It’s my blogoversary today. Five years is a long time. At the moment I can only think of a handful of other Christian blogs that I still read from time-to-time that were around back in 2003. Here are some of them, with dates they began in brackets (where I know them): If you know of a Christian blog I’ve forgotten and which started sometime in 2003 or before, drop me an e-mail. Also, if you have been reading my blog—even intermittently—since those early days, why not drop me a line, too!
I thought it would be a bit of fun to have a look at how the design of my blog has changed over the years. Perhaps it’s surprising, but there has been a gradual evolutionary note to my design changes. Rarely have I made a radical overhaul overnight. If you would like to join me in memory lane, I have shared a few links below, thanks to the Way Back Machine. April 2003 is a lifetime ago in blog time! - April 2003 — The initial design was really quite simple. I would spend much of the next few years messing it up and then trying to fix it!
- January 2004 — I embraced a Spiderman design using a drawing by my child. At the top of this page you can also see a list of links to a larger number of old blogs than I listed earlier. The best thing is that the links will take you to the old versions of those blogs—lots of fun!
- April 2004 — The spider’s web remained, but was alongside what was supposed to be a funky psychiatrist’s couch!
- July 2004 — A rather plain design, with the sidebar on the right and a truly awful background color, although the psychiatrist’s couch remained.
- April 2005 — By now a navy blue banner had appeared, which would remain for quite awhile in differing formats. I rather like the short endorsement quotes in this design.
- September 2005 — the psychiatrist’s couch has finally gone, replaced instead by my face superimposed alongside the tower which houses Big Ben.
- April 2006 — Three columns have now arrived, a concept which remains today, and Big Ben and my face have become separated.
- June 2006 – Big Ben and my face are reunited in the photo I still used until two weeks ago, when it was replaced with the current photo. The blue banner is clearly on its way out as it has shrunk dramatically.
- April 2007 — The site is now beginning to look fairly similar to what you see today, although it’s still a bit more scrappy.
- June 2007 — The navy banner has finally gone, although I couldn’t quite let it die, so a line remains, which I have yet to remove today. This is the final design at my old URL. Shortly after this snapshot was taken, I took the plunge and ditched http://www.adrian.warnock.info/ in favor of http://adrianwarnock.com/. Shortly after that move, the last few tweaks were made to bring the design to what it is today.
I am not currently of a mind to make any dramatic changes to my design. But I thought I would give any budding designers out there a chance to offer my blog a birthday present. I reckon it might be time I got myself a logo to replace that persistent blue bar and the current “adrianwarnock.com” title. So this post also announces a competition to design me a logo — feel free to submit as many drafts as you like via e-mail. There is, however, no guarantee I will use any of them. No prize is being offered, except the reward of knowing I might use your logo, although I will, of course, acknowledge any winner in a blog post here. So if you think five years of blogging deserves a better logo than my current plain text, now is your chance!Labels: Blogging, Personal
