With a new year it is time to give my personal weblog an update. First I just wanted to re-align my current design, but once I opened Photoshop I decided to start from scratch. I bought Pictos font a while ago and I downloaded a free font from The League of Movable Type. If you follow my postings you know I’m a fan of minimalism.

Just because monitors have gotten bigger doesn’t mean we should jump into wide layouts all the time. See how these designs make use of narrower widths effectively.

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, let’s try our hand at wedding planning with these nicely designed websites. Whether your status is “single”, “in a relationship”, or “it’s complicated”, there’s no hurt in dreaming up the perfect wedding just like the kids used to do in their notebooks, and what better season than now? Have a lovely Friday Focus, everyone!

This week, I’ve come across a lot of sites with sunbursts, a specific type of lighting that’s popular with not just the Web 2.0 look anymore. You decide if they’re crucial to the design or not.

I’m doing something different this week on Friday Focus. I found one site with ten different styles on the same content (plus one homepage). Each one tries to match the visitor’s mood for the day. It’s also a good way to showcase one’s design repertoire. The designer also employs many interesting techniques into each style, so be sure to check all of them out!

This week on Friday Focus, we’re featuring light on dark sites with little to no use of color, just the neutral gray, brown, and black.

In this post we’ll have a look at usability by removing one of the biggest staples of design: Navigation. Plus 15 sites to prove that it’s possible (showcase).

An informal survey of 15 minimalist blogs reveals some surprising statistics.

What’s the lesson for this week? Describe the purpose of your website in one fell swoop and you’ll go a long way. Of course, it helps to have a great design as well.

I don’t know if I am a fan of minimalism because I picked out these websites. But I like to appreciate designs that stand out not because they’re loud and proud, but because they’re calm and clear. Silent waters run deep, they say. I like to think restraint is more powerful than the lack of it, especially in design.