And we’re back at it with another feature track (or peer review, rather) in a Moods & Mixtapes X A Lazy Girl’s Guide to Self Care collaboration!
A Lazy Girl’s Guide to Self Care is a personal blog of sorts which was created as a way for its creator to keep themselves “accountable for being kind”. And honestly, I’m HERE for it. Sometimes we need a little reminder to be a little (or a lot) easier on ourselves and to take care of our well-being. I know I do. But before I get too carried away, let’s talk design.
THE FIRST LOOK
Once I pulled up the site, I immediately took note of the classic, two-column blog with posts on one side and a side-menu on the other. And this is not a bad thing! I think it perfectly matches the essence of the blog. We’re talking self-care here, so the site shouldn’t present itself as too hard to decipher or visually overwhelming. Rather, I find it to be quite easy on the eyes and the mind.
Similarly, A Lazy Girl’s Guide to Self Care is organized with all the fixings. The site features a prominent menu bar, a side menu with a handful of categories, and even a search bar. I find the latter to be incredibly useful and think that it’ll be quite the hit once the blog is home to a sizeable number of posts. Ah, it really is the little things for me.
THAT SPECIAL SOMETHING
Considering what I mentioned earlier about creating a simple, calming online space to fit the subject of the blog, I think that the minimal theme used on the online space is quite fitting. That being said, as wonderful as minimalism is, I would love to see a little bit more customization here and there to add a few personal touches. Pizzazz, oomph, or whatever you like to call it! Whether that means using a colour palette that speaks to the creator’s personality, creating a logo, or adding a few images that tell visitors a bit more about the blog’s vision—details like this could really go a long way.
WHAT’S IN A WORD
Of course, when talking about online looks, we can’t go without mentioning typeface. (I bet you didn’t think that that sentence would end like that, huh?) In saying so, A Lazy Girl’s Guide to Self Care features a classy, traditional, and easy to read typeface. The black text colour makes for smooth sailing, and I particularly like how it turns into more of a grey when being hovered over. If anything, I may suggest making the font size of the text in the menu and side-bar slightly bigger. This could just be a testament to how poor my eyesight is, but I found it somewhat difficult to read the selection of listed categories and posts. Of course, only if this is at all possible (as I’ve come to learn, WordPress templates can be quite fickle, frustrating things)!
WAIT TIME: ZERO
As I’ve learned from sitting in on Mauve Pagé’s lecture on web design, system performance is a big part of the user experience. Long load times lead to the loss of online foot-traffic, and at this rate, I don’t see that happening any time soon on A Lazy Girl’s Guide to Self Care. The site is free of large media which may create lag, and just like the site’s recent meta-human guest, its content loaded in a flash.
BE KIND TO ONE ANOTHER
And just like that, we’ve reached the end of our second collaboration!
So, the next time you find yourself in need of some TLC, be sure to check out A Lazy Girl’s Guide to Self Care!
