Comments on: The Internet Is A Picture Book http://www.novelr.com/2008/05/30/the-internet-is-a-picture-book Writing, Publishing and The Internet Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:59:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Eli James http://www.novelr.com/2008/05/30/the-internet-is-a-picture-book/comment-page-1#comment-2541 Eli James Fri, 30 May 2008 06:52:18 +0000 http://www.novelr.com/?p=159#comment-2541 Serious?! I think it's fine as it is, windvein! Don't make it too big! Serious?! I think it’s fine as it is, windvein! Don’t make it too big!

]]> By: Windvein http://www.novelr.com/2008/05/30/the-internet-is-a-picture-book/comment-page-1#comment-2537 Windvein Fri, 30 May 2008 03:59:38 +0000 http://www.novelr.com/?p=159#comment-2537 And now I want to make my header BIGGER. And now I want to make my header BIGGER.

]]> By: Windvein http://www.novelr.com/2008/05/30/the-internet-is-a-picture-book/comment-page-1#comment-2536 Windvein Fri, 30 May 2008 03:58:13 +0000 http://www.novelr.com/?p=159#comment-2536 Well, you should've seen the font when it was pink and green! The font is called Graffiti Treat courtesy of dafont.com. That is a dangerous site to visit. Look at what I came away with. I drew the image so yay. I'm glad you like it. Mirrorfall has a pretty cool image header too, but it's so damn dark! Can barely see the drawing to appreciate it. Well, you should’ve seen the font when it was pink and green! The font is called Graffiti Treat courtesy of dafont.com. That is a dangerous site to visit. Look at what I came away with.

I drew the image so yay. I’m glad you like it.

Mirrorfall has a pretty cool image header too, but it’s so damn dark! Can barely see the drawing to appreciate it.

]]> By: Eli James http://www.novelr.com/2008/05/30/the-internet-is-a-picture-book/comment-page-1#comment-2534 Eli James Fri, 30 May 2008 03:29:20 +0000 http://www.novelr.com/?p=159#comment-2534 @Gnorb: Thank you for the kind words. =) @Sarah: lol! Oh dear. I wasn't thinking about your site when I wrote that ... the example just came to mind. Really! @Sonja: Yes. Your site designs <em>do</em> reflect the tone of your story. The mutants, for instance - very dark. Nice, @Gnorb: Thank you for the kind words. =)

@Sarah: lol! Oh dear. I wasn’t thinking about your site when I wrote that … the example just came to mind. Really!

@Sonja: Yes. Your site designs do reflect the tone of your story. The mutants, for instance – very dark. Nice,

]]> By: Sonja Nitschke http://www.novelr.com/2008/05/30/the-internet-is-a-picture-book/comment-page-1#comment-2533 Sonja Nitschke Fri, 30 May 2008 02:31:38 +0000 http://www.novelr.com/?p=159#comment-2533 Thank god for <a href="http://www.toptut.com/category/free-wordpress-themes/" rel="nofollow">Toptut</a>. Because my sites were dog ugly before I found this website. One of these days I want to get a more personal site that's both Picture Book Nice and readable and...me. Thank god for Toptut. Because my sites were dog ugly before I found this website.

One of these days I want to get a more personal site that’s both Picture Book Nice and readable and…me.

]]> By: srsuleski http://www.novelr.com/2008/05/30/the-internet-is-a-picture-book/comment-page-1#comment-2531 srsuleski Thu, 29 May 2008 21:48:44 +0000 http://www.novelr.com/?p=159#comment-2531 <blockquote>You can’t expect to engage a reader with a zombie story if your site has pink flowers all over it,</blockquote> Heeyyyyyy. :P Heh, well, I don't write about zombies, but I do use the Japanese Cherry Blossom theme. I use one site for all my writing -- short stories and various serials. So I need my site to be as flexible as possible. Hence the theme is very light on the motif. It's very basic white and black with brief accents of pink, and the Cherry Blossoms in the header. They're mainly there to offset the starkness of the overall white on black design. I like having one central site (and domain name) for all my work, and that desire clashes with the idea of a visual identity for each story. I think this is something I will have to live with, as in the end I find the benefits of centralizing to outweigh the drawback of having each story look the same. I've made some effort by adding headers (which I'd originally created to use as ProjectWonderful ads) to list on the "About" pages for each story. Unfortunately, the ads other people are running on my site are probably more visible and distinct. I have to say, I love Sonja's site themes for Fiction Murdered? and The Mutants. They each fit their stories perfectly.

You can’t expect to engage a reader with a zombie story if your site has pink flowers all over it,

Heeyyyyyy. :P

Heh, well, I don’t write about zombies, but I do use the Japanese Cherry Blossom theme.

I use one site for all my writing — short stories and various serials. So I need my site to be as flexible as possible. Hence the theme is very light on the motif. It’s very basic white and black with brief accents of pink, and the Cherry Blossoms in the header. They’re mainly there to offset the starkness of the overall white on black design.

I like having one central site (and domain name) for all my work, and that desire clashes with the idea of a visual identity for each story. I think this is something I will have to live with, as in the end I find the benefits of centralizing to outweigh the drawback of having each story look the same.

I’ve made some effort by adding headers (which I’d originally created to use as ProjectWonderful ads) to list on the “About” pages for each story. Unfortunately, the ads other people are running on my site are probably more visible and distinct.

I have to say, I love Sonja’s site themes for Fiction Murdered? and The Mutants. They each fit their stories perfectly.

]]> By: Gnorb http://www.novelr.com/2008/05/30/the-internet-is-a-picture-book/comment-page-1#comment-2530 Gnorb Thu, 29 May 2008 18:46:34 +0000 http://www.novelr.com/?p=159#comment-2530 Excellent article. Phenomenal observations. While I tend to be fairly visually oriented, I've never consciously thought about how site design would add to credibility. Unconsciously, I've done it a few times, as maybe have most others who've ever actually designed a site. (The reason I chose Derek Punsalan's theme as a basis for my own has in large part to do with just that: it looked more "professional", more credible.) I'll keep in mind the picture book approach in the future. Excellent article. Phenomenal observations. While I tend to be fairly visually oriented, I’ve never consciously thought about how site design would add to credibility. Unconsciously, I’ve done it a few times, as maybe have most others who’ve ever actually designed a site. (The reason I chose Derek Punsalan’s theme as a basis for my own has in large part to do with just that: it looked more “professional”, more credible.) I’ll keep in mind the picture book approach in the future.

]]> By: Eli James http://www.novelr.com/2008/05/30/the-internet-is-a-picture-book/comment-page-1#comment-2529 Eli James Thu, 29 May 2008 18:29:34 +0000 http://www.novelr.com/?p=159#comment-2529 Yes, I do realize it's for all your work, Jim. And I'm actually very glad you didn't abandon the first serial. You should purchase it, you know. You've got something really, really good going on there. I, for one, love <em>Legion</em> to bits. Go! Buy! Redesign! =) Yes, I do realize it’s for all your work, Jim. And I’m actually very glad you didn’t abandon the first serial.

You should purchase it, you know. You’ve got something really, really good going on there. I, for one, love Legion to bits.

Go! Buy! Redesign!

=)

]]> By: jz http://www.novelr.com/2008/05/30/the-internet-is-a-picture-book/comment-page-1#comment-2528 jz Thu, 29 May 2008 18:03:43 +0000 http://www.novelr.com/?p=159#comment-2528 In my defense, I should mention that the original idea for my website was to have a wider variety of my writing available, some of which would be a bit experimental, making the theme of old maps and uncharted territory a bit more appropriate. Inconveniently, people started reading while I was still writing the first serial (which I'd originally intended to abandon and return to unpredictably)... and I had ideas for the next section... and somehow I never quite got around to moving on to other things. I intend to work up a better theme for the site one of these days. I'm a programmer/sysadmin more than a designer, though, so I'll probably attempt to find a neutral template first and get something good later. Probably ought to buy the "Legion of Nothing" domain name too, eh? In my defense, I should mention that the original idea for my website was to have a wider variety of my writing available, some of which would be a bit experimental, making the theme of old maps and uncharted territory a bit more appropriate.

Inconveniently, people started reading while I was still writing the first serial (which I’d originally intended to abandon and return to unpredictably)… and I had ideas for the next section… and somehow I never quite got around to moving on to other things.

I intend to work up a better theme for the site one of these days. I’m a programmer/sysadmin more than a designer, though, so I’ll probably attempt to find a neutral template first and get something good later. Probably ought to buy the “Legion of Nothing” domain name too, eh?

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