Launching Havoc Inspired v3
I was growing really tired of Havoc Inspired v2. I suppose it had served me well for a while, appearing in .net magazine readers sites section and on design meltdown, but it had become a real bind to update and I feel the focus of the site was all wrong.
Havoc Inspried v2
I wanted a more professional looking site for my freelance work, with some fun aspects hidden away for those interested in exploring.
I’ve removed the necessity to have a thumbnail image for every blog I write, this was a real pain!
I also seem to be doing a lot more interviews and show for boagworld and I wanted a more prominat place to shout about it.
I’ve moved from Movable Type to Wordpress, and so far I’m really happy with it. Being able to manage my blog from my iPhone is a nice touch.
There are a few niggles that my pixel perfect eyes keep spotted, but for now welcome to Havoc Inspired v3.
I’d love to hear what you think. :-)
Update: Thanks for the feedback guys. I’ve made a few updates to the site based on your suggestions. The foremost being the kerning issue. :-S
16 Comments
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Andrew Allison 5th, June 2009 at 9:41 am
Hey Ryan
Just dropping buy to say I like the sites new look. Only think i would suggest is to make more of the search and submit buttons. They seem bland compared to the rest of the site but other than that it's great. Also i enjoy having the "Northener's" on boagworld as a Geordie it's good see us Northener's showing them how its done.. Love the pic of baby Jack :D Once again great work as a father I know how hard it is to do personal projects like this well done mate :D
kevadamson 5th, June 2009 at 10:05 am
Nice nice. Got here via @collylogic whom I follow on twitter.
It may be just me, but I would *love* to see your logo without the white outline.
Also, kerning on "Related Posts" and "Categories" needs a tweak me thinks.
Other than that, yummy. Good work :)
Emily 5th, June 2009 at 10:32 am
Well done Ryan - I don't know how you have managed to have a kid, design and launch a new blog, and then REDESIGN the blog again, all in the time its taken me to procrastinate over launching my own blog which (although it is now finally live) it has a looong way to go to being as polished as this one. I think you must have a tardis in your back garden or someut!
This site looks nice, but I liked the one before too! What made you decide to redesign? I'm guessing it just kind of happened while you were in the process of reconfiguring the IA a bit.
(I also came here because I saw @collylogic's tweet (good for you Ryan!) which surprised me that I was hearing about this new launch it 2nd hand and not from you first!)
Ryan Taylor 5th, June 2009 at 10:43 am
@Andrew - Thanks mate. Glad you like it. I'll consider tweeting the button colours. It's on my to-do list. We love being on Boagworld and jump at any opportunity. We've actually got a few interviews that we've done coming up so listen out for them. :-)
@kevadamson - Welcome to the site. Simon's a cool bloke. Think you might be right about the kerning, added to my to-do. The font is http://tinyurl.com/adghby if you're interested.
@Emily - Hey matey, the secret to my success is a patient and supportive wife, no doubt about it. ;-) You would have heard about it from me first but I let slip to @boagworld and he can't hold his own water. You know how word spreads on twitter. :-S
Stoo 5th, June 2009 at 10:49 am
Really like the new site. The smooth roll overs are rather yummy!
Richard Garside 5th, June 2009 at 11:12 am
Looks fab. Has a really nice mystical corporate look about it.
Only improvement I would make is the colour of the text. Grey on black is a bit hard hard to read. I've got pretty good eye sight, but I found myself leaning towards the screen so I could read it.
Steve Rydz 5th, June 2009 at 5:54 pm
Good work Ryan,
It's very refreshing to see something that falls outside that Web 2.0 style and stands out. I agree with Andrew that the buttons would look great if they were tweaked slightly but this is a very minor thing. Plus I know how awkward buttons are ;-)
Overall a great site and fun to explore. It really draws you into the content and makes you want to stick around and see what else is here.
Ryan Taylor 6th, June 2009 at 9:38 am
@Steve - Thanks Steve. Glad you like it and appreciate the feedback. :-)
Barry Wardrop 7th, June 2009 at 2:11 pm
Very nice site Ryan, glad to see it now with the kerning is sorted, absolutely love your 404 page error!! I nearly pooped myself thinking oooh what have i done!
that was great ;)
Ryan Taylor 7th, June 2009 at 2:28 pm
@Barry - Thanks Barry. Ha ha, I was wondering when someone would hit the 404 page. Was going to mention it in the blog but wanted to surprise someone. Congratulations, that's you. ;-)
Barry Wardrop 7th, June 2009 at 5:03 pm
heh heh!...I'm glad you didn't as it wouldn't have had half as much effect!
You know I think that may be the most engaging 404 page i have ever come across! I'm surprised no one had thought of something like that before, fantastic! you have my mind pondering all other 404 possibilities now :D
Carl - Web Courses Bangkok 25th, June 2009 at 12:08 pm
Yup, really like this new design :)
John 5th, August 2009 at 8:01 pm
Hi Ryan Did you use JQuery for the nice hover effects in the main navigation? They look really cool! :)
Ryan Taylor 5th, August 2009 at 8:07 pm
Hi John, yes I've used jQuery. If you buy this months issue of .net I've writing a tutorial on how I achieved the effect. Not long to wait now. :-D
John 6th, August 2009 at 4:35 pm
Cheers Ryan - I subscribe to .Net and we get it here at our studio so I won't miss it! Look forward to the article :)
Create a fading nav effect in .net magazine – Havoc Inspired - Home of Ryan Taylor 13th, August 2009 at 7:39 pm
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