As I have mentioned, as a participant in NaBloPoMo, I won a blog makeover from Jessica at Kerflop. We’re done, this is it! I have gotten a couple inquiries as to how the process went, who did what, etc. So here you go. Part two of two.
The banner
I created the banner (as well as designed the overall blog look, which Jessica made happen with her skilled fingers.) I wanted the banner to look like one of the pages of the visual journal I have been keeping for the past few years. All of the images are scans of ephemera in my collection, and collaged using Photoshop. Some of the elements:
- A wayang kulit (Indonesian shadow puppet) of Srikandi, a character from the Mahabharata. Some of the many adjectives used to describe her: beautiful, strong-willed, couragous, competitive, loyal. I love Indonesia. I went a couple times in my younger days and have never ever forgotten it.
- Roadrunner from a piece of old stationery from the land of my youth, Arizona. Roadrunner: AZ state bird.
- The faces are from a larger piece of Chinese fortune paper. I love those expressions.
- Image from a medical journal depicting the bones of the hand. Lots of hand imagery here.
- From some kind of a flash card that I found in the street. The card had this line drawing and the number 44. This is a significant number for me this year. Ahem.
- From a vintage book of hand shadows. The hands are forming a bull. I am a Taurus.
- An unhappy electrical appliance from a particularly well-illustrated user’s manual (for what? I don’t remember). I like anthropomorphism.
- The internet. The world. Whatever. I like that the rays from the globe seem to be distressing the appliance.
- Me, age three. Watching. Brooding. Not a lot has changed.
There are other images of hands and observing faces — significant aspects to my life! There are also a couple details of photos that my mother took, and some other secret objects.
Comments
4 responses to “new blog layout part two”
I like your banner a lot. I recognize some of the found images as things I also have (the chinese fortune paper, the ASL hand…)
And, 44 is my lucky number.
How fun, getting the run down of the design, very cool, very fun. I do love the look of the new site. I like the royal colors up there, the color palette, you might say. And awesome job on the layer effects done in Photoshop. Way back a long time ago I used Photoshop for work and I never, ever made Photoshop my betch.
I was always at the mercy of Photoshop and I did fear that betch. A little bit. But you kicked her in the ass and made her scream uncle in three different languages. Go hambox! Awesome work!
I know I told you this in a mail, but now I have the chance to a more direct approach: Lady, I love your new blog design!!! So clean and crisp and easy to read – and still with the elegant Becky-schwuuung! Congratulations, my friend 🙂
Luther: Damn, Hansel. Are you sure you’re not a girl? You sure are fine!
All of this is to say I love the banner to the point of wanting to suck it up through a straw.