe Riley said:

You fixed the background - yay I’m using Safari 3.1.2, since you asked. Was it the post I sent from CSS-Tricks on Safari supporting color profiles? The labels for the comment form fields are still off - here’s a screenshot: http://twitpic.com/awr2

# 9 September 2008 at 4:35 pm

Angie Bowen said:

Thanks so much for the feedback everyone!

@Janko - I’m working on the corners, trying to make them gifs instead of pngs but I’m not sure it’s going to work. Were there any other elements you thought looked rough?

@Mike - You should see some brown and blue vines along with the site navigation and blog title.

@Psyho - Thanks for pointing out the mail glitch, I’ve fixed it now.

@Maggie - It was the color profiles in Safari messing things up. Thank you so much for everything, you’ve been a huge help!

And thanks to everyone else who left feedback. I’ve got a list of definitely changes to make as well as a list of things just to try out and see what they look like.

# 9 September 2008 at 5:42 pm

Janko said:

Angie, perhaps the underlying sketch lines on the menu? Everything else looks great

Jankos last blog post..10 sketchy fonts for web designers

# 11 September 2008 at 3:24 am

Jacob Cass said:

Good job with the redesign! And also those business cards would be nice, even if I have to pay for postage to Oz.

Jacob Casss last blog post..Tooting My Own Horn: My Latest Personal Achievements

# 11 September 2008 at 6:03 pm

Tom Sinclair said:

Liking the re-design Definitely could do with some business cards as well

# 21 September 2008 at 2:37 pm

Dawn said:

Who doesn’t love a classy business card. I love the website re-design.

# 30 September 2008 at 9:59 am

...paul said:

I didn’t see the old design, only discovered the site in the last couple of days, but I do like the looks of this layout. The colours work very well together, much better than I would’ve expected. A background graphic at the bottom would be a great addition, just something small in the bottom right corner. Good job on it though.

And do please add me into the draw for the business cards — I’m sure my postage costs to the UK would be cheaper than buying locally so I’ll bear that cost should I win.

# 30 September 2008 at 1:57 pm