Jabiz Raisdana left a comment on Does my header make my blog look fat?,
I would love a quick run-down on what story you think my images tell.
He has three blogs, and I think all of Jabiz’s headers are effective for a number of reasons.
Titles
Jabiz uses Intrepid in all his titles. From the Visual Thesaurus, we see words related to intrepid on the left. I would expect his headers to evoke these types of feelings.
He has three blogs.
- Intrepid Teacher
- Intrepid Flame
- Intrepid Classroom
Looking at the the lines in his headers
Here are the headers from his blogs. I have used red to identify what I see as the dominant lines in each image. Notice how these lines direct the eye to the two important areas, the posts and his sidebar. I’ve also made specific comments about the images below each example.
On Intrepid Teacher, the use of a larger boy and a smaller one walking down an alley evokes fearlessness. You don’t know what is at the end around the corner. The larger boy looks like he is being supportive to the smaller one, much like a teacher would be to a student.
On Intrepid Flame, the challis or bowl evokes a feeling of the unknown.
On Intrepid Classroom, the figures are going somewhere, but you don’t know where. They are all going together though. Much like we do in a classroom.
Interpretation of images can be very individual. Certainly affected by each of our experiences and cultural lenses. These are some of my impressions. What about you? And Jabiz, what were your intentions?
What makes these headers work?
It’s the combination of the visual and the verbal.
- There is something about each of the images that relates to the title. So, something that evokes the quality of intrepid.
- The dominant lines in the image guide the eye to the most important parts of the blog, the posts and the sidebar.
What else?
What do you see that you think makes a blog header effective? Any examples of headers you can point us to that are really great?
I totally agree his images are excellent — might have to get him to look at mine with fresh eyes
since both Laura and Alex have said they preferred the old one (they are harsh).
I’m sticking to the fact that it’s okay to have a personal blog that reflects part of you.
Wow! Thank you so much for taking the time to look at my headings. I suppose that I noticed some of the things you mentioned, first when I took the photographs, and secondly when I chose them as my headers, but it is always refreshing to see how other view are artistic choices.
The picture of the boys was taken in Tunis and the other two were in Iran. The bowl is from the Blue Mosque in Isfahan and the other is form Persepolis out side of Shiraz. For more pics check out:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/intrepidflame/
Thanks again for the insight. PS I haven’t had Photoshop, but I would love to play more with text on the edublogs soon. I may come back and ask for some advice.
It’s totally OK to be you. I also know it’s really easy to change them, so there is always the opportunity to try something new when the mood strikes.
When we have developed our eyes many of these things come naturally, esp for images we are passionate about. Knowing them more fully comes in handy when we are designing for others or with images we aren’t so attached to.
Your photos are wonderful. So many visually compelling places, so out of my ordinary visual realm. I love the starkness of the backgrounds in the Middle East with the saturated people. The rich patterns and textures. The similarity and differences of the clouds around the world. You have a wonderful eye.
Always love to talk about images and happy to help with what I can.