Update II: We’re still playing with this, as any visitor to the site this evening could probably tell. Feel free to keep suggestions coming. We’ve cleaned up the sidebar a little and moved pages up to the masthead. More edits to come.
Update: I put up a new opinion poll about the new design.
Well, it’s done. Sword of Gryffindor is now formally “The Hog’s Head.” Thanks to Jon, Ben, and Michael (who created our great banner!), for their work in getting the new site up. There will be minor changes here and there over the next week or so. But overall, the transition went really smoothly, and all links to swordofgryffindor take you automatically here.
Let us know what you think (even if you don’t like it), and if you have any suggestions for further improvement. Also let us know if you run into any bugs.
Red Rocker on 
SPT on 
Derek D on 
Travis Prinzi on 
Arabella Figg on 
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{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }
I sure hope you were joking about it going really smoothly.
Just kidding.
The banner makes me a little uneasy. Did the hog’s head have to be so graphically severed? Yeah, I know, I’m a ham-eating hypocrite. The black fence (?) on the right looks menacing, as does the structure off to the right. Is it meant to be the Shrieking Shack? The whole thing feels ominous. Menacing. I like it, kind of, but feel that the door on to the left or the gate to the right could open at any moment and something would jump out.
Cool moon.
I’m not a fan of change, but I like the new appearance of the site. The old site felt cramped. And I never liked the font in the comments box. I prefer this version. Could you make the comment box a little wider, though?
reyhan, thanks for your thoughts…I think that about sums up how it feels to me as well, and I agree that the old site was way too cramped and busy. I’m not sure if the comment box can get bigger. I’ll look into it.
Great job on the transition! I like it. Just enough light & dark to contrast well. The menace is good, too, since The Hogshead is supposed to be dodgy. Great work!
Yes, my original tagline, which I might switch it back to, was “I think it’s a bit, you know…dodgy.”
Hey everyone! I’m relatively new here; I was directed here from HP Progs and reading Travis’s fantastic comments there. I’m still catching up with all of the podcasts, but I like what I’ve heard so far!
As for the layout, I think it’s a good change. The font for the comments and the way it is set up is much easier to read. I like reyhan’s suggestion on making the comment box a bit wider. While I agree that the old layout was too cramped and crowded, I think it felt warmer and homier. It’s a little too white and generic now. Maybe change the font for “The Hog’s Head: A Pub for Potter”?As for the banner, I’m still kind of on the fence about it, but I’m leaning towards liking it. Maybe with a little more color elsewhere it’d grow on me more. But that’s just me.
Annie, thanks for your comments (and glad you’re here)! Yes – there is just a bit too much white space. I’m not good enough with colors and design to know what’s needed or where it’s needed, though. I’ll leave that for experts to suggest!
Travis,
Do know why when I try to vote in the poll on the sidebar, it keeps wanting to take me to a place called foxywriter? Thanks.
revgeorge, yes – I just fixed it. It should work now.
Yes, it works now. Thanks!
I like it, especially the scariness. The continuation of the white road on the banner into the rest of the site is spoiled by the black line on the bottom of the banner. I think the road colour needs changing or the black line removed.
The whiteness of the site seems a bit stark at this early stage and there appears to be an excessive margin on both sides. Maybe its just a matter of getting used to the changes.
Matthew
Matthew, I’m fairly certain that the black line can be removed, so when Ben has time, we can play with that a bit and see if it looks better without it.
I LOVE that the comments are bigger, and numbered. The conversation is now just as prominent as the post, which is how I want it.
Matthew, I will remove the black line whenever I have the time to wade through the CSS and find where to remove it.
Usually I like white backgrounds for blogs, as it can give them a very clean appearance. I do think this layout is less crowded, which is nice. But at the same time, it’s a little… stark? Maybe try a slightly different font for the header? I know readability is important, but I think you could still achieve that.
Though, on second thought… I’m still not entirely comfortable with the name change, so my opinion may not want to be one that you take too seriously.
Kat, we are planning to change the font at the top. Ben’s just a little bogged down with schoolwork at the moment
Wow, Travis, I love it !!!! When I responded to the Tech Elves post I was already a bit disappointed that the site itself hadn’t changed, used the address.
The white needs some getting used to, but I love the art
I always like grim. I agree with korg20000bc about the black art line. A continuation would be more fitting.
Other than that the sidebar seems a bit overlong now, but I guess that’s because of the Categories and Archives. I guess it was the same at SoG but I might not have noticed as much because of the background.
And I think the arrow pointing downward next to the responses line is hilarious
but that’s just me….
Matthew,
That road is not white. That road is covered in snow. Snow, the fifth element up in this part of the globe. Snow, which has buried the fire hydrants, medium sized dogs, and imported sub-compacts without a trace.
Has anyone here read the Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder? She got it right, especially the part where the men can no longer clear the snow from the rock cuts because the snow is piled so high on either side.
It’s March, and there is no end in sight.
I like it, sort of. But I think there is way too much white. Snow is all well and good–and reyhan, I know what you mean about “The Long Winter”–but it makes it, as someone else mentioned, very stark. Since there isn’t any snow on the buildings or fence, the white road seems out of place–maybe cobblestones or even a dirt road?
And then the background of the whole page could be something that would blend with that. I did like the warm feeling of the old one, and that was because of the colors.
Someone else mentioned the font for the heading and I agree that something fancier would be more striking and eye catching.
I hate being a complainer, but those are the things that just seemed to jump out at me when I clicked on the link.
Smooth transition though–when I looked at my feeds this morning, the name was even changed already to match the site. I thought I might have to redo that.
Pat
Maybe a very _slightly_ off white for the background and the “snow”?
I like it. A little stark, but it feels fresh, and loads right away whereas for some reason on my computer, the old site sometimes took forever. Good job!
I like Diana’s suggestion a lot. What do you think Travis?
I like it, Travis – and nice artwork, Michael! I would love to see the background as a soft Gryffindor gold, perhaps. And I agree with Eeyore about the cobblestone on the street – that would be cool.
Ben, it’s not a bad idea, I agree. No harm in trying and seeing what it looks like!
I wonder if we could make just the sides an off white, sort of like the classic Kubrick design (see hpprogs.com).
Hey all. I made the comment box bigger. Let me know if you have any difficulties.
Really appreciate the wider comment box, Travis.
Just remember, though, you can’t please all of the people all of the time. I am fine with the sea of white. But then I like the music of Brian Eno, which a friend once described as music to jump off tall buildings by.
reyhan, you’re right, and there are bound to be some who don’t like it at all, that’ll just have to be that. As I’m trying to make this site much more of a community project, rather than an individual effort, I definitely want to try things here and there that people suggest. But eventually we’ll just settle down on something that hopefully most people will like. I think the white is probably shocking people more because of the dark feel of the other blog, rather than that a white page is really that “stark.” But I could be wrong
I’m weighing in a bit late in the discussion, but I think it looks great. Very easy to read. Easy on the eye.
But what brought me to the site was the content. And the great content has kept me coming back. Keep up the good work!
For those interested – we are playing around with the idea of reducing the amount of space taken by all the header content, to give you quicker, less-interrupted access to the content. More to follow later this week.
Who am I to comment on a website’s look? I didn’t have to go to all the work it involves, the templates, the programming, the interminable links!!
Just one thing, since you *did* ask, the picture looks like something generated in “Paint”. Couldn’t it look a little less “computer generated”, a little more medieval? Alivan’s website (http://www.alivans.com) is more the style I think of in terms of HogsMeade.
Very nice transition, however!
Westel, thanks for your comments! Actually, and ironically, the actual website itself was fairly easy – we starting with the “Cutline” template for wordpress and just made a few modifications; the most work-intensive part was probably the banner itself, and that all goes to Michael (who is an art major, by the way). Personally, I think his work is great and has a sort of medieval-ish look, but modernized enough for us to think “Yes…this looks like a modern version of something medieval” (which I think would be a good description of what Hogsmeade would be).
Alas, art is subjectively interpreted! I actually think Alivan’s looks far more “computer generated” than the banner here, which looks like a painting (to me, Alivan’s looks like something from an Super Nintendo role-playing game, which is cool in and of itself, just in another way). The banner will actually be changing slightly tonight, but we’ll be keeping the overall feel and Michael’s baseline work. I think he did a great job!
Oi I have not seen this thread! It is very humbling! HAHAHA!
Okay first things first… I see that a few people have an issue with the white space at the bottom. I was using the negative space to connect a sense of harmony to the blog and banner. It wasn’t suppose to be snow as such, though if the guys want. Until now I have not seen this feedback. If Travis and co wanted this changed, I have not known about it. If that is the case, fellow Blogengamoters, don’t be afraid to let me know if you actually dislike anything about my work. I’m open to all suggestions (and I have a free couple of days off so I can possibly fit in some more work on the banner if you don’t like it as it is.)
As for the Hog’s Head image and the severed head, whenever I imagine the place, I imagine it to be dirty, gritty and a lot like Albus. It is a ruthless, unforgivable place that has its own charm and that is what I wanted to convey within the image. The web page has darker mood than what many are use to but change can be a good thing. Art and illustration are all subjective. Though I do want you guys to all know I am my harshest critic. I honestly never like the work I have complete. It makes my skin crawl. You can imagine how I feel about it being on a site I regularly visit! Though I am coming around to the idea of seeing it.
As for the severed head itself well it goes back to the idea of the place being very gritty and raw. To have a cute head, akin to the one that we see in the chapter image of the US edition, would not do the place any justice. It is the Hog’s Head after all. I love bringing the darker elements out in my work. I want to show the viewer when they first see the image (and in many cases it will be the first thing they seee) that the HP fandom is not just for children. Darker imagery and story telling is very prevalent in this universe. I want to bring that out more. But that is just me and my interpretation of the HP Universe. I want to continue the more adult themes in my HP art work as this site is made up of adults. By filtering it and making it too ‘cute’ would not only be a little condescending to the site’s supporters, it would really undermine the adult readers and the wonderful adult, post modern themes (now I’m sounding like John!) Jo has placed within her story.
And lastly, Westel, the only part of the image that was produced on the computer was the dark purple sky. Everything else was created with inks, and watercolor.
I am a young illustrator guys. I am in my final year of Uni and still have a lot to learn (us illustrators/arts will always continue to grow, much like Rowling will with her writing and many others will in their chosen professions.) Any constructive feed back is more than welcome, in fact I thoroughly encourage it! Thanks for the great comments, I can not wait to do more for the web site in the near future!
Michael