Ugly, ugly typeface. Dull layout. And this is called “Awesomeness?!?”
And this gives me reason to tout Artisteer. We’re in the process of re-making our business website (Kelly Ann’s Quilting) (maybe you see the old site, maybe you see the new one), and I’m using a tool recommended to me by our new web host, quiltropolis.com. In a nutshell Artisteer allows the designer (no matter how inexperienced) to lay out a beautiful, functional theme into which a web host’s CMS will inject content. A designer can select an over-arching theme, complete with colors, fonts and layout, or drill down to tweak even the most minor of design elements. Achieving a tasteful result is nearly as effortless at either end of that spectrum.
The tool comes with a large select of icons, gradients, glares, textures and suggested pairings, and is available in two flavors: standard and home. The standard version is more tweakable and bears more display items, and allows for native creation of themed skins for more CMSs. I’ll be using the standard version to create and tweak a theme for this blog.
And that’s rant number one. Welcome to Bazinga.
A Random Stroll 