From version 4

Welcome to Leon Paternoster v.5. Version 4 was created during a Christmas work flurry: 3 blog posts, 2 additional projects, 1 WordPress theme, 2 Christmas dinners and lots of booze.

I spent a long time tinkering with version 4, left the work for a couple of days, returned and really didn’t like it. It was the first theme I’d created using a framework, which initially seemed an ideal way to work as all the theme templates were ready to go, and it created HTML full of hooks to style.

But that was part of the problem. It generated too much markup, and I ended up fiddling with the PHP until it was unrecognisable from the original theme. The whole point of using a framework is that you dispense with the HTML/PHP coding: you concentrate on the CSS and save yourself hours of toil.

The truth is that any original design has to incorporate style and content. Not all blogs should have a sidebar of links (or a sidebar at all). Other people’s code is difficult to deal with (however neat it is), while frameworks tend to err on the side of content overkill. It’s a ‘no’ to other people’s frameworks (and Sandbox is really very clever and well executed), and ‘yes’ to a library of PHP, HTML and CSS snippets. (If your experience is different, please leave a comment).

So I ended up with a 5 column, 2 sidebar, somewhat standard blog theme. Ho hum.

To version 5

I returned to a theme I’d been working on a couple of months ago, influenced by some of the work showcased on minimalsites, and, unconsciously at first, Daniel Mall’s site. I’ve also been reading a great post by Andy Rutledge on simplicity, complexity and order (post to follow), which made me think about adding some typographic variation to the design.

In many ways it’s a traditional design: navigat‌ion through a vertical sidebar, separate archive page etc. I’ve really tried to strip the blog components down and reassemble them in separate pages; so no sidebar archives and the such. I’ve also attempted to break the monotonous, minimalist visual language and rhythm by introducing the odd textual flourish, double and negative margins, flash of colour etc. If you have any opinions on this, I’d love to hear them.

So another blog redesign. I may well try and stick with this one. For a few months, at least.