After having the same basic layout for almost 5 years, I've finally redesigned my website. It's nothing flashy, but I now present to you the new and improved Monkey Robot! Here's a preview:



Here are some of the goals I had in redesigning the site:

1. Minimalist design emphasizes the content of the site.
2. Almost all dimensions are specified using ems, which means the site should scale well under multiple resolutions and screen DPI's. (Previously, dimensions were expressed in pixels, which meant that the site didn't look that great in high resolutions or on really sharp screens.)
3. Human-friendly URLs!

(Much thanks to Janette for designing the text for the website logo, and everyone else who lent a hand in tweaking the logo for me.)

Well, it's awesome! I like the logo too! (I had some other ideas in mind for the logo but w/e. :p) The only thing that kind of bugs me is how the left side is fixed. Idk, it kind of looks unprofessional and a bit annoying. Otherwise, good job!

I like it (: It's simple and effective-looking. I really like that logo haha (x Only thing is that if I saw the logo without the name, I wouldn't think of a monkey robot... lol.

Once again I have to disagree, haha. I like it. For those who can pull it off it looks great. I think you should kinda divide those two areas.



Not sure if that really works and it kinda messes it up but just something would help. Or you could just add a thin border.

But your site looks awesome!

A divide would distract his first goal, in my opinion. If anything, it's a background the site needs. Either way, the layout is brilliant.

Yeah, a gradient background like you mentioned in the other thread would look cool, I think. The gradient would have to be pretty light though.

That actually does look kind of cool, maybe it could work. Except I don't really know how to make the graphic for the border.

You could just make the graphic and set it to a repeat-y on the body background. Then, position it to the right spot. Like this:


(Replace ### with the value to position it to the right.)

I know how to do it. It was an idea though. Cause im not sure he will want to.


I can make any graphics you need. And I agree that your site needs a background. Its just about finding the right one. haha, and then you could maybe give the left side a seperate background.

Yeah, I know how to do the CSS -- just don't know how to make the graphic.

Oh, my bad. (From Joseph's perspective) It just looks like a black to white gradient set a 180 degree angle and a bit lowered opacity. I could make it for you if you want.

EDIT:

Well, I went ahead and made it.

One drop horizontal drop shadow coming up!



Thats just a gradientm not really a drop shadow.

Still kind of looks the same.

Forget the name, Cohen. They look similar. If anything, it's a gradient more than a dropshadow.

I really like the layout; it's simple. And I love that the left side is fixed. I prefer fixed layouts. If you were to go with Joseph's idea I think it'd look fine as well. Very nice, Michael.

Looks superb, Michael. I really like it a lot. The monkey is cute, and I like the whole apple/banana/laptop idea. hehe

No problem Michael (:
I actually like the way it looks the way it is. Simplicity gets two thumbs up.

I made a few slight changes to the layout this morning. I removed the fixed logo (I know a few people liked it, but I think it was a bit distracting, particularly when reading the comments on blog posts). I also made the logo a bit smaller so it doesn't take up so much horizontal space.

Thanks for all the feedback, everyone.

Nice update.

Shame. I think it looked better fixed.

Yeah, I was kind of torn on the decision, too... But I think that having the logo immediately next to comments (this situation) was a bit distracting -- too many graphics being shown at once.

Wow. I like it. I think it's really nice. I love monkeys so anything cute with a monkey has kudos from me.

I made a slight update to the site -- I moved the About box to the bottom of the page.

www.monkey-robot.com

I really respect the content over graphic approach. It looks nice as well.

Thank ya.

Speaking of content over graphics, I've lately come to admire this blog. The layout's pretty basic, but I really like what he did with the look-and-feel.

I've never been known for my succinctness. But still, I think the longest post on the front page is only about 1000, which is the length of a medium-length newspaper column.