Introducing the NEW bkmacdaddy.com! (plus Why I Redesigned It)

The fact that you are reading this means you are currently looking at the new design of bkmacdaddy designs’ online home, bkmacdaddy.com (unless you’re reading this in a RSS feed reader, in which case I recommend you break out and visit the site.) It has been over 5 years since this site was redesigned, and although it was overdue I never saw it as much of a priority because I consistently received compliments on it, even as recent as a month ago. Still, there were so many things I have been anxious to improve, update and clean up, so I finally seized the opportunity of a slower workload last week and took the plunge. In this post I want to share some of the key differences, motivations and personal favorite parts of the new design. I would also love to hear any thoughts you may have about it.

WordPress Everywhere

In the old site, I only used WordPress for the blog, primarily because when I first built the site I wasn’t blogging at all. So when I decided it was time to begin writing (in 2009), I added on a WordPress installation in its own blog directory. The rest of the pages were static HTML, and this always drove me nuts because I wanted to move everything into WordPress for consistency throughout the site. I also needed to get more regularly updated content on the home page, which I couldn’t do easily in the old configuration. Now the entire site is built in WordPress, with the footer bringing content to every page. The result is a more consistent administration of the site, better SEO, and numerous other benefits.

Smaller Header

In the old version, the header is very similar. However, I decided to take my own (and other designers’) advice and make the logo smaller. There wasn’t any solid reason for it to be that large, other than to inhabit the span of the entire width of the page. Now with the smaller logo, I’ve added my trademark sideways avatar on the end to provide additional branding, and left space to the right for potential advertising, should I choose to go in that direction. I also moved all the social media icons down to the footer, which we’ll look at momentarily. The result is a cleaner, smaller, more focused header with room for expansion and/or advertising.

Massive Footer

This is probably my favorite part of the new design. I’ve never been a fan of busy sidebars, and I love how a single-column layout brings the focus on the content and eliminates any other distractions. By placing what is normally in the sidebar down into the footer, it now becomes a bit of an information center, providing an overview of everything that is happening with bkmacdaddy designs (latest blog post, recent comments, social media status updates, and more.)

The rotating client testimonials is another element I have been wanting to add, encouraging visitors to see what our clients have to say about the work we’ve done for them.  Giving insight to the music that’s playing in the studio, photos added on Flickr, and Facebook and Twitter status updates combine with the large image of myself to show and share the more personal aspect of who I am and what bkmacdaddy designs is all about.

New Improved About Page

The old About page was only a paragraph long and contained a Flash animation that was outdated. It was pitifully empty and void of information – pretty much the opposite of what an about page should be. So I took this opportunity to create a rather long, expanded About page that contains almost all of the information a visitor could possibly want to know about bkmacdaddy designs: services, bio, process, and pricing. I believe this will help potential clients by answering many of the questions they tend to ask when we first start discussing the possibility of working together. In short, new clients will have a clear understanding of who we are, what we do, how we do it, and what we charge, before ever sending an email or making a phone call. I know this will be helpful for me and for potential clients.

Better Blog

When I originally started blogging, I just found a theme I liked and added it on. I didn’t have time to design and build my own theme at that juncture, so I ended up being stuck with what I had found. Although it was considered a “minimalist” theme, it didn’t take long for me to stuff it full of all types of sidebar widgets and plugins to make it feel good and crowded. On top of that, the font-size was too small and difficult for some to read.

With the new theme I designed and built myself, everything just feels cleaner and simpler. The main content font size is 16 pixels with 1.5em line-height, for wonderfully easy reading. No sidebars, and only a floating share button roundup that moves with the page as it is scrolled. Large circles display the publish date and the read more links, directing the visitor’s eye with a smooth flow. All in all, I believe it will make for better legibility while encouraging discussion and social sharing.

Other Bits and Pieces

There are still some things to do. I have to go through every post from the past three years and add a thumbnail to it in order for the layout on the main blog page to be consistent. I need to fine tune some of the SEO settings and clean up some little things as I spot them here and there. But for the most part it’s done and is going to be the inspiration to get me blogging again. The last post I published was in March of this year, and I have made a personal commitment to publish a post at least once a week from this point forward. It’s my hope that the new digs here will motivate me to keep that commitment.

Your Thoughts, Critiques, and Responses

So there you have some of my thoughts for the new design. Now I am curious to hear what you think. Please share in the comments below. Looking forward to hearing from you!