There are things that can’t be showcased too often. For instance, beautiful blog designs. We have presented hundreds of beautiful blog designs in the past and now it’s time to provide our readers with a fresh portion of tasty design inspiration.
All blogs listed below have an original, unique design. They aren’t based upon some ready-to-be-used WordPress templates, but are the result of a hard, time-consuming work – therefore they deserve respect and admiration. Yes, many of these design are quite “heavy” on graphcs, not only because they look impressive on a tiny 550px-width-screenshot.
Below we present 50 new, beautiful, creative and (hopefully) inspiring blog designs. We feature many various styles and designs – hopefully, everybody will find some inspiring elements and design solutions for his or her next design. And, of course, thanks to all designers and artists featured in this post! All screenshots are linked to the original designer’s site.
Beautiful and Original Blog Designs
Duiwaigh
Iemai
Douglas Menezes
A Crayons Life
Blog me Tender
Nice Web Type
Foodtease
Mike Matas
Questionable Characters
idsgn
SushiMonstr
Brown Blog Films
Addicted to New
Nalden
The Klog
Guns & Donuts
moradito
Daustralala
Digital Mash
Jack Cheng
Huwshimi: A robot blog
Cocoia Blog
Metalab
Mateus Neves
Ryan McMaster
Rin & Wendy
Markup & Style Society
Get and Give
The Astonishing Adventures of Lord Likely
Fritz Quadrata
Argee
Steven Mullen
Owltastic
Snailbird
Henry Hoffman
Guillermo Esteves
Skylab
Gary Nock
5Pieces
Ethan Marcotte
Dino Latoga
tehCpeng
Darren Hoyt
Elliot Jay Stocks
From The Couch
Mike Rundle
Boris Forconi
Nasendackel
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Sumesh
July 22nd, 2009 7:48 amThere are several beautiful designs in the roundup, I also discovered a few
well-writtengem of blogs.Lartsa
July 22nd, 2009 7:50 amOnce again: awesome collection of some really inspiring designs! Thanks SM!!
mdzo
July 22nd, 2009 7:59 amgreat!! foodtease is really a nice design … well done!
Ruchi
July 22nd, 2009 8:01 amAwsome Collection. Hats Off !
michael lamb
July 22nd, 2009 8:04 amthere are like 5 that are totally boring….. plain, ugly, no thought put into them. You may say simplistic is best but they look like the person doesn’t even care
Jessica
July 22nd, 2009 8:09 amSure, all of these blogs have beautiful designs, but some are very difficult to read and navigate through content. I’m sorry, but there needs to be a balance of design and usability.
Rob
July 22nd, 2009 8:22 amThat Skylab design should be removed, it is using graphics ripped off from Jeff Sarmiento’s blog http://www.jeffsarmiento.com/ (which has been featured here in the past)
Calley
November 5th, 2010 12:25 pmThat rocket ship is actually a stock photo. You can get it from iStockphoto.
Brandon
July 22nd, 2009 8:26 amNeat
happy-buddha
July 22nd, 2009 8:28 amGreat !!
rmlumley
July 22nd, 2009 8:31 amWhen it comes to blogs, I’m a fan of minimalistic and lots of white space. I agree that readability is always the #1 concern.
gesmith
July 22nd, 2009 8:33 amI guess this is all about look and style, not usability? I clicked on the “Markup & Style” blog and while it looks pretty, the navigation is poor. The logo/header doesn’t hyperlink to the site main page. The site name is embedded only as a background image, so someone who couldn’t see images wouldn’t even know what site they were on. Once you click on an entry title to view the full entry there’s no way to get back to the main view again without clicking the browser back button. The RSS sidebar link takes you to a 404 page. The archive link takes you to some page with a totally different design and postage stamp sized iframes. Also, the page doesn’t validate.
Dan
July 22nd, 2009 8:45 amVery uninspiring list. Perhaps there is nothing new to uncover in blog design? These do nothing for me.
Tim Brown
July 22nd, 2009 8:57 amHey, thanks! I’m honored to be in the same listing as these other sites, and many are new to me. Good stuff.
Smashing Editorial
July 22nd, 2009 8:57 amPlease notice that this showcase is a showcase of blogs with an original, unique design. It is supposed to be inspiring; you could develop some of the (visual) design ideas here for your next project which would also be excellent from the usability point of view.
Nasendackel
July 22nd, 2009 9:08 amOH! Thanks. I know, that my site is not very usable, but I just wanted to do stuff different.
Thanks, that you like it :D
Bob van Ooik
July 22nd, 2009 9:14 amCan’t say i’m overly impressed. As I’m in the progress of redesigning a blog I hoped to see more inspirational things, new ideas. There is probably not so much new going on. I found most of the designs way too busy, visually unappealing and getting in the way of readability. Especially the last point I find pretty important in a blog.
borisforconi
July 22nd, 2009 9:23 amGlad to be associated with this inspiring designs. Thanks for the link!
mikemick
July 22nd, 2009 9:33 amI recently built a website (with a blog front page) that was inspired by Rin & Wendy “dueling blogs”. I added some jQuery functionality, to make each blog side expand and contract. It actually turned out pretty cool. Here it is: UndergroundProducts.com.
Shane
July 22nd, 2009 9:49 amGreat list indeed – thanks for the inspiration.
NotAlame
July 22nd, 2009 9:56 amthese design make peaple dreaming!
Thanks a lot man!
Nathan
July 22nd, 2009 9:57 amThese are astounding. Countless great design ideas.
David
July 22nd, 2009 9:58 amCan’t say I’m impressed. Most of the sites are boring, unoriginal and uninspiring. I don’t know why you though that some of this sites might be inspirational.
I do find interesting the site from Boris Forconi.
Maximilian Georg Liebscher
July 22nd, 2009 10:09 amI love you guys.
Twibies Admin
July 22nd, 2009 10:15 amThis is an awesome round up! what do you feel about twibies.com?
Flaviz
July 22nd, 2009 10:26 amDouglas Menezes Rocks! Great designer!
Jasmin Halkić
July 22nd, 2009 10:40 amNice designs,
Jonny McCauley
July 22nd, 2009 10:46 amThanks for the feature (Brown Blog Films). You guys rock! Never imagined that site would make it onto Smashing Mag but hey, I ain’t complaining ;)
You’ve listed some really nice sites there. Ok, judging by some of the comments they’re not to everyones tastes. However, getting creative with blog designs under the confines of the now ubiquitous blog format, can be challenging to say the least so I commend everyone for their efforts. Also, a big-up to the unsung heroes of this post, the developers who make these sites work!
Great post. Really got my creative juices flowing. Anyone for a blog? :)
Micael Delgado
July 22nd, 2009 10:53 amIt’s amazing. Full of inspiration this post.
Jonathan V.
July 22nd, 2009 10:58 amThere are some great designs in this list but I’ve got to say others look really poor …
Ryan McMaster
July 22nd, 2009 11:01 amThanks so much for featuring my site. Good company to be in too! I definitely think that there are some good inspirational blog designs in there.
By the way Smashing Mag: do you mind changing the spelling of my name? MacMaster to McMaster? Thanks!
Horacio Bella
July 22nd, 2009 11:28 amThanks (:
Max B.
July 22nd, 2009 12:24 pmAwesome.
Most of these works are stunning!
Marcel
July 22nd, 2009 12:25 pmWow i great list of inspiration…
great ;)
Carl
July 22nd, 2009 12:25 pm@rob
and jeff sarimento has ripped off graphics from istockphoto. Doesn’t he?:)
mota
July 22nd, 2009 1:01 pmpulento
Dean
July 22nd, 2009 2:06 pmAhh, very nice and inspirational!
Anrkist
July 22nd, 2009 3:10 pmI think even color blind people would cringe at moradito. My eyes keep darting back n fourth. Bold, yes… readable, slightly… with a headache.
ShinhwaS
July 22nd, 2009 4:17 pmGood!!!
Mal
July 22nd, 2009 4:24 pmI got 3 really great ideas from this fairly primo list. ty
Chris
July 22nd, 2009 4:48 pmBraised Cow Lips? I’d like to try that
Leo Deng
July 22nd, 2009 4:51 pmtehCpeng not theCpeng
pacha
July 22nd, 2009 4:54 pmjoli…
merci
toobs
July 22nd, 2009 5:56 pmBloody solid collection of beautiful blog!!
mylove1412
July 22nd, 2009 6:27 pmrin and wendy so cute =) i love it
ragingfx
July 22nd, 2009 7:03 pmLove this list. Very helpful when starting a web design project.
Thanks
Steve Mullen
July 22nd, 2009 7:48 pmVery honored to be mentioned among these great designs! Thank you SM!
Tejendra Shandilya
July 22nd, 2009 8:01 pmgreat post…… Thanks
kandagatla
July 22nd, 2009 8:44 pmthanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rex
July 22nd, 2009 8:45 pmNice collection!!!!!
nurul amin russel
July 22nd, 2009 8:48 pmnice collection
test
July 22nd, 2009 9:31 pmVery good collection of inspiration Blog design. Thanks SM!!
Suede
July 22nd, 2009 9:51 pm@Carl: Jeff Sarmiento didn’t rip off that rocket graphic. So what if he bought the stock photo? It doesn’t mean it’s ripped off. You are stupid Carl.
Rafa Carrasco
July 22nd, 2009 10:09 pmFantastic works.
were all these designs created for wordpress?
Carlos
July 22nd, 2009 10:15 pm@Suede: chill out, dude! Carl was being sarcastic because Rob had accused the Skylab blog of ripping Sarmiento’s design, which was not necessarily true, as that rocket can be buyed from a Stock Images source.
Nikki
July 22nd, 2009 10:38 pmThis is a fantastic list and I’m honored to be featured along side such great names. Thank you!
juliette
July 22nd, 2009 10:46 pmgreat selection as usual! i love owltastic, very simple but clean and funny with the bird! it actually inspired me a little bit for my own blog http://www.jenesaispaschoisir.com even if meagan’blog is way better than mine ;)
great idea for rin & wendy too, it looks nice!
Ashely Adams : Sticker Printing
July 22nd, 2009 11:17 pmWow, this is huge! In fact, big enough to keep me busy through the day. Exploring these new ideas will inspire a lot of people out there. Blogs can be used as a platform through which designers can demonstrate their original and unique ideas. I personally liked “Duiwaigh”, it’s very classy. Thanks.
kandagatla
July 22nd, 2009 11:20 pmsoooooooooooooooooooo usefullllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
thanks allot !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
kittu
July 22nd, 2009 11:26 pmAwesome collection.. feel like improving my blog after seeing such fantastic designs..
Daus
July 22nd, 2009 11:43 pmThank you for featuring me. I’m very honored to be in the same list with the masters like Elliot Jay Stocks, Darren Hoyt, and Ethan Marcotte. :)
olybop
July 22nd, 2009 11:58 pmgreat selection but i see all the design are US blog design. Why french blog aren’t in the list ?? :D
imaginepaolo
July 23rd, 2009 12:03 amNice collection!
Where is my blog? Web Design Magazine :)
clement
July 23rd, 2009 12:06 amcool blog !! nice webdesign !
TutsKing
July 23rd, 2009 12:21 amI’m not really feeling a few of them, but it’s still a very nice list.
Mark Taylor
July 23rd, 2009 12:34 amSome good sites, the one that caught my eye was http://www.nalden.net. Maybe the first time I have seen a blog designed in flash but the results are spectacular. Well done on such good work!
Filosof
July 23rd, 2009 1:08 amhttp://www.borisforconi.net/category/blog reminds me of http://www.shauninman.com/blog – but it’s just a similar style…
Spijker
July 23rd, 2009 1:20 amGreat article,
Realy inspiring stuff in there!
GAG
July 23rd, 2009 1:42 amA honor and pleasant surprise to find ourselves among these great designs – Thank you!
warren
July 23rd, 2009 2:36 amSome nice designs, but a lot are pure eye candy and not comfortable to read. Good “design” should not only attract but assist the user to get what they want out of the site, i.e. read the bloody blog! To be fair, you did say this post was about “beautiful” blogs, not necessarily well designed…
mybisnis
July 23rd, 2009 2:56 amwoooooouuuuu….its nice design for blog..thnks alot
rahim
July 23rd, 2009 4:23 amwell, i cant not believe that people are actully saying that this is a good collection!
The designs are crap, where is the creativity….. just creating a background image for a web page does not make it a good design!
You guys really need to do better!
Jamie Croft
July 23rd, 2009 5:21 amI have always heard of Elliot Jay Stocks, I new he was the master of css, etc. But after seeing his new design, I am inspired. Thank You Elliot. and Thank you smashing magazine.
This is a great list as always.
It is always good to see that people are thinking out of the box.
great post!
Ivy
July 23rd, 2009 5:46 amGreat blogs!!! the first one is awesome.
Here is another nice blog : Blup
Anthony
July 23rd, 2009 6:48 amAmazing post guys, keep up the good work!
Alpesh Darji
July 23rd, 2009 8:41 amAwsome collection. Thank you
Alpesh
July 23rd, 2009 8:42 amAwsome collection, I lliked the first one most. Thanks for sharing this information
Iemai
July 23rd, 2009 9:23 amI’m so glad and honoured to be featured here! You don’t even know how much I admire SM :)
Thank you so muuuch!
Guillermo Esteves
July 23rd, 2009 10:23 amI totally don’t deserve to be in that list. Thank you so much.
Chris Robinson
July 23rd, 2009 12:17 pmNice list
Silas
July 23rd, 2009 5:07 pmThank you so much for featuring our site (Duirwaigh Studios) here.
It is an honor to be part of such an impressive list of great blogs.
Penny
July 23rd, 2009 5:26 pmSome great ones in the list! However there are a few not displaying well for Mac Firefox 2…?
Adam Elleston
July 24th, 2009 12:15 amDigital mash is one of may fav blog designs out there
Ravindra
July 24th, 2009 5:29 amNice collection
Edward Palomo
July 24th, 2009 7:43 amI’m really proud of Dino Latoga!
Khoi
July 24th, 2009 7:44 pmvery cool, some of them are extremely simple but their use of fonts and layout and simple background with great lighting makes it so classy. love it. i want to make one like those some day.
Jessette Dayate
July 24th, 2009 10:53 pmWow, I’m quite surprised to see my site here, A Crayon’s Life. Thank you Smashing Mag! It’s an honor to be placed next to these beautiful blog sites, and as I am also a fan of fairy-like drawings and artworks, I personally love Duirwaigh Studios.
To olybop, these sites are not all from the US. I am from the Philippines, and currently based in Singapore. :)
Henry Hoffman
July 25th, 2009 12:08 amI was casually looking for inspiration and low and behold, my site is featured. Many thanks Smashing!
iuliux
July 25th, 2009 4:06 amcool ones. I just love Ryan McMaster.
but Rin & Wendy though is cool and original, is not new
josh
July 26th, 2009 2:25 pmmakes me want to design a site right now!
Matthew
July 26th, 2009 3:12 pmWow, awesome collection guys! The Blog Me Tender site looks pretty cool.
Daniel
July 28th, 2009 12:54 am@ rmlumley “I agree that readability is always the #1 concern.” Don’t mistake legibility for content – said David Carson ;) Very often text can’t transport all the content. Always keep that in mind!
maniat1k
July 28th, 2009 6:40 amlove SushiMonstr it’s a nice looking blog!
LIGHTNING
July 28th, 2009 8:35 amsome stunning designs there, really inspiring
Darren Hoyt
July 28th, 2009 9:10 pmSome really nice examples here. I’m honored for the mention – thanks Smashing.
Watchmen
July 30th, 2009 3:42 pmnice collection :)
and somebody of webzurnal.cz/webdesign/50-nadhernych-blog-designu published the same article (copy), i think thay have no permission…
Arsv
August 9th, 2009 12:56 pmNice collection!
DEIVISON RAMOS
August 14th, 2009 11:18 amVERY GOOD……CONGRATS IEMAI
Daniel - Geldkrieg
August 21st, 2009 1:57 pmwow! there so lovely designed and innovated themes there … great to see what u can do with just a simple blog
Brad
September 11th, 2009 9:47 amThese are some sweet sites.
Here are a few of my favorite sites that are built in WordPress.
Shailp
October 15th, 2009 3:24 pmOk so i decided to make a personal website. I go and learn HTML, learn CSS, learn some basic JAVAScript and then I happen upon this page.
What the f. How can I match these blogs? I dont have an inkling of creativity in me and I sure as hell cant settle for anything less than awesome. wtf