Yes, you’re in the right place! I decided awhile ago that it was time to give Following Augustine a new, updated look and I’ve been tinkering with it for awhile to get it just right. Thankfully, WordPress made it easy.

The first and most important step was choosing a new theme which is the overall design. That might sound simple, but WordPress has hundreds, perhaps thousands, to choose from! After looking at quite a few of them, I settled on this one called “Hemingway Rewritten.” Of course, as an English major, that led my mind down a rabbit trail! I knew who Hemingway was, of course, and had read his work many years ago, but what was it about his style that prompted Swedish designer, Anders Norén, to use his name for a blog theme?

Hemingway’s writing style is simple, direct, and unadorned, probably influenced by his early career in journalism. I believe that it was this minimalistic style that inspired Norén to use his name for a blog theme with a clean, uncluttered look; a look that was exactly what I wanted for Following Augustine.

It was very important to me to choose a look that was not only visually appealing, but easy for you to read. I chose a font and a background colour that are meant to be easy on the eye. I refuse to read blogs with white print on black backgrounds. They’re simply too hard on my eyes. I didn’t want a stark white page either, and so I chose a subtle blue.

Have you ever noticed how many major social media platforms use various shades of blue? Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Skype all use blue, a calming, relaxing colour. As a background, it tends to disappear rather than distracting the eye. Blue also represents communication which definitely makes sense for a blog!

And now, I want your opinion. Do you think I was successful in coming up with a simple, attractive, and easy to read format? Do you have any suggestions for improvement? After all, the blog is for you, the reader!