Black Marks on Wood Pulp 4.0

February 29, 2008


BMOWP LogoWhen I started this blog, I did so with no anticipation of making it a long term commitment. I wrote when I felt the need, about what was on my mind. I threw together a design and called it good. I never imagined I would actually keep up with it. Hell, I had a hard time reading a short novel at that point in time.

Yet, within a year, I was writing two book columns and roughly 35 blog posts a month. So I guess it stuck. And with the content, it was only natural that books became an integral part of the site - up to 30% of the content was literature related, in some way. With little time available to adapt a theme, I often resorted to some simple font changes and a new header picture.

Nearly three years later, Black Marks on Wood Pulp has become something I take great pride in. And with that pride came a creeping embarrassment at the design I had simply thrown together. It was time for a new look - something elegant, something simple, something that illustrated my desire to grow as a writer and be taken seriously as a member of the blogosphere.

And this is it. You’re looking at the newest version of Black Marks on Wood Pulp.

The tree? Well, to tell you the truth, I think it looks cool. But if you asked me the symbolism behind it, I’m sure I’d tell you something about my connection with the world around me, about how I write about whatever I see, about how I long to keep growing, and a bunch of other hippie crap. But really, all of my passions have come, in some weird way, from trees - from my days as a prospective biology teacher to my love of books and other paper bound words.

Don’t get me wrong - I just love the simplicity of it. And, again, I think it looks cool.

I’ve even come up with two logos: the tree itself and the acronym treatment. Because, for once, I think this has the legs to stick around for a while. And though it’s not a marvel in Web technique or design, it’s a million times better than the maroon boxy mess I had stuck with for two years.

Wow. It’s amazing what a little simple design can do to a person’s pride.

Tags: Blogging, Meta, Writing |

Comments

8 Responses to “Black Marks on Wood Pulp 4.0”

  1. bg on March 1st, 2008 256 am

    Look at you gettin’ all fancy.

    ;-p

  2. Nils Geylen on March 1st, 2008 357 am

    I really love it Mr V. Simple, but very clean an elegant.

    Two remarks — you know those’d be there, right? Why not make the header link to home? I’ve come to find that is something people expect, including me. And, why is your Twitter status in a serif font all of a sudden while except for the byline nothing else is?

    Other than that, I’m not a designer, just someone who had some design classes in college and has a bit of an eye for pretty things. But I can’t see much flaws in any of this.

    Well done. Good you feel great about it. You should.

  3. Corey Vilhauer on March 1st, 2008 753 am

    I wanted the Twitter status to stand out - it has a tendency to be lost in a block of sidebar copy. So I made it more like a sub-head. That was done on purpose, mainly because I liked it and, really, that’s the only reason.

    The header link was not done on purpose. I forgot. Thanks for the catch.

  4. Mom on March 1st, 2008 842 am

    Excellent! Your grandfather would be proud!

  5. roberta on March 1st, 2008 1036 am

    wow looks nice. i like the tree a lot.

  6. Aaron Mentele on March 4th, 2008 540 pm

    Excellent work. And I’m glad I could inspire the self-consciousness that spurred the effort.

  7. Corey Vilhauer on March 4th, 2008 1130 pm

    Thanks everyone. I appreciate it.

  8. Will on March 5th, 2008 1250 pm

    Personally, I was fond of the maroon setup you had. The fact that I don’t dislike the new format — as I would usually be prone to do in circumstances like this — indicates that it looks great.

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