Introducing Wooden Fish 2009
Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 | Journal
Tags: blogging, theme, wooden fish
Beginning of November 2008, I started to brainstorm a new design for Wooden Fish. I wanted a design to accommodate my infrequent publishing, so I had my mind set on a single-post home page, also I wanted to try something new. Prior to this, on one occasion I had mentioned to my girlfriend that I wanted to shut down Wooden Fish. At the time, I was growing tired of blogging. Blogging was becoming a burden to me rather than an enjoyable self-expression. Sometimes, I felt compelled to write something even if there is nothing to write about; other times, I felt it prevented me from doing other things that I enjoy. When I shared with my girlfriend my thoughts, initially she was surprised that I would want to close down Wooden Fish. She knew how much this blog meant to me, she knew how much I have invested in Wooden Fish. So, she advised me to take a step back, take a break from blogging, and then come back to make a decision. I listened to her advise.
After some time off from blogging and some thinking, I decided to keep Wooden Fish running, but I decided to approach blogging differently. I don’t want to write just to see the increase in the number of subscribers, or the revenue of Google Adsense; but rather go back to the original motivation, to write for myself and to write anything that interests me without worrying anything else. Once I had that figured out, I felt the need of a new design, a new beginning, a milestone. This is the motivation and story of this new design.
After some hand-drawn sketches, I started to work on the new blog theme. It turned out to be a lengthy process, and the final design you see before your eyes is drastically different than what I first envisioned. During the process, I had moments when I wanted to give up, but I am glad I did not and persisted through. Now, I am proud to say that I am quite satisfied with the final result, and I sincerely hope you feel the same way too. I hope you hang around here a bit, and let me know what you think. Finally, wish everyone a happy and abundant 2009!
January 14, 2009
6:41 am on Wednesday
good job! proud of you. =)
January 14, 2009
8:55 am on Wednesday
Lovely one!!
January 14, 2009
9:03 am on Wednesday
The new design looks great, George. I’ve always written primarily for myself on my own blog and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s great when the stuff you write helps out other people, but if you’re blogging for ad income or followers, it’ll never be worth it. Congrats on the new design!
January 14, 2009
9:46 am on Wednesday
this is great george!
welcome back, i’ve missed your personal blogs! yes, it is easy to fall into the trap of writing for someone else. this is YOUR blog, write for yourself, that’s what i want to read anyway (:
you have a smart girlfriend (; she knows to sing your heart songs back to you when you’ve lost the tune (:
January 14, 2009
12:13 pm on Wednesday
Thanks Mona! Indeed, I am glad for my girlfriend’s advice. She knows me well.
January 14, 2009
6:58 pm on Wednesday
New design looks great.
January 14, 2009
10:33 pm on Wednesday
Looking good sir. Glad to hear you’re going to continue to write.
January 15, 2009
1:33 am on Thursday
believe it or not I actually come by here at least once daily since it’s in my bookmarks. So it’s good to know that you’ll continue to blog. gotta love the new look!
January 15, 2009
2:40 am on Thursday
Thanks Andrew for bookmarking my blog! I will try to publish more quality writings in the future.
January 15, 2009
9:35 pm on Thursday
I always enjoyed your designs because they were so unique. Any chance I can get your old one? LOL. Great job man!!!
January 16, 2009
11:57 am on Friday
Thanks Christian! One of the things I want to accomplish this year is to release my first theme. Hopefully with effort and sacrifice, this will come true in 2009.
January 16, 2009
4:36 pm on Friday
This is incredible. I haven’t used that word in a long time and I’m glad you’ve made me do so. I can’t even begin to describe how much I love this layout.
Great job! I’m so glad to be a frequent reader of your blog :) And even more so glad that you have such an awesome gf who convinced you NOT to give up.
Looking forward to more great posts from you :)
January 16, 2009
6:34 pm on Friday
Thanks Reggy for such big compliment! I am certainly very pleased to hear many people like the current design. I hope to finish the rest very soon, so I can sit back and start to writing more.
January 18, 2009
2:16 am on Sunday
Love the new design. What a huge leap from previous iterations. Really like the presentation of media. Impressive work.
January 19, 2009
1:38 am on Monday
Thanks for the compliment Andrew! I try to push myself a little bit with each new design, and try to do something new. I hope through these re-design exercises, I can learn something new and become better.
February 10, 2009
5:11 pm on Tuesday
Good style. Very different from your previous designs.