I recently went on a blog subscribing spree and I discovered something new that REALLY ANNOYS ME on a blog: centering all the text in every post. Just... no... don't do it. Please.
Maybe I wouldn't have noticed it before studying graphic design, but now I know that centering your entire article is a HUGE NO-NO mainly because it taxes your eyes/brain to constantly start a new line in a different place. Your eyes are less stressed if they always know where the new line of text is supposed to begin. Trust me on this.
Centering has it's place... mainly on very formal publications with very little writing on them (say... on a wedding invitation). But on a blog article... this is where you want to left-align everything. Not justified, not right-aligned, not centered... left-aligned. (Justified doesn't really get used much as it causes weird spacing between words, and right-aligned is best used in small chunks for a specific purpose since it also has the problem of not starting lines in the same place).
Anyway...
Another tip I wanted to share has more to do with the pressure some bloggers feel to be the perfect blogger. Please don't worry about this! You're more interesting as you, not as "the perfect blogger". Don't worry if you can't post every day or if you can't seem to "find your niche". I figure my niche is ME so I'll blog about whatever I want to blog about it. Lol.
I am constantly seeing bloggers post about feeling burned out or like they aren't doing it right. I think if blogging is causing that much stress, it's time to re-think how you're doing things! It's much more important that you enjoy your blog than that you grow it quickly. Growth is nice, yes, but if you end up hating your blog or feeling obligated to post... you might as well just go to work. Blogging is supposed to be fun, people!
Maybe I wouldn't have noticed it before studying graphic design, but now I know that centering your entire article is a HUGE NO-NO mainly because it taxes your eyes/brain to constantly start a new line in a different place. Your eyes are less stressed if they always know where the new line of text is supposed to begin. Trust me on this.
Centering has it's place... mainly on very formal publications with very little writing on them (say... on a wedding invitation). But on a blog article... this is where you want to left-align everything. Not justified, not right-aligned, not centered... left-aligned. (Justified doesn't really get used much as it causes weird spacing between words, and right-aligned is best used in small chunks for a specific purpose since it also has the problem of not starting lines in the same place).
Anyway...
Another tip I wanted to share has more to do with the pressure some bloggers feel to be the perfect blogger. Please don't worry about this! You're more interesting as you, not as "the perfect blogger". Don't worry if you can't post every day or if you can't seem to "find your niche". I figure my niche is ME so I'll blog about whatever I want to blog about it. Lol.
I am constantly seeing bloggers post about feeling burned out or like they aren't doing it right. I think if blogging is causing that much stress, it's time to re-think how you're doing things! It's much more important that you enjoy your blog than that you grow it quickly. Growth is nice, yes, but if you end up hating your blog or feeling obligated to post... you might as well just go to work. Blogging is supposed to be fun, people!
I agree with you about the centering everything. Occasionally I will do it on very short posts that I want to stand out, because I feel like it reads more choppy...like a poem. But I hate when people do it on EVERY post. Though I do like justify align, but maybe that's because I'm just so used to it from court documents/school assignments, it just looks more organized to me.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing that frustrates me the most is when people post itty-bitty photos, like 250 px wide or something, when their post is at least 600. I think that most photos [unless it's a button or something different like that] should be the width of you post. What do you think?
oh dear, I am not sure I bring myself to NOT center the text, although I do agree with your assessment and you bring up some great points. It's just so visually appealing to me.
ReplyDeleteYep!
ReplyDeleteCentering, uh? doing graphic design it must stick out like a sore thumb.
I am so bad, well, it is my font that is so bad and keeps switching sizes and fonts and I do not notice.
What else bugs people?
About the photo size, I am confused. I read recently that they photos should be "small".
Then I read that image is the end to be all.
Does any really know what size it is?
People need a break, even mommies.