The splash page for eternal autumn shows some promise. It’s very nicely done without overpowering the eyes or the mind with too much “net” stuff. It’s not too hard to find the navigation to the site, and that, my friends, makes a splash page successful. Once you get to the blog, it’s very cute; the only word that comes to mind with its cute bouncing cat emoticon.
The early months are rather slow for this blog author, but that doesn’t mean to say that some of the entries aren’t worth reading. Some of the entries are filled with lots of emotion, while others are the run-of-the-mill “this is how my day went” kind of entry. The archives are kind of funny. Sometimes the font is big enough to read in Times New Roman; sometimes it’s tiny in Times New Roman. Other times it’s in Verdana (which is very easy to read, even if it’s small). As the months progress however, the author writes more and more about the going-on’s of her family and life. Some of the most memorable are quite easily March 2, 2003 and July 4, 2003; each of them bringing different emotions to the table. The longer entries, the ones that get very much into detail and the thoughts behind the entry, are well worth reading. They tell more than the story, they tell the author’s version of the story. And that’s what we read blogs for right? The personalized feeling of experiences we all could have had or share. There’s the occasional random post of chat conversations that will make you stare at your monitor with a quizzical look or laugh hysterically wishing you could’ve been a part.
The design works. For something done in frames, it works really well. One of the most interesting things I’ve seen thus far is that when you hover over her navigational links the letters actually flip upside down. For some this doesn’t seem like such a big feat, but for the avid designer/coder you’ll find this quite fascinating, especially knowing it’s not done with images. The text for the title is a little difficult to read, but everything else works well together. The range of color in the leaves makes it very pleasing.
The site offers a few fun features. As I mentioned before, there’s the random splattering of cute kitty emoticons that you can’t help but look at now and again just to see the little facial expressions. She shares with you the “song of the moment” which is always nice to read now and again. It’s hard to find anything about the author, but when you get further into the LiveJournal aspect of the site until you’ll find a profile for the author. She tells you all about what she uses for the site design and from a designer’s standpoint it’s nice to read. There’s a guestbook and comments, for the usual reader interaction.
For the most part this is your typical blog about what life is like in the working world. The more you read the more you understand and feel for this author. Some of the entries are gold, and others are passable. It’s when the author writes what she feels and believes, that’s when the reader may find themselves hooked.eternal autumn