I’m very happy today to introduce a complete redesign for Free Pursuits. When I started the site back in March of this year, it was on a simple design that relied mostly on the great Thesis theme for WordPress. About a month later, I developed a more official Version 1 that the site wore until yesterday.
This new version was built from the ground up, and it better reflects the journey that we’re all on to build a better lifestyle. I enlisted the help of the marvelous designer Andrew Lindstrom to bring the vision to light. The changes you’ll see for now are mostly skin deep, but the site is also ready to serve as a platform for some upcoming new features and sections.
The Sailboat Analogy
The sailboat that graces the top of the site is a great analogy for what this blog is all about. It’s also an activity I happen to love.
Here are a few ways sailing represents lifestyle design:
- Sailing is fun and rewarding, but it isn’t for everybody. Sailors are adventurous and full of initiative. Only 1 out of every 10 boats sold is a sailboat. Lifestyle design isn’t for everyone either.
- You don’t have to be rich to enjoy sailing. I’ve met both people who sail around the world after spending their life savings on a $20,000 boat and people who spent $20,000 on the dinghy for their boat. Similarly, pursuing lifestyle design can improve the lives of both rich and poor.
- Sailing is a great adventure, but there is work involved on the boat. Nothing is automatic, and it pays to plan your journey. Likewise, a better life is waiting for you if you’re willing to work for it.
Coming Soon: A New Reviews Section
There are so many great eBooks and resources out there that could change your life, but how do you know which ones are worth your time? This site will help you decide what’s worth downloading in our upcoming reviews section.
I’ll be writing reviews of eBooks and resources (both free and for sale) that I’ve found useful in my own quest for a better lifestyle. You’ll be able to leave your own ratings and comments to share with other readers.
Look for the new reviews section to launch in September.
Feedback and Bugs
I hope you like the new design as much as I do. I would love to hear your feedback. Also, if you find any bugs or anything that doesn’t work or look as you would expect, please let me know. Thanks for reading!
Looks great, Corbett!
Gorgeous design, Corbett! I love it.
WOW! Awesome design Corbett. Very cool. I love the logo font.
Wow, very impressive new design Corbett. I’ll have to look up this Andrew Lindstrom!
Second the nomination for cool logo font. Nice and breezy (pun intended) feel. Excellent.
Wow…clean, digestible, navigable. Well done Corbett!
Nice redesign, very contemporary!
Wow!
Awesome redesign. Very cool. I love it. Great job!
… and I can keep going … but you get the picture.
Rasheed
I love it! Brilliant new design.
Great look… Plus the sailboat connection makes great sense.
We have lived and sailed on our sailboat while running our business from it and the mindset for sailing or doing business is very much on the same level…
Great site with great info. Saw a link from wageslaverebel. Definitely going to be checking out freepursuits more often
Dave
LifeExcursion
Welcome, Dave! Hope you enjoy the site.
Hey Corbett,
The new design looks and feels fantastic. Are those clouds, seagulls or mountain tops towards the right?
They’re what ever you want them to be, Mark
The design looks great buddy, well done.
The only ‘flaw’ is that I can’t see the email box when leaving a comment. I had to click around to find it.
Thanks, Glen! I’m glad you like it. I just fixed the email box bug, so thanks for the heads up.
Looking good mate. I love how the content just pops out at you now and the “Related posts/Subscribe/Share this post” box is just fantastic.
Very nice.
Respect for pulling off that script-style typeface. Love the redesign – gives your substantive content a refreshing face lift. Nice work.
Corbett, feel proud, I really like the aesthetic feel and contemporary colours! It’s encouraging that after only six months you’ve made this fabulous upgrade, certainly loans hope to my new beginnings! Caron.
The new look and feel is (really) amazing but out of curiousity – don’t get me wrong – what has been the effort to achieve it? I remembered that in one of your old (and to me best) post, you suggested that a “decent design” was more than OK and content is more important. Do you now have a different feeling or really the redesign – as you said, the 3rd one in a few months – has been a low cost (time & money) effort?
Hey Renato, that’s a great question. I probably should have addressed why I redesigned the site better in this post. Thanks for keeping me honest
I still believe that when you’re getting started, content and promotion are more important than a perfect design. If your content isn’t good, than no amount of design work will save you.
With this blog, I’m at a different point now. I want Free Pursuits to be bigger and better in all aspects. I’m fairly happy with the publishing schedule I’ve been keeping (2-3 posts per week), and with the quality of the content. It seemed like a natural time to get some professional design help.
A better design certainly wouldn’t hurt any blog. It’s just important to know when to spend time on it. If you want your blog’s audience to grow large, you have to find the time to work on everything that’s important.
Corbett, thanks for the feedback. Looking forward to another great post in the future on how to improve a blog!
Cheers
Renato
Hmmm. Whilst I agree that content is important, I have to take issue with your comment. Even non-professional designs, and certainly semi-professional and professional designs should be checked, double-checked and triple-checked for design and validation.
Unfortunately analysis of this page shows that it does not validate. There are AT LEAST 70 errors !
These range from duplicated div id=header to unmatched li /li and span /span, and even an inline style with another style embedded in it !
Oh dear. Maybe just a little bit of a hurry to release the new design ?
Hi Gordon. It looks like we missed a few things in the validation of the new design. Thanks for pointing that out. Check out HTML Validation: Does It Matter? and
W3C Validation not part of Google Search Engine Ranking Factor for more thoughts on whether validation really matters.
Really beautiful site! I always find that a new look and feel is a great way to announce a fresh start and series of new beginnings. Can’t wait to see what the next few months hold for you and Free Pursuits!
Compliments to the designer! Now the site looks more light-hearted compared to the first version. A great way to attract new readers!
Love the new look – keep up the great articles.
Truly striking design, I love it. Especially the inset font look at the end of the articles, brilliant. Looking forward to the new sections.
Hi Corbett,
Even though I just was introduced to your site by reading your guest post on RobbSutton.com, I just wanted to comment that I really like your layout and design. I also like the Lifestyle Design blog topic. I definitely on board and I like the idea of reviewing eBooks. There are many good ones out there and having an intermediary weeding out the good ones will be a great service to the rest of us…
Best,
Bob
Thanks for stopping by, Bob. I appreciate the comments.
Good job. Looks sweet and it doesn’t look like the Thesisphere anymore
Oh, one more thing tho, please install the ‘subscribe to comments’ plugin.
Great tip, Phil. I can’t believe I forgot to do that. The plugin is installed now.
Look great. Love the 3D effect at left and right. Just a pity it is fixed width. After all not everyone has 1100+ width. Maybe reduce the width of the right sidebar ? Might even try something along those lines myself.