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45 More Excellent Blog Designs
We, designers, are creative folks. And being creative, we permanently strive for inspiration — innovative approaches, crazy ideas, smashing concepts and, in general, unique designs which can help us to observe a given problem from a fresh perspective. This is why we always have some fancy design books laying around on our desk, and this is why we enjoy observing other people’s work — basically just because we can learn a hell of a lot from them.
There are things one can do a number of times without worrying about becoming boring. For instance, collecting and showcasing excellent blog designs. In this post we do it already the third time. Why? Web design lives in blogs; new developments appear there, that’s where the music plays. And that’s where you need to look for in order to keep up with current trends and developments.
This post presents 45 excellent blog designs with a perfect layout and unique personal note. We haven’t analyzed the content of the blogs; instead we focused on ideas, approaches, graphics and layouts.
If you miss some stunning blog designs in this showcase please let us know in the comments. However, it’s also possible that these designs have already been covered in one of our previous showcases:
[Offtopic: by the way, have you already visited Smashing Magazine's Facebook fan page? Join the community for a stream of useful resources, updates and giveaways!]
Excellent Blog Designs
Pat Dryburgh
Pat Dryburgh has probably one of the largest RSS-buttons ever created.
Iso50
Magazine-style, very stylish, and pretty impressive.
Wilsonminer.com
A very thought-out design with attention to little details.
Design Sponge
Scrapbook-style.
Squawk
The “paper” theme in use.
Schneeballschlacht
Interesting not just because of two mascots, but because of a double-blog: two bloggers write together and against each other on both left and right sides of the navigation area. Interesting concept.
Papuasia
Black and white at its best. Notice how well icons communicate information, block formatting in use.
I Heart Luxe
A shopping magazine powered by Wordpress.
Plavackuv Blabolnik
Whatever it means…
Bigsweater Design
Right. Big. Sweater. And the design. And this is how the result looks like.
Spreeblick
Magazine-style design based upon WordPress.
PushStandards
Soft colors, visually appealing layout and hand-written links at the top of the page.
Brian Jeremy
Loves colors…
Jamie Knight
Meet soft and cloudy design — that’s Jamie and his Teddy.
Clean, Simple Designs
theshaun.com
Seriously cool, elegant and simple.
Experimental Designs
TechGuyTales
Office notes, paper clips and wood background. Well, what do you expect? Sarcastic design fits to sarcastic blog entries.
Qwertcity
Vivid colors. Used together, they may be not that appealing, but they just can’t be not eye-catching.
Papel Continuo
Sometihng… completely different.
Kulturbanause
The background determines the layout. You defintely haven’t ever seen a blog layout like this.
Chris Contollini
An interesting integration of Google Maps into… well, a weblog!
Ovavaho
Focus on illustrations.
Peminoz
No fresh content, but interesting graphics.
The Co-Founder of Smashing Magazine. Former writer, web designer, freelancer and webworker. Author of several books. Runs the business.
(No votes yet)
Loading ...- 122 Comments
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February 20th, 2008 9:38 amI love it!, great, really impressive work
- 3February 20th, 2008 9:39 am
Great list of weblogs – I wish my day had more than 24 hours to have a look at all of them…
- 4February 20th, 2008 9:52 am
Em am I the only one who sees that David Hellmann ripped off electric pulp???
- 5February 20th, 2008 10:00 am
Yay for iso50 … Tycho is some good music
- 6February 20th, 2008 10:17 am
Very Pretty Weblogs
- 7February 20th, 2008 10:17 am
I liked erraticwisdom.com, but once you enter the site you discover that you cant read more than 4 lines with that fantastic font they use…
- 8February 20th, 2008 10:22 am
Plavackuv Blabolnik is in czech slang ;) and it means something like “Babbling of Plavacek” and Plavacek is name of author ;)
- 9February 20th, 2008 10:26 am
When I was searching for a plugin I’ve found a courious spanish blog that look’s great: Berriart
Those are so beautiful, thanks for a bit more inspration
- 10February 20th, 2008 10:34 am
I love Erratic Wisdom, and if you check out where he came from (in terms of his previous designs – in the archive) I think it’s pretty remarkable.
Looking forward to the day my site design is on par with these… I am, admittedly, an rank amateur (!!) and a big geeky fan of web design. Oh well, it’s fun… and super great to continually be inspired by the sites you guys feature. Thanks.
- 11February 20th, 2008 10:37 am
@Keith – yes, I see where you’re coming from.
Thanks SmashingMagazine – a great selection of inpiration!
- 12February 20th, 2008 10:38 am
awesome……
pretty cool - 13February 20th, 2008 10:48 am
Some really stella design work
- 14February 20th, 2008 10:52 am
really cool sites. thank you guys.
- 15February 20th, 2008 11:10 am
Great list of blogs. I wish I could design my websites like that.
- 16February 20th, 2008 11:35 am
Thanks again guys, this is an amazing list.
- 17February 20th, 2008 11:39 am
I think this one Reinhold Weber would fit pretty well in the clean and simple category
- 18February 20th, 2008 11:54 am
Plavacek is not author’s name but nickname. Author’s name is Miloslav Leseticky.
- 19February 20th, 2008 11:57 am
nice list
- 20February 20th, 2008 11:58 am
very nice selection as usual ..
thanks
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- 22February 20th, 2008 12:22 pm
I really like http://nitram-nunca.com/ and http://www.brianjeremy.com
Dark colored backgrounds have a nice comfortable feel to me
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- 24February 20th, 2008 12:51 pm
great examples. inspirational too.
- 25February 20th, 2008 1:05 pm
Thanks for featuring my site (erraticwisdom)!
@Rolando Bouza:
Are you talking about the body font? It’s 12px Helvetica which is usually pretty easy to read. It renders oddly on PC’s, but I don’t think it comes with Windows by default.@Daniel Holter:
Thanks again man!The archives he’s talking about can be found here. Some of my earlier versions are pretty hideous, but I keep ‘em around so I can always remember how crappy of a designer I think I’ll be in a year.
- 26February 20th, 2008 1:10 pm
In the name of the whole team, specially Franziska, our designer: Thanks very much!
- 27February 20th, 2008 1:43 pm
Thanks for those wonderful examples. Amazing!
- 28February 20th, 2008 1:47 pm
“…Em am I the only one who sees that David Hellmann ripped off electric pulp???…”
That is exactly what I thought as soon as I saw it.
- 29February 20th, 2008 2:11 pm
Excellent list!
Mine didn’t make it? awww. jk!Keep up the good work guys!
- 30February 20th, 2008 2:25 pm
check out this one. i think it has an interesting design, even if from my point of view they still have to do a little more work http://www.divercitycafe.ro
- 31February 20th, 2008 3:07 pm
Thanks a lot for mentioning my site!
- 32February 20th, 2008 3:08 pm
awesome collection! Thank you indeed.
- 33February 20th, 2008 3:15 pm
I’m honoured to have my blog listed alongside such great sites, thanks very much. :)
- 34February 20th, 2008 3:20 pm
nice collection…thanks for sharing :)
- 35February 20th, 2008 3:37 pm
Am I the only one who is worried about the (color)noise of most of the pages? Some are so bad that i can hardly read them. And could someone please shoot down this electricpulp copiest? Man i hate it when people just copy!
nevertheless, although i can find flaws with nearly every design, i do like the list because there are some fine examples on it.
- 36February 20th, 2008 3:58 pm
Very very nice blog designs. My favourite is the Qwertcity.
- 37February 20th, 2008 4:19 pm
I love these designs, the creativity behind them is just phenomenal! Kudos to the designers and thanks for posting this.
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- 39February 20th, 2008 5:19 pm
Thanks so much for featuring my blog’s design (PushStandards.com), I’m honored! I’ll just go link back to you now :)
- 40February 20th, 2008 5:27 pm
Totally awesome guys, thanks for posting my blog :)
And keep up with the AWESOME site you guys have!!!
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- 42February 20th, 2008 8:35 pm
Bravo! A rather impressive list of some quite “smashing” designs. :D
- 43February 20th, 2008 8:40 pm
A kind “thank you” for your generous inclusion. Best regards, B
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- 45February 20th, 2008 9:28 pm
great selection as usual..
*inspiration…. - 46February 20th, 2008 11:44 pm
Hi there,
thanks for this compilation, but you forgot my layout. Its much prettier than some of the above mentioned, so please correct this :-)
Best Regards from Berlin
Tobi - 47February 21st, 2008 12:31 am
Nice post, like always :)
- 48February 21st, 2008 12:47 am
Fantastic list as always ^_^ any update for beautiful free blog designs?
- 49February 21st, 2008 12:58 am
and where is the rip?
they looks like electricpulp but at last, is see two different sides. and any have made a good job.
i think the mainproblem is, the colors are similar but brown and beige is a good combo…i see no problem there, sorry
- 50February 21st, 2008 1:32 am
Check this out
sirehdancengkeh.com change the rotating image function for random quotes, cool.
- 51February 21st, 2008 1:36 am
Nice bloglist. However (not to sound too critical), how about a list of something other than portfolios/blogs/personal sites? I’d like to see some examples of more conservative, elegant corporate sites – small businesses, realtors, travel agents, hotels, that kinda thing. Blogs are a dime a dozen, its just so rare (and I guess harder) to make a good list of business sites, which after all, are the bread and butter of any web designer.
As much as I love grunge ink splashes and tattered frames, or glowing light tentacles, your Joe Schmo realtor rarely goes for the outrageous, and Id like to see what fresh ideas other designers come up with when they are somewhat limited in their creativity.
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- 53February 21st, 2008 3:09 am
What is an excellent? OMG! These are shit.
- 54February 21st, 2008 3:38 am
Great list.
And thanks for linking Papel Continuo. - 55February 21st, 2008 5:06 am
Great bloglist, thumbs up!
- 56February 21st, 2008 5:23 am
Pretty nice list!
- 57February 21st, 2008 6:38 am
interesting list, but you must include webdesignerwall and ndesign studio also bittbox, i think they are qualified to be listed here.
- 58February 21st, 2008 9:08 am
This is a nice list just for website design alone.
I’ve also been listening to the Rissington Pod cast for a while now and have been really enjoying it. I know it’s not visual, but the “best podcasts” relating to design and development would be a really cool list.
- 59February 21st, 2008 1:16 pm
Wow… thank you so much! It’s an honour to be mentioned on here.
Just so everyone’s aware… I’m working diligently to get my site back online… I wasn’t expecting nearly this many people coming to my site in the last little while…
I’ll let you know when it’s back online.
Pat
- 60February 21st, 2008 1:30 pm
The site is back up!
I love my web host :)
Pat
- 61February 21st, 2008 1:56 pm
Very very nice all of them. Thanks for sucha good job. Papel continuo is the best for me! papelcontinuo.net
- 62February 21st, 2008 8:42 pm
Great list of sites, guys. I read updates through my feed, but this is actually the first time I’ve commented here. Like others before have said, thanks for including us in your list and keep up the fantastic work.
- 63February 22nd, 2008 1:08 am
Very nice list!
- 64February 22nd, 2008 1:39 am
Strange list. Some are beautifulls, others like Sam Rayner, ttthings.com, Jamie Knight, Wesh or Kulturbanause are not interesting : just basic templates :(
I like this ones
http://www.monsieur-alex.com/club-club/
and
http://splitdadiz.com/ - 65
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- 67February 22nd, 2008 11:04 am
Keith (February 20th, 2008, 9:52 am)
Em am I the only one who sees that David Hellmann ripped off electric pulp???
Link [electricpulp.com]
Link [www.davidhellmann.com]
Ripped off? Inspired by perhaps, the colorscheme is similar and the blog is divided up in a similiar layout. But the overall creative concepts of theese sites are quite diferent.
- 68February 22nd, 2008 12:20 pm
Very very nice ! thanks
- 69February 22nd, 2008 2:36 pm
Great collection!
- 70February 22nd, 2008 11:47 pm
very interesting list.
- 71February 23rd, 2008 4:46 pm
Nice work. I’m proud to be part of your collection. Thank you so much!
http://www.QwertCity.com - 72February 24th, 2008 6:01 am
Nice collection, nice designs! I wish I had their artistic skills. :)
- 73February 24th, 2008 12:04 pm
cool list. thanks
- 74February 25th, 2008 12:21 am
very fantastic,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,i m a regular vistor of ,the SMASHING.COM
THNKS TO ALL THE TEAM….AND PRAY FOR HAPPINESS .
OK - 75February 25th, 2008 2:42 am
Thanks a lot for featuring our site http://www.schneeballschl8.de
Keep the good work!See’ya
Leif - 76February 25th, 2008 3:27 am
wow, inspiring collection.
- 77February 25th, 2008 12:33 pm
I can see your hard work in that great list.Keep it up.
Your lists are inspiring me - 78February 25th, 2008 6:08 pm
Enjoyed that list!
Thanks - 79February 26th, 2008 4:33 am
Thanks for the list Smashing! Great for inspiration.
…and here’s my requisite & shameless plug for my frehsly-hatched redesign: CarbonGraffiti.
Cheers!
- 80February 26th, 2008 8:45 am
thx for add my site…
thx for delete my site…but really good pages!
- 81February 26th, 2008 11:05 pm
great collection!
- 82February 27th, 2008 3:19 am
again great article!
- 83February 27th, 2008 10:50 pm
There have been many sections on Blog design in the past and this is inspiring me to start my own. Thanks for these refereshing designs.
- 84February 28th, 2008 1:35 am
Great selecting of very inspiring designs.
- 85February 29th, 2008 10:34 am
Not all blog designs are my taste, but there are much ideas like always.
Thank you for your great summry about blog design from past until now….
From Germany
Ralph
- 86March 6th, 2008 2:05 am
Nice layouts ! :D
- 87March 25th, 2008 12:42 pm
Thanks for showing us the variety of unique blogs. Very nice.
- 88March 27th, 2008 2:14 am
i’d like to add a german blog to this awesome list
http://www.projekt-deutschlandreise.dethink it fits perfectly
- 89April 2nd, 2008 11:46 am
this design is very talent. designers feeling the atmosphere of our time with speed, replacing actions and culture of young people
- 90April 10th, 2008 5:06 am
Hey! Ripp off?? Thats a bad comment there…. Yes there is a small similarity to the background but nothing more than this. Getting inspiration from another website or other designers is not unsual tactic.
- 91April 12th, 2008 7:44 am
Just a quick heads up to everyone who’s been checking out patdryburgh.net. A few weeks ago I changed the design, and stopped using my large RSS Icon. However, a few days ago I did make it available for download on my portfolio at atrickdesign.com. Just go to the blog section, and download the .zip which contains a transparent .png of the icon.
Enjoy!
- 92April 25th, 2008 7:24 pm
thanks cordoba
- 93May 10th, 2008 11:37 am
can you make one that has Allie Dimeco i have A Fan Blog and i need One!
- 94June 11th, 2008 10:09 pm
Thank’s a lot for this review..!!
- 95June 25th, 2008 4:41 am
Really impressive!
- 96July 28th, 2008 11:44 pm
Really its very good and nice layouts .I like all.
- 97August 11th, 2008 8:15 am
you should check out http://www.thecitylovesyou.com is a blog from mexico city, and they write about street art, fashion, toys, music, etc. the design changes all the time and is really nice.
- 98August 21st, 2008 9:34 am
Those are very beautiful blog designs. I love the Kulturbanause a lot. It is very unique and beautiful. Very nice design for inspiration.
- 99August 21st, 2008 9:45 am
the best blog designs i have ever seen so far. Very very beautiful. They are very inspiring.Thank you for sharing them.
- 100August 27th, 2008 12:43 pm
Thanks for the links. Toogle looks nice and also I dig that under contact they have their Xbox Gammer Tag. Pretty slick. Gonna remember that one. Also check out http://culturesoak.com/
- 101August 31st, 2008 7:29 pm
AWESOME YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
ITS SO FRIKIN SWEEEEET
MMMMMMMMMHHHHHHHHHMMMMMMMMMCDONALDS EVERYBODY YEAHHHHHHH
AWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!!!! - 102August 31st, 2008 7:37 pm
THIS IS WHAT YA GET FOR STEALING MY EMAIL NAME HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH KEEP DELETING
- 103September 4th, 2008 7:09 am
Eccellente elenco di utilizzo Blog Design, bella esposizione.. sarà un valido punto di riferimento per la realizzazione di un nuovo . Thanks!
- 104September 4th, 2008 5:13 pm
Shame my friend’s WordPress blog isn’t on here. He blogs a bit, but the stars of his site are his great photographs. Nice dark design that is very masculin too.
- 105September 12th, 2008 10:26 pm
nice themes
- 106September 17th, 2008 9:29 pm
boy minor kitchen land joke
- 107
- 108November 9th, 2008 7:49 pm
Good site! Successes in future
- 109November 13th, 2008 5:28 pm
Hello, excellent site, very rich in content and correctly carefully thought out
- 110November 15th, 2008 11:17 pm
Hello! Good site, simply super!
- 111December 9th, 2008 2:30 pm
Great list man. I like these designs. :clap:
- 112January 24th, 2009 7:18 am
cause/affect blog is going to make me mad:-D I love that simply style
- 113February 4th, 2009 8:18 am
Wow, great designs. You better check out this blog from a Filipina designer. http://www.tonetsdaily.com/ looks chic and unique!
- 114February 13th, 2009 4:33 am
Great blog theme…
- 115February 14th, 2009 2:48 am
cool
- 116April 14th, 2009 10:17 am
Gosh, really awesome!!!
- 117May 15th, 2009 7:44 am
Some really great designs. Very inspiring!
- 118June 10th, 2009 2:11 am
If blogs had been playing second fiddle to websites so far, it was largely due to design restraints. But all that is about to change. This post is testimony to the evolution blogs that have elevated them to a whole new level, almost at par with websites. Some of these blogs don’t even appear as ‘blogs’. The designs, as usual, are very good and inspiring. Thanks for the post.
- 119October 11th, 2009 10:01 am
Very sweet collection, gonna use some ideas for redesign my blog with flash elements . Especially I like designs with vector elements.
- 120October 11th, 2009 11:53 pm
I like the way Chris Contollini use Google Map for his blog.
- 121October 21st, 2009 4:57 am
Nice post you got here. It would be great to read more concerning this matter.
- 122December 21st, 2009 10:39 am
Great post. (sorry just testing your comment form :p)
- 00
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