I heart Design*Sponge. I’ve been reading this blog for years – long before I was a designer. I have always been drawn to owner/blogger Grace Bonney’s excellent sense of style (usually on a budget no-less), and her candid, friendly writing. It’s been so cool to watch this blog grow over the years. At first, Grace would write about a whole bunch of topics (all relating to interior design), and throw them all together in one place (hmmm… kind of like the blog you’re reading right now). But over time, Grace developed clearly recognizable categories for her blog posts – “Before and After”, “DIY”, “In the Kitchen”, “City Guides”, and my favourite: “Sneak Peeks” (where she gets interesting people to post photos and descriptions of their homes. Kind of like The Selby, but not so weird). She even has a schedule for the categories: Mondays are for Sneak Peeks, Tuesdays are for Guides, etc.
I recently launched some blog design services, and when I work with my blogger clients, I always use Design*Sponge as an example of what an excellent blog can be. Have a strong, clear, interesting voice in your writing, and give your blog some structure. It’s a formula that has worked very well for Grace (she has 60,000 daily readers, over 10 contributing writers, and is coming out with a book). I think her daily schedule for her blog categories is brilliant – it keeps things interesting, and most importantly, it gives the reader a reason to come back to the blog every day. Oh yeah, and don’t you love the look of the blog itself? It was custom designed for Design*Sponge. Gives the site a completely original look. Love it.
great post as usual!