Before any direction is given what design mistakes you should avoid when you customize your Active Rain blog, I must pause and say how proud I am of Brad for his innovative genius. In today's competitive business climate, you need to have a bit of a risk-taker mentality and still calculate the risk/reward factor of every decision. I challenged Brad to sometime soon tell the creative genesis of this enhancement. You're going to really enjoy that story. By the way, he's been stewing on this baby for a long time! More to come later.

The Customization rEvolution

With the revolution evolution of this major upgrade, it is recommended you implement a few smart design principals so your AR blog projects a professional image that is consistent with your total "online brand". So what do you do with your new found freedom to bling-out your AR blog? Do you want your Active Rain Blog to mirror the "look and feel" of your website or do you wish for it to be different. Conventional wisdom would say make it look like the rest of your branding for a consistent "brand identity". Remember, your blog design like your website must convey a positive impression, build trust, and establish your credibility.

Helping You Avoid These Blog Design Mistakes

With that said here are the design mistakes you should avoid when designing your customized Active Rain blog:

Use of garish, loud, obnoxious colors (and bad color combinations)

Remember, more than likely consumers will find you and your customized AR blog sooner or later (hopefully sooner). What image do you want to portray for them. If you're looking to convey a professional image, stay clear of bad color combinations that conflict with one another. Don't forget to try to appeal to your geographic or demographic target market by making your design embrace your consumer. If you need sound advice how to formulate a color scheme to enhance your AR blog, take a look at Heather Chotard's smart post on The Color Business.

Include animated graphics in the header (that is soooo 1990's)

As I stated in an earlier post and my lone AR "rant" to date, any animated graphic or "gizmo" that spins, blinks, or whirls is so unprofessional and communicates a less than serious image. It really makes the information you are presenting less than credible.

Fail to use your logo and tagline in the header

Without your "brand" (logo and tagline) in the header, you're missing a golden opportunity to make another impression on your audience. For some the only brand they have is their "picture" and that's fine if you are a "Celebrity" agent and even then many have a logo and tagline. Otherwise, steer clear of the use of your image. Several surveys have concluded it is detrimental and leads to premature site exits.

Improper sized images that are distorted and stretched to fit the header

For those of us who can't manipulate images, secure the services of the design professionals. To often unskilled individuals venture into areas they are not qualified to "play" in. My recommendation is take the simple method to your AR blog design if you don't know how to handle images properly. Again, distorted, exaggerated images make you look less than professional.

UPDATE: For excellent help with adding images to your customized blog, take a look at Jeff's post on the subject. 

Does Your Customized AR Blog Have Curb Appeal?

In conclusion, every website, property flyer, newsletter, post card, email, phone call is an opportunity to build your brand and portray superior "Curb Appeal" for your medium. Remember, brand consistency from media to media develops brand equity which builds trust.

Have fun with your new found creative design freedom. If you need some design inspiration, be sure to checkout our Active Rain Customized Blog gallery. Just remember to do it right and you will come out a winner every time. The image to the right is an example from our design gallery and a perfect compliment to Betty's website.

BTW - here is another super example I found of an Active Rain Customized Blog matching a website. Way to go Cyndee Haydon!

Helping you design smarter,

Bobby

Be sure to visit the Crystal Coast Blog!

P.S. If you have technical questions regarding manipulation of your header images, unfortunately, I can't address those. It is my understanding simple technical support is available from AR.