Sneak Peek – JC-V4: Dirty Blond

So it’s that time again, time for another redesign. I have been doing this around once per year. I revealed the last design on May 30th last year, so I’m right on schedule. Let’s hope I like this design a bit more so I can keep it a little longer than a year.

Why do this so soon?

Well to be honest, I never really finished the current design. I mean it’s complete, but when I started adding features over the course of this year I realized this design needed a makeover to add the features I really wanted. When I took a look at the time it would take for me to do this little makeover I decided I really didn’t like the design anymore and didn’t want to waste any more time on it.

Next major reason for this redesign is my portfolio. I set the code up for the portfolio more than a year ago. Since then I have done several WordPress sites that contained a portfolio of sorts, and have realized the current code is not working out. I actually have tons more work I want to display, but I don’t want to add to the code clean up I’m going to have to do when this redesign takes place. Long story short, none of the new portfolio work has been added.

So, what’s up with the design?

I’ve really been getting into destroyed designs. The funny thing is that the typical designs I do from day to day are really clean and strive to be perfect. It may be this fact that really inspired me to do something a little different. JC-V4: Dirty Blond is a different look than your average website, but still keeps a professional perspective (IMHO). I also noticed a pattern with my personal designs. I tend to make the designs dark, and I really wanted to change this stereotype. Take a look at the last three designs and see for yourself.

Design Details

I wanted my new design to have a natural feel. I used hand written fonts and some destroyed fonts. In fact the only perfect fonts will be in the body copy (just the way I wanted it). Next I wanted to use colors that surround me in my daily life. We are currently re-decorating my home office. The colors are different shades of brown and orange/red. I love those color combos and they actually work well online as well. Lastly I wanted the site to have a slight vintage feel. My first rough draft of this design actually went over board and looked like a 1950’s ad. I scaled vintage feel down a notch and really like the way it turned out.

So, what do you think?

I am still playing with colors and details so please feel free to comment. If you don’t like something, or think it’s awesome, let me know. I would definitely want to remove a piece or two if no one liked it. So bring on the critiques, and thanks!