UBD Takes Over the Make Money Online Niche
Unique Blog Designs, the development startup of Nate Whitehill has taken a matter of weeks to peg two of the most popular blogs on the net onto their design belt.
But what I want to know is… why?
First I have to applaud them for getting John Chow to change his theme. It was long overdue. I can’t say I don’t like the new theme. I think it’s exactly needed and will last him along time (how could it not, this is John Chow here), and that’s what it’s all about. On the other hand, it’s nothing spectacular. Being as nit picky as I am, I could pick out a bunch of stuff that makes the designer inside me cry, but I digress.
The ShoeMoney theme is what really surprised me. It’s just rushed. It’s hard to explain without calling it “bad” but really, you can tell it wasn’t designed by someone with a designer’s mind. Same with the UBD home page.
I’m not trying to call anyone out here, but when you have 10k readers, ala ShoeMoney, I would expect and air of professionalism around the design, even if ShoeMoney is a regular kind of guy. Things don’t line up, fonts aren’t really used well at all and most of all the designer really needs to chill on the whole gradient overlay/bevel and emboss thing.
I think this is what separates ProBlogger from John Chow and ShoeMoney in this niche. All have recently undergone redesigns, the two latter by UBD. Are the guys at UBD seasoned designers? No… Are they designers at all? There is a certain mindset and thinking of a designer that I just don’t see in the JC/SM designs that I just don’t see. I nudge things around pixel by pixel because I can’t sleep without something being perfect.
The ProBlogger design, by one Ben Bleikamp who is clearly just good at what he does. It’s just a different league, as far as I see it.
Does anyone else feel this way? I don’t want to be shooting in the dark here at something I’ll meet total disagreement on. Am I saying I could do better? Maybe I am. Maybe I have a little conflict of interest with my own blog design deal launching this month. Tell me there’s some designers out there who see this the way I do.
Leave a comment
David Hopkins
September 5th, 2007 at 3:49 PM
I guess you can’t be fussy when your paying $80. That would only be enough for a day max for most designers. Although looking through the site a bit more turns out its $650 for the design.
A couple of nice blogs on CSS Remix recently:
http://www.scotttaylor.eu/
Jim
September 5th, 2007 at 3:56 PM
I agree with you on all points. From a pure design point of view I have seen better work. Not to say that theirs is terrible; but I think you hit the nail on the head saying their is an “air of professionalism ” missing…
When compared to the work of Ben Bleikamp (as you mentioned) or Brian Gardner, or Solostream studios, you can “feel” a difference.
With all respect to John Chow, the first time I saw the new design, I thought I had mistakenly pointed my browser to http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com
Of course I yield to his superior marketing knowledge, I’m sure he knows what he is doing…
Now, UBD’s marketing methods are surely worthy to be studied. How did a new firm land designs for two top blog’s?
Connor Wilson
September 5th, 2007 at 4:39 PM
I believe they approached John Chow personally offering the idea, and that design
slippedgot through. ShoeMoney saw that design and then contacted them himself.Adam McKerlie
September 5th, 2007 at 5:41 PM
I’m personally not a fan of John Chow’s design. It looks too crowded.
UBD’s design I really don’t mind. Though not everything lines up nicely it’s not overly noticeable unless you look at it carefully.
I just changed my design (http://blog.easyctutorials.com) and I think it’s hard picking a good design if your not a developer.
Tomos
September 5th, 2007 at 8:05 PM
I like the new john chow theme, but I do have to agree that it, as you say, is nothing spectacular.
Dee Barizo
September 6th, 2007 at 6:32 AM
I’m not a designer at all. I’m not gifted with design skills, so I’m not the best person to determine the quality of different designs. From my point of view, as a non-designer, both Ben’s and UBD’s designs look good.
I do have a problem with the side scrolling issues with UBD’s designs of JC and SM. Other than that, can you be specific on what makes Ben’s design better than UBD’s design?
One thing I am realizing from UBD’s success is that marketing and promotion is super important.
Good luck on your upcoming design launch!
Connor Wilson
September 6th, 2007 at 6:45 AM
The scrolling problem comes from Nate designing for himself. John Chow posted that his desktop runs a huge res. No matter your resolution, you still have to consider 1024*768.
Tomos
September 6th, 2007 at 7:27 AM
Thats true - im now on a 20″ monitor (upgraded from 15″), and I still design for 1024*768
Connor Wilson
September 6th, 2007 at 7:33 AM
Same, Tomos. I keep the smaller resolutions in mind and plus, it’s hard to fill a page that wide with content unless you have more ads than content, like John Chow.
Kiley
September 6th, 2007 at 9:21 AM
Agreed on all accounts, I’m a fan of Chow and Shoe, but their new designs are horrible.
Nate Whitehill
September 6th, 2007 at 2:17 PM
I do not design only for my screen resolution. John Chow specifically requested we design for a wider screen resolution.. If I had it MY way, all of my designs would would on ALL screens. As far as the coding issues, we do not have time anymore to do coding in house, so we are working with a few individuals who are coding all of our designs for us. Like any site, there are usually display issues that get worked out over the first few days/weeks. Thanks for the mention and good luck in you new venture, Connor.
Ben Bleikamp
September 6th, 2007 at 9:29 PM
You get what you pay for
My prices aren’t comparable to Nate’s so he is definitely serving a different market.
From Jeremy’s post at ShoeMoney it sounded like that template took a matter of days and from what I gathered John Chow’s design took less than a month. The Problogger redesign process took 3 months - including logo designs, front page sketches, mock ups, etc.
Nate Whitehill
September 6th, 2007 at 10:13 PM
Both designs took less than a week from start to implementation. Most designers are way overpriced. We seek to please the client with quality designs, reasonable prices, and quick turnaround times. Most clients aren’t willing to wait around 3 months for a blog design.
Connor Wilson
September 6th, 2007 at 10:45 PM
The design that takes three months and aims to increase readership, build a brand, etc… beats the one week turnaround design for the sake of a new design every time.
Although, I do thank you Nate for banishing MistyLook from JohnChow.com.
Nate Whitehill
September 6th, 2007 at 10:56 PM
Who is to say that John Chow and Shoemoney won’t increase their readership and build their brands? Since the redesign, John Chow has cracked 8k RSS and his earnings are at a record high. I know Shoemoney will also continue to increase his earnings and build his brand. I am also glad John Chow said goodbye to MistyLook.
Good discussion, guys.
Connor Wilson
September 6th, 2007 at 11:06 PM
The ShoeMoney brand I think is a lot different from the John Chow brand. You’d know the SM logo from a mile away and he’s all over the place, so there’s no question he’ll continue to build that. But the John Chow brand? MistyLook basically was his brand. There’s no identity of John Chow besides maybe the pictures of him on his site.
Cracking 8k readers for him was inevitable new design or not, but I don’t know why. He posted about his cousin’s wedding, of all things in the world. How he continues to make so much money is beyond me. He’s a good marketer and knows how to ranch the lemmings.
But to the point, was your goal to build the brand of John Chow (I don’t say SM because he’s set in this area)? What is the brand of John Chow? Sports car? Money? Does he know?
(Edit): The discussion, this is what a blog is all about to me. John Chow and Shoemoney can’t have this in their blogs due tot he sheer amount of comments, spam, copycats getting attention and their lack of responses. But that’s the price you pay for having 8-10k readers.
Nate Whitehill
September 6th, 2007 at 11:22 PM
John’s brand is 100% unique to him. His identity is not just about cars, money, and or being “evil.” Perhaps, it is a combination of those things plus his personal ramblings, hilarious ReviewMe’s, and his journey to make as much money as possible through blogging. He has done an incredible job of building his brand.
You are right - both SM and JC’s brands have been firmly established. At the same time, a new blog design even FURTHER increases the viral conversation about their blogs and personalities. Like I said, John Chow has received record traffic since his design and now, more people than ever are in the market for a new blog design.
Ben Bleikamp
September 7th, 2007 at 2:41 PM
Nate - one week is not enough time to make all the considerations necessary in a complete redesign. Speed should never be the reason a client is pleased. If you set a realistic deadline and do good work, they’ll be happy.
Most clients wouldn’t be willing to pay mid four figures for a design that only took one week.
Ben Bleikamp
September 7th, 2007 at 2:42 PM
Also, from your comment above, it sound as though you are unsure of what John Chow’s brand is - “Perhaps it’s this, perhaps it’s that…”
What is it? As the designer isn’t it your job to help define the brand? How could you have done that if you’re still guessing?
Nate Whitehill
September 7th, 2007 at 5:45 PM
Ben, I think you are confused. John is happy with his design and it was delivered upon request.
I was in no way “guessing” what his brand was and is - I was simply stating that John’s brand is a combination of many things. The word “perhaps” is in no way disqualifies the preceding statement.
This has turned into a rather inane argument given the fact that both Shoemoney, John Chow, and the majority of everyone else is happy with their redesigns and all we’re really arguing about here is who’s business philosophy is better.
Let it not be up to us to decide who has the better business model, but up to our clients and the free market. These redesigns have brought nothing but positive things for all parties involved.
Congrats on your design of Problogger, by the way.
David J
September 8th, 2007 at 2:13 AM
John Chow’s blog has gotten way to commercial lately. I’ve been subscribed to that blog for over a year now, and I feel its quality has gone way down hill. There are still quite a few *good* posts by *him* (I usually skip over the guest posts), but the review me’s and ads really get to me.
Even the feed in my RSS reader is plastered with ads now. I miss the good ol’ days of JC’s excitement about getting on the front page of Digg and pulling in 300$ a day… It seemed like alot of money then.
I’ve gotten a little off-topic, but it’s all relative: I think it’s well designed, but again the ads over power it. Shoemoney’s new design I like - it needed a little freshening up.
Robert MacEwan
September 9th, 2007 at 4:30 PM
Shoe -n- Chow may not look as professional as ProB* but their content is easier to digest on a daily basis.
My complaint with Problogger is the video located front and center. Feels as though you must view it before walking past the receptionist area.
Neil Turner - Acopic Web Design
September 21st, 2007 at 10:36 AM
Good design to one person is truly awful to someone else. It’s entirely down to personal taste. We can argue till we’re blue in the face as to why one design is better than another but as the comments above highlight - there’ll always be someone who disagrees.
Personally, I’m not keen on Problogger (no offence Ben) - although I know lots of people who love it.
Login »