If you were following me on Twitter over the weekend, you may have noticed the somewhat quiet launch of a new MichaelKwan.com design. Up until now, that root domain would point toward my main freelance writing business and then this blog would be located at btr.michaelkwan.com. Beyond the Rhetoric is staying where it is, but my freelance business has been moved to writing.michaelkwan.com. So, what’s going on with the main domain?
Point your browser over to MichaelKwan.com and you’ll find that it is now an online business card of sorts. Some people may call it a portal and others may refer to it as a landing page.
Whatever you want to call it, the new page serves as a “directory” of where you can find me online. The two highlighted links are to my freelance writing services and to Beyond the Rhetoric. Below that are links to some of my online profiles: Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and YouTube. There’s also a link to contact me, which currently points toward the BTR contact form.
The introduction of an online business card design for MichaelKwan.com is yet another way that I can simultaneously separate myself from the pack and provide for an easier navigational experience. People who want to see what I’m doing can go to MichaelKwan.com, choosing to check out my Flickr photostream, my blog posts, or my freelance services without having to bookmark all of these page separately. My current business card design fits in with the overall aesthetic of my online business card, giving a good sense of consistency for my brand.
I’d like to thank Matt Freedman for both the inspiration for the change and the actual design itself. He’s the same guy that created the current WordPress theme for Beyond the Rhetoric.
What do you guys think? Any positive feedback or constructive criticism?
Well Michael, as I said on Twitter, I think the overall design is a very good idea. The only thing that I would add or change is the solid gray background. I find it too much gray of one tone.
You could use a color fade from lighter to darker and back across the background? I keep getting a mesmerizing effect when I look at the page for any short time period.
Also as I mentioned on Twitter, there is a gradient there, but maybe it’s not obvious/pronounced enough. Do you think a gradient is better or an image like how I do here on BTR?
I cannot see the gradient in either Firefox or IE8. I think the page would look better with an image like the one on BTR.
I would do a nice soothing background, not something that would take away from the focus of the business card. The image on BTR above the treeline would be great. As an example I trimmed your BTR background image and added it to my edutechation web site header image. What do you think of something like that? When you look at it, let me know via twitter and I’ll edit my header image to eliminate the addition to my header.
I really like the landing page, looking good! I always like to visit the professional pages of the bloggers I enjoy.