As a result, it made sense to either replace my portfolio site with my blog or to combine them. Having ended up combining them, the focus of this resulting site is very much on writing, though I’ve included a single page of some projects for a bit of context. I enjoy reading the blogs of other designers, but it’s always interesting to see a few things they’ve designed too.

Those familiar with my original blog design will recognise much of it’s structure here. Along with the Work section, new additions include a proper menu in the header, a Notes section and individual RSS feeds for Articles, Resources and Notes. It’s still the same 6-column grid, though there are a couple of instances where I’ve stepped out into the 12-column grid. Hey, you’ve got to make the grid to break the grid, right?

I’ve also switched out Helvetica for Mark Simonson Studio’s Proxima Nova. I don’t dislike Helvetica, but it’s a typeface I’ll often choose in order to concentrate on other elements of a design. For me, it’s neutrality is both it’s strength and it’s weakness. I wanted to inject type that sported a little more personality without losing any of the structural solidity Helvetica provided, and I think Proxima Nova fits the bill pretty nicely.

Whether you previously read my blog or have arrived expecting to see my old portfolio site, I’d certainly appreciate hearing any feedback you have.

I know it’s a bad idea to have a plan, but I thought I’d at least summarise a few things:

• The blog is separate from my work/portfolio website, at least for now. The markup and CSS for my website is 3 years old and sub-par to say the least, so I was keen to start with a clean slate.
• What you see now is intentionally minimal in both design and functionality. I want to start out by getting the simple things right, then gradually introduce ‘standard’ blog functionality like categories and archives as and when I feel they’re needed. Kinks will be ironed out over the coming days. With the help of Analog‘s Hashgrid, I’ve started out by structuring the content using a uniform 6 (or 12, depending on how you look at it) column grid and creating a strong typography hierarchy underpinned by a 22px baseline grid. I’m not trying to claim that web is print or anything daft like that, it’s really just been an experiment for myself to find out how feasible these kinds of things are.
• Not all elements are quite aligned to the baseline grid yet (the footer elements aren’t), nor can I ensure that all will be with your browser and OS combination. It’ll never be perfect, but there should at least be a rough approximation if you’re using a modern browser. Hold down G to see the grid, and G+H to hold it in place. While the grid is held in place, you can toggle it from the foreground to background by pressing F.
• The blog lives or dies by the quality of the content, so as part of the simple beginnings, I’m keeping design imagery to a bare minimum. I just want to get writing without allowing myself to get sucked in to thinking of the design too much. If you’re a designer, I’m sure you know exactly what I mean.
• I’ve added (or should I say removed) some styles for those reading the blog on an iPhone (see below), along with the inclusion of an icon for adding to your home screen.