The big news in the world of Emm in London and Addicted to Media is that the blogs have got a brand new look this week! And in the slightly embarrassing tradition of a mother dressing her twins in the same clothes, I’ve made the decision to roll out the same template across both blogs. While I fix some of the settings and settle into the new look(s), let me tell you a bit more about why I’ve done this.
Mobile
One of my proudest achievements over the years, especially over at Emm in London, was how I was able to design my own templates completely to achieve the look I wanted. The only part I could not do, no matter how often I tried to figure it out, was a customised mobile template. With mobile readership across the two blogs hitting 40-50%, I decided it was time to give my mobile readers a prettier and better experience. I got in touch with Pipdig and they helped me roll out my new design.
Judging from the mobile look now, I have definitely made the right decision. The only thing I need to fix is the centred text and it will look exactly how I wanted it to look.
Readability
A slightly strange phenomena happened over the years with Emm in London and Addicted to Media. Emm in London became brighter, more colourful and less cluttered in order to focus on my photography and the stories I was telling. Addicted to Media became darker to reflect the world of cinemas, concerts and the dramatic themes in the books I was reading. To be honest, I still think a darker theme suits Addicted to Media better but I couldn’t shake the feeling that the white text on black background made the blog less readable. When I was deciding on a new theme for Addicted to Media, I decided that I had to focus on reader experience and I hope that you enjoy a more traditional black text on white background more.
Brand
Or, to be more specific, me. With such vastly different looks and content, Emm in London and Addicted to Media began to have two very different personalities but at the end of the day, it was still just me writing the posts. I’m Mandy and I’m as mad about music, books and television as I am about long walks and exploring London. For a long time I considered combining the two blogs into one blog but I figured that with such vastly different topics and schedules, that might be unfair for existing readers. Addicted to Media can feature up to four posts in a week and Emm in London is usually one per week, two at the most. If I were a subscriber, I wouldn’t like that to change dramatically either way.
But I hope that by combining the two blogs into one brand, my readers from Emm in London will feel comfortable here and that I can tempt Addicted to Media fans to pop over to Emm in London from time to time. As we all know, all a blog needs to run is a little passion and a lot of love.
So please bear with me while I settle into my new brand and definitely let me know if something doesn’t work for you.
Some of the more astute of you may have noticed that the title of this post is an allusion to my enduring love of cheesy 90s dance music. May I present this morning’s earworm: “Reach Up (Papa’s Got a Brand New Pigbag)” by Perfecto Allstarz.
That's all from me. I'm off to go dance around my kitchen making breakfast.
