Blog Relaunch http://ift.tt/22Fe4iQ @lnohara95 #blogging

As you all know very well, if you have been following me on Twitter, I had decided late December to redesign my whole blog template. Though, being as thick as I am with coding, and only knowing the obvious tweaks, my best option was to get someone [qualified] to create a whole new template for me.

To be honest, I don't work because I am high risk pregnant and I didn't want to spend money on a template, so one Blogger very kindly offered to created a completely new design for me for free! What a babe. Of course, there is a catch; publicity. You all know me to be quite nice and considerate when it comes to things like this, and as there was no other alternative, I agreed to the publicity.

If you scroll down to my footer, you will see on the bottom right, Krystal and her social Media accounts as well as her Design Website. I will link them again at the end of this post. First, I want to show you the BEFORE and AFTER of my brand new custom designed Blog Template! So excited to show the progress and how ~~different~~ professional it looks now.

Alexander always gives an honest review of my blog templates; if he doesn't like something he will tell me, which I prefer because then he's not the "Yes Babe, I love it because it's yours" kind of guy, and as my blog is so important to me, I need an HONEST opinion on my blog. Well, I don't want to look an absolute tit when I have been ranting and raving about how excited I am to relaunch and redesign my blog all just for you to be disappointed and embarrassed for me.

Remember BEFORE when I tweaked the template myself but it turned out rather amateur? Yeah, I remember that bomb-site too! Here is the Header, navigation bar and social media buttons:

Header, navigation bar and social media buttons
BEFORE

Header, Navigation Bar & Social Media Buttons
AFTER

The good thing about my custom template being live now, is that you can scroll up and down when you see fit, even with me screenshotting and placing onto this post. Which do you prefer; before or after Header, Navigation Bar, and/or Social Media Buttons? I love how fun my new social media buttons are on the top right; Alexander finds them entertaining as they spin if you hover over them - fascinated by the smallest things (haha!)

Using my old pictures, I let Krystal edit my Header to make it upto date and relate to my moodboard & font choices. Truthfully I do prefer my new header now looking back on the old one. Please, never ask me to design anything for you, as I will give it my best but it will still be better if you create things yourself. See, I can be honest about myself and my creativity.

Body BEFORE

Body AFTER

They look very similar right? However, I do like the thickness and layout of the sidebar better than on the BEFORE, mainly because it looks clean! My Title and Date area on my new template is also more professional. I do like both Before and After Title areas though but the After fits in with my new theme; using the old title with the new template wouldn't look quite right. What do you reckon?

What bothers me, only, about my Before Body is the siderbar. How boring! It just looks like my things were plonked there with no care in the world - so tacky and bleh. This makes me love my new sidebar more! I say "love" because it so brand new to me; professional, neat, and clean. I have come to realise the picture of my head is kinda big, and I so apologise.

Footer BEFORE

Footer AFTER

If I do say so myself, my first footer was an ABYSMAL. How tacky, empty, minimal, and overall, a disaster! Told you that I did it myself and I am proper shit at doing things myself; I gave it a go if that gives me some brownie points? Nah, I wouldn't give me any points either, even if they were for Gryffindor.

What I love most about my new footer is EVERYTHING. So in love! I used the widget from SnapWidget (it scrolls left and then right; scroll down to my footer to see it live now.) As I have chosen to show how many followers I have on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and even though the following is as small as they are, I wanted to show you all my honesty. My instagram account is fairly new which is why the following is so small, but Facebook I have no excuse for. Mainly because it is just my friends who liked the page so I don't spam my private profile with blog updates and I don't promote my FB page at all. Is it even worth it?

Honest opinions on the new Header, Navigation Bar, Social Media Buttons, Body, and Footer please!

Nothing you can say will hurt my feelings, so be brutally honest as constructive feedback is much appreciated and needed.

Now you have seen the before an after's, please feel free to comment your views on my new template - Brutal Honesty - there is always room for improvement!

Let's get to what Krystal offers in her package as you don't just get the template! Before we started the template, Krystal suggested a moodboard, asking what colours I would like but also what kind of fonts. I am pretty easy going so I let Krystal pick the fonts and I gave my views; only once I changed the font because it was too "fancy" for me, and you all know me, fancy isn't in my name!

Moodboard

How pretty is my moodboard?!

As a reader, do you think we have pulled it off? Is my blog relevant to this moodboard? Have I brought it to the table?

As I have used the exact fonts, and the colours, I would say so myself, that the moodboard was a success. They are actually quite useful when it comes to designing a whole new custom template, especially if, like me, you had no idea where to start with suggestions. Krystal did extremely well.

Signature

Blog Button

Branding Board

(This Branding Board also goes onto Krystal's website as part of her Promo and Portfolio!)

Krystal has to be the most patient and understanding person I have ever worked with, and I thought I was actually really polite and patient, also! I told her not to rush, send me screenshots via Twitter DMs (when I had no access to the laptop), but she also sent me the link to the website she was designing on so I could watch the process myself.

The reason why I rather watch the progress myself, was so that I didn't have to wait until it was finished to then make changes. If we did it as we went along, it would be such a smoother process. Honestly, I preferred the whole editing as we went a long process. If I had waited until she had done a template and then told her things I wanted changing, I would have feared the list would have been too long and I would have punched my laptop out of frustration!

If would like Kyrstal to custom design a new template (with or without the extras) you can find her on her many Social Media Accounts.

✿ Krystal-Marie ✿

Much love,