Master’s Apprentice

For this term in Web Authoring we were tasked to create a blog using Wordpress, as well as create a unique theme that would fit our design aesthetics. Through this blog we can show our progress in the Digital Design program. We can also add posts regarding assignments and other design work that could potentially become part of our final portfolio. The Wordpress package works as-is, so we were left to work on the blog theme.

First up, we were to go and find a design theme. I wanted to try out working on a minimalist aesthetic and combining it with grungy industrial elements. It is a challenge to meld these two styles into a theme that does not feel disjointed. To see how it could look like, I’ve worked on a mood board to get the overall ambience down. Afterwards, I’ve created a blog mockup in Photoshop, adding in all the elements that appear in the Wordpress source code. Had to work on at least three major revisions for the header, but I had asked my friends and Oktay for advice. After everything has been set up, and cut up, It’s time to work on the blog’s CSS.

Working on a dummy page, I first set up the color palette for the blog. A muted dark blue background with yellow-orange highlights. Then comes the font treatment. Afterwards I rough in the container locations to where I want them to be. Working from the outside in, I tweak each component until everything lines up. Done with the CSS, I upload all assets to Wordpress. As expected, some components were misaligned on the actual blog, So I saved the generated webpage and used that for my second dummy. With a few tweaks here and there, the blog theme’s finally done.

The final blog design is what you see here. I was able to combine a strong minimalist and grunge pseudo-industrial aesthetic within my blog without it being distracting. One of our instructors did say that people don’t want to see the blog itself but what’s contained inside (might have been Sebastian. I apologize in advance if I’m wrong). But of course, the right giftwrap does make the present look better.

*PS: I’m working on a version 2 of my theme, so please check it out sometime soon.