It’s been a long time coming, but I’ve finally done it: Not Dressed As Lamb has had a makeover! Not only was it due a fresh new look in terms of colour palette, but the layout and navigation needed updating desperately. Like many others I chose to go for a pipdig blog design (more about that later) – I can now see why he’s the go-to designer for so many bloggers… I should have got this sorted ages ago.
I thought I’d briefly explain the process of how I came up with the colour palette and what made me choose the design: If you’re thinking of having your blog redesigned this may give you some tips!
LIKE MANY OTHERS I CHOSE TO GO FOR A PIPDIG BLOG DESIGN – I CAN NOW SEE WHY HE’S THE GO-TO DESIGNER FOR SO MANY BLOGGERS
Below are five easy steps to help you redesign your blog and choose a colour palette – if you’re thinking it’s a daunting task, please don’t. I’d been thinking for ages that it was going to be some huge upheaval that would take forever in terms of finding a designer and going through the process of having a bespoke design made, but I discovered that buying a pre-made template which you can then tweak to match your vision is the easiest (and quickest) way to go about it.
Choosing your own colour palette, fonts and header are the best ways to make a pre-made template unique. You can go with the design’s pre-chosen colours and fonts, but I recommend choosing your own. Read on for my simple tips on how to go about that process!
1. Find your colour inspiration
If you visited my blog at any point over the last few months you won’t have failed to see that I went to the Greek island of Santorini in September (my Instagram feed and blog posts were unapologetically full of blue skies, peach sunsets and white houses). I came back so inspired by all the beautiful colours that I knew exactly what colours to use in my new design: Peach, orange, sky blue, Wedgwood blue, rose pink, lavender, lilac and cream).
It may seem like a lot of colours, but with a blue header and most of the accents in the peachy-pink colour (if you hover over my social icons in the sidebar you’ll see them change from blue to pink), it leaves me several colours to pick from for text-only images or text overlay.
And would you believe it: After picking the blue and pink as the two main colours (as in the bottom-right photo, above, of the village of Oia at sunset), Pantone decided to announce Rose Quartz and Serenity as their 2016 Colour of the Year almost days later. To say I couldn’t believe it was an understatement! So in case anyone was thinking I just copied those two colours from Pantone, I really didn’t… That one Santorini photo was really all the inspiration I needed!
PANTONE DECIDED TO ANNOUNCE ROSE QUARTZ AND SERENITY AS THEIR 2016 COLOUR OF THE YEAR ALMOST DAYS LATER: TO SAY I COULDN’T BELIEVE IT WAS AN UNDERSTATEMENT
2. Choose a new profile picture (avatar)
I always think it’s a good idea to make sure your profile picture – or avatar – matches your colour scheme. If not, the colours and design may jar a little. Either use a great profile picture as your colour inspiration, or (as I did) take a photo to use as your new avatar using the colour palette you’ve already chosen.
I wanted my avatar to match my Instagram feed so I took this photo (above) during an outfit post photo shoot – I purposely chose the clothes and background for their colours to match my new scheme. I increased the brightness in Photoshop and ensured I changed my avatar and backgrounds across all my social media platforms to keep everything consistent.
I also changed my favicon for the browser tab to ensure my branding really was consistent everywhere – an important factor a lot of people forget about.
3. Decide on the style and layout
There were several key features I knew I wanted: New dropdown menus (to cope with all the categories I now have), a bold Instagram feed and smarter post dates and titles. I’m not a huge fan of the magazine layout that is becoming increasingly popular (just my personal preference), but I wanted something that set it apart from other blogs.
As I mentioned I decided to use pipdig – I’ve read nothing but glowing reviews for this guy and whenever I’ve been impressed with a blog design and scrolled down to the footer to see who designed it, 9 times out of 10 it was pipdig’s name I saw. There are plenty of designers who specialise in blog templates (many of them sell via Etsy), but I can’t recommend pipdig highly enough in terms of choice, style, ability to create innovative designs in Blogger (a bonus) and customer service.
The template that had that special something that swung it for me, in the end, had two things: A custom Instagram header feed across the whole width of the blog, and a ‘full-screen page splash’ on the desktop version.
My desktop scrolling homepage:
This is one of my favourite parts of the blog – the homepage has a scrolling ‘full-screen page splash’ showing the latest four posts. If you’re looking at this on a mobile or tablet you won’t see it, but I do recommend you take a look at it on a computer or laptop as it’s a pretty cool feature.
4. Design a new header
There are several ways to get a header designed: 1. Go with the header that will automatically be created when you have the template you’ve chosen uploaded; 2. Create your own with a font you’ve chosen yourself and colour from your palette (that’s what I did), or 3. Have a designer create a totally unique header from scratch for you.
I’d recommend 2 or 3, but 3 only if you’re prepared to pay for a graphic designer or you happen to be friends with/related to one.
My brand new header – and appropriate tagline!
There are loads of sites offering free fonts, e.g. 1001freefonts.com, fontsquirrel.com or even Google fonts. I searched for one for ages and could never quite come up with one that I knew was the one, but I decided to buy a package from myfonts.com in the end that had two coordinating fonts plus little squiggly extras and characters that would work to create some stylish text overlays… I think it was well worth paying for it in the end.
5. Take the plunge and get it installed – just do it
The process of buying the template and getting it installed couldn’t have been any easier, and that was partly due to the amazing service that pipdig offers. Once you’ve bought your template you can either install it yourself (by downloading easy-to-follow instructions) or have pipdig install it for you – for free. (Yes, for free!)
I bought my new template for the princely sum of just £39, and mine was one of the more expensive ones. I paid a little extra for all the drop-down menus I wanted (they don’t come as standard if you want them to link to pages as opposed to labels), but it was worth every penny.
In hindsight, however, I’m glad I didn’t get a new template installed before I went to Santorini because it was that holiday that inspired the colour palette I’m so in love with. So although I say don’t hesitate about getting a new blog design, do ensure you know exactly what you want in terms of colour palette, layout, header and usability before you get it installed.
DON’T HESITATE ABOUT GETTING A NEW BLOG DESIGN, BUT ENSURE YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT IN TERMS OF COLOUR PALETTE, LAYOUT, HEADER AND USABILITY BEFORE YOU GET IT INSTALLED
Total cost of a blog redesign
When I think I was willing to pay in the region of £500+ for a new blog design, I’m amazed at just how cheap this was in the end. Here’s a breakdown of what I spent to give you some idea:
Basic template: £39
Drowndown menus extras: £20
Font for header: £18
Installation: Free
Extra I chose to pay pipdig: £30
Research, inspiration and colour palette design: Cost me my time only
Total: £107. (So slightly over the £100 I mentioned in the title, but I paid for a font and the dropdown menu extras which there’s no need to pay for necessarily.) Talk about an absolute bargain…!
Are you thinking of getting your blog redesigned, or have you had it done recently? I do hope you like my new design – tell me in the comments or tweet me @notlamb!
FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | BLOGLOVIN | YOUTUBE | NEWSLETTER
Linking up to: Let It Shine, Brilliant Blog Posts, Friday’s Fab Favourites
Loving the new design – I definitely need to head to Santorini for some inspiration
AliceMegan
There's a ton of it there, Alice-Megan! Thanks so much xx
I went from Blogger to WordPress quite quickly after I started blogging (due to Sylvia of 40+Style, coaching me to do so). And I bought a template through WooThemes. I had a look at other blogs, decided which one I thought was my favourite, contacted the blogger and asked where to go to. Voila. And then I paid good money to a smart young man who installed everything to my liking. He now is busy with his own company and I found another smart (even younger) guy who helps me when I don't know. Working more than full-time in my job does not give me much time to find out all these things myself. But… it does provide me with the funds to have it done for me.
I changed my header not so long ago, but I think I should have listened to my husband. He did not approve and I agree with him now… too girly. I still have 400 calling cards with this header….
Greetje
Here I am, blabbing about myself.. totally forgetting to compliment you on your new design. It looks ever so nice.
Ohh Greetje thank you – I'm so glad you like it! I think if you're keen to change the header then do it, and just get new business cards. I've still got a lot of cards left over with my old design but they weren't worth keeping the old design for. You'll be glad you changed it if you're really set on a new header!! x
Your redesign looks stunning – I love the colour palette you've chosen and you've got me thinking that I need to be more consistent with the colours I use in my photography. You've done a fab job – so worth the investment #Brillblogposts
It really was [worth the investment], Natalie – I'm really glad you like it! thanks so much x
I love the new colour palette, makes me think of holidays! Great job
Suze | LuxuryColumnist
Ahh then I've done it properly Suze, if it makes you think that! Thank you x
Looks lovely! You must be thrilled 🙂
I am, Mrs T – thank you!!
It looks fantastic! The color palette is just lovely. I've been considering a redesign myself, but have been a little at a loss as to where to start. This article was a great help. I've also noticed pipdig on a lot of blogs and am quickly becoming a fan.
I'm really glad it's helped, TPeck! I didn't know where to start either but it all came together in the end – the holiday pics were the push (& inspo) I needed!
The redesign looks absolutely AMAZING; it looks like you've spent a ton of money on it. I'm doing a re-vamp in the new year, so thank you for the tip on pipdig. They look super. Right this moment, I'm inspired by chocolate and red wine, but I'm thinking brown and burgundy might not be ideal colours for my blog, ha ha ha… I'll wait for further inspiration. xx
Haha I love your inspiration, Lisa…!!! Though if you get the right shades and it suits your blogging personality I think those could colours *could* work really well…! Thank you so much x
Looks amazing! I've just redesigned mine as well, and I'm so happy I finally just went for it. #brilliantblogposts
Nadia – ScandiMummy x
That was how I felt, Nadia – why didn't I do it earlier is what I keep wondering…!! Thank you xo
Wow, I can't believe you got all that for just over £100! Great news, so thanks for the tips. Love the new design and the colours. Well done. Pleased you're happy with how it's turned out. Given me lots of ideas for redesigning my blog so thanks for the inspiration.
http://petitesilvervixen.blogspot.co.uk/
My pleasure, Jacqueline – and thank you! Good luck with any changes you make x
You did a great job on the redesign and all the details that goes into it. I have been thinking of changing it up but jus don't have the time to invest in and I got a blog update for about $200 so for me it was worth having someone else work on it.
Alice
http://www.happinessatmidlife.com
Would love for you to stop by & join TBT Fashion link up.
Thank you Alice, it's amazing just how cheaply you can get a redesign for these days, isn't it?!!
Can you recommend any over 40s guys? Grey Fox Blog is a fave but I'm always looking to follow more guys that write about fashion and style.
The only one I can think of – strangely – is actually the one my own husband was doing up until earlier this year: http://silverlondoner.com.
So I'm afraid it isn't updated any more, but you may find some inspo if you go back over his posts, if that's what you're after. It just wasn't his thing unfortunately and he didn't carry on with it (a pity I know)! x
Love the makeover and guess what….I'm doing the same early in the new Year. You certainly did it at a good proice! #BrilliantBlogPosts
Thank you John!
the new design is lovely and coincidentally the softer hair colour works very well with this too…I could get inspired by Santorini too, so beautiful there.
It was the ultimate inspiration, Linda!! Thank you sweetie x
Gah, I'm finally on desktop looking at your new design and it's stunning! I just re-did mine not long ago after over a year of having the same design. It's not perfect I'm much happier with it 🙂
Corinne x
http://www.skinnedcartree.com
Corinne thank you SO much – I absolutely love it myself and I'm so glad everyone else seems to love it too! Amazing what a new design can do to help you fall in love with your blog all over again, isn't it…? xx