Trying Not to Blend In by Brandon Vaughan

Following the past

As I considered how to design this website I wanted it to be unique and break away from the standard. But after looking at hundreds of websites for inspiration, I began to feel doomed to copy something that I had seen before. Then I stumbled across a Smashing Magazine article,
“The Death of the Boring Blog Post?” by Paddy Donnelly. The article demonstrated that design isn’t just about presenting a message clearly; it’s about engaging an audience and giving volume to a mute message.

The article was just the style I was looking for. It had a very magazine-like “blogazine” feel to it and reminded me of
Jason Santa Maria’s blog. Sure enough it derived much of its inspiration from Jason’s work. How could I re-create it without copying it?

Creating the Future

The real genius behind the “blogazine” style was that its uniqueness was derived from how well it followed the message and presented that message to the user. Every page could be unique, because every page had a unique message. Finally, the path of creativity was revealed. Design not only had a purpose; it had a voice!