Veerle's Blog

Simply one word 'WOW' like it a lot, I have being following Veerle work and she has being an inspiration to everyone not just female member also male as well. So well done.

wow, there is no way you are going to tell me that the galleries arent looking to each other, instead of 'the real world' for new entries... i just saw this over in CSS IMPORT.

anyway. I can't say enough about this site, sheer beauty, from the rooter to the tooter. there is absolutly nothing wrong with this site, it validates, its usable, its fairly accessible, its coordinated and organized, its laid out well, and the images and color contrast are wonderful.

this site left me with tears in my eyes. gives me hope for the future of web design asthetics. powered by EE, wonder if she entered the 15K contest, she would win hands down.

While the site looks nice and works well, I would have liked more to change between the sections than just the content itself. A different header image, or something. The site has so much color - so much color that could be used to even better effect if it were changed every once in a while!

I guess it was only a matter of time before the site appeared here.

It's one of those masterpieces that makes me feel small and inferior as a designer. The sheer attention to detail is mind boggling.

Veerle is also one of Belgium's fiercest standardista's tackling even government sites for not being accessable enough. She show how to do it correctly on her own site.

The eye for detail is astonishing; just have a look at the roll ot tickets she uses to number the comments.

And we shouldnt forget that the site is not yet 100% finished...

Very nice, love all the use of colour and the headings work well too.

fresh!

Veerle's new redesign is simply amazing, one of those sites that leaves you wanting more. It validates and more importantly it looks nice. the contrast between elements is great and the color from the illustrations really adds some nice pop to the whole thing.

great job

Really nice redesign + I just moved my TFT to Pivot mode so it was really amazing to see the frontpage in it's full glory without scroll bars.

Veerle's blog has always been one of my favorite websites. This review at stylegala is well earned.

Keep it up Veerle. The site is realy inspiring for many webdesigners and the information on it is of great value.

The requested URL /index.php was not found on this server.

"The requested URL /index.php was not found on this server."

yeeap hahaha here site has probably made the rounds at delious and dig and other galleries have picked her up. probably crashed the server by now.

David:

We did receive this submission from quite a few people on our site, but we have never posted it because it was already being featured all over the place.

Just wanted to clarify, since we do our best to feature sites that are not being featured elsewhere, from our submissions, and from the 'real world'.

Nevertheless a fantastic, very well laid out site.

First of all thanks for featuring me here on Stylegala, I feel humbly in all the great sites that were here before me. I also want to apologize for my site being unreachable, my host moved me to a dedicated server and things went wrong badly. I am seriously considering switching to another host after that debacle. And to all others folks here thanks for the great comments, I am still overwhelmed and can’t believe it all.

Veerle

hey now sweat Stephen it was all tongue in cheek, i was actually pointing that comment here at the stylegala folks as i saw it on CSSIMPORT first. ;)

it was an "all in jest comment". nothing more meant by it. just poking fun reall :)

Hey stephen, did you guys take it off? or am i just losing my mind? cause i do that sometimes... lose my mind.

I think all the big galleries need to get together and come up with some scheme for a network where they feature only certain types of galleries, that way there would not be so much similarities and all the galleries would profit from an influx of new blood.

think of it... that would be cool as hell. lightondark has already gotten on the train of specific gallery entries. what if stylegala was the clean chic site place and CSSImport was the colorful dark on light site and CSSMania was the blogshere ( WP ) site and CSS drive was the blog (TP) site... well you get the picture. that would be cool as hell!

Yay! Thankyou Veerle for a fantastic design. Bookmarked under "inspiration"

I hope my work will eventually be as beautiful.

Post this site everywhere! Its doing the designer (who has obviously worked really hard on it) a favour in terms of publicity and linking for the search engines.

I was stunned by this new design of Veerle's. It's wonderful.

Congrats Veerle for your hard work paying off. The kind of inspiring work that you do for clients, this time for yourself.

Veerle is like Gandalf when it comes to Photoshop/Illustrator so I already knew anything she touched would be pure gold.

Her articles on Photoshop and Illustrator tips and tricks are like these eye-opening gems where you are like "I had no idea..."

And she is totally hot. Yeah, I said it.

Placing Belgium on the map!

The bar has been raised. It's an outstanding piece of work.

Very nice design ,fancy I love it - here you go: 9 !

When I looked at the rating I thought this must be some great great site but IMO nothing special that would explain the rating.

I don`t like the "stuff" that is around the content, titles are images etc.

And isn`t that AI flower in the header :D

6

Nice layout, great colors, beautifully illustrated. Gorgeous site!

As usually ... wondering about the typo :) Any ideas what font is used in headings?

Thanks

Madeo

I have to agree with "3dsc0rpi0n", it seems odd to me after reading through the endless list of praises for this site I thought it was going to be something out of this world!

But sadly it's not all that great, don't get me wrong it's nicely done - however it just looks like a blog.

well what type of site would give you guys a woody? its not the fact that its a two colum blog, and its not the fact that she used a default AI piece.

the fact is that in comparision to all the other sites in this showcase, it stands alone on attention to detail and asthetic appeal. I dont think this is a good ole boy hyped site. i think it truly is something special in the world or blog sites.

it rehashes some basic blog design ( two column top and three colunm bottom ) but simply because the layout is not ground breaking and she uses images for the titles ( which have title and alt tags , so whats the big issue? ) does not discount the effort and simplicity with a large amount of content -that totally validates btw, as an aside- which means she put alot of time and worthwhile energy that you dont see on most sites, especially the ones here that already have high ratings.

@r3dsc0rpi0n: There are only two images used as titles and that's just because it isn't posible (yet) to use that font simply due to the fact that isn't available on all computers. I could have used SFIR but I wanted to stay away from Flash. Everything is still accessible so there no harm done and I'm designer so my thought was that using that font there contributed to a better overall look. And the flower is indeed similar to the Abobe Illustrator flower to show my love for the application, something that should have been clear if you looked a little closer ;) Nothing is stopping you from doing something far better though ;)

@madeo: The font is from House Industries and called Chalet ;)

@Chris: It looks like a blog because it is one ;) I my humble opinion it doesn't look like most others though.

@David B.: I couldn't have said it better, thanks for that ;)

To me this is one of the most passionate designs I've seen. I have always admired your work and loved your writings and invaluable tutorials. However, I always felt that your previous design did not do a great job on communicating the passion that drives the site. Now there's a great harmonious balance and clear communication between content, IA and visual design. I absolutely love it. Overall very inspiring and a 10/10 in my eyes.

Congratulations Veerle!

Please do not see this as a personal attack. The site has had a massive amount of effort and love pumped into it and I think that's great. But while I most certainly see its merits, I do not agree with most that this design is fantastic, amazing, incredible, etc. I find it to be cluttered and disorganised; a little too busy. However, considering the great praise this site is getting I have been second-guessing these opinions all day. Maybe the problem's mine.

I like it. The layout definately has a typical blog look to it, but as Veerle pointed out, it's a blog! It's a nice looking blog, at that. Everything flows together very well. I still think that sites should fit 800 x 600 screens without having horizontal scrollbars. At least this site has all of the every-day information visible without scrolling, so that's a plus.

Images are well made, no question about that.

I understand she put alot of time into this and don't get me wrong it's nice, but an 8.0!!!! IMHO I don't think it's an 8.0, compared to the rest of the sites I've seen in the gallery. But that's my own personal preference and everybody’s different, that's what makes this world interesting.

@Veerle Pieters

Design is completly subjective...

I wrote my opinion on your site on the first impressions.

IMHO I think that the "secondary content" gets in the first plan of the rest of the site....

Nothing is perfect.

btw I like your competitive spirit :-)

I think it's a gorgeous site - well done! The comments numbering is fantastic - I love the attention to detail. A really great, well planned, refreshing and original design.

Yea, I agree with a few who said it was a little too cluttered. I also don't see it being an 8. I know sites start out high before eventually lowering down to their true rating, but it's still at 8. I even think i rated it a little under what I would have if I had just seen it unbiased, but it definitley is a nice site. I just don't think it's as good as advertised.

Baby, you rock!!! ;-)

please dont take this as anything more than it is... a question. but for all of you who dont think it stands up to its 'hype' i would like to see examples of sites that you think top it in asthetic appeal and code. just so we can know where you are coming from.

all sites arent perfect and everyone can improve on their project but i simply dont see anything better or more refreshing out there as of late int he blog world. again im not trying to be a nag but if this site doesnt deserve an 8 then plese point us to examples that you would say are better than this so we can see what you mean.

No Offence, but why is it when someone goes even slightly against the fawning tide of "my god, it's the best thing ever.." they get jumped on. As mentioned above, design is a subjective thing, and not everyone thinks alike. Personally I think that it's nicely done but cluttered - I actually preferred the previous version.

@David B., we all know there's really no need to ask that question. It's obvious that this is a beautiful site, but even if it wasn't, Veerle has contributed so much to the community she deserves every bit of the attention she's getting for the redesign.

As for all the negative comments, please spare a thought for all these bruised egos. I know how jeaolus I feel when I look at that site :D

Why do all the people leaving even slightly negative comments think they are being attacked.

This isn't an attack so please stop playing that card.

When you say cluttered I expect things to be hard to find or bunched up.

Each section has a clearly defined area. If you are having trouble seeing that then look at the grid layout she posted. It appears to be very organized to me.

Should I mark it down because it isn't my favorite colors? No. That would be petty because I can see the color contrasts work and it is quite readable.

===

"design is a subjective thing, and not everyone thinks alike"

I do not believe good design is subjective. It either works well or it doesn't. What you seem to refer to is the emotional response to the design. Are you suggesting that rating should be based on emotional response?

How does this site make you feel rather then was it done well?

The moment I saw this site, I knew it would be on Stylegala. The bar has definitely been raised. Veerle just did so much right :)

Thank you Jared i could not have said it better.

@ Mike, my comments where not meant as an attack, and if you have read my comments on here for any length of time you would know that i am an advocate for people being able to make whatever comment they want and not be chastised. Especially 'negative comments' ( though i don't see any of these as negative, just differing opinions). you just be ready to be able to debate you r opinion. I mean if not what the hell are we here for. this is a place to discuss and debate these issues in my eyes.

I asked a genuine question because you guys got me to wondering if I was seeing straight, and if my 'emotional' attraction was too strong and blinding my artistic/professional/objective eye. that is why i asked. there will invariably be those who do not like this site for various reasons, but i also agree that art is subjective to a point. there are clear lines that can be drawn as to what universally 'works' and what does not.

First gimpse: well done, second: I have seen it all before...

You know what I mean? It looks well, and it is well done, and it is sort of original, and I won't say the colors have been used before because for crying out loud there are only 7 colors in the rainbow! BUT... the problem with these overwhelming blogs, is that we have been impressed before, our level of expectations has gotten higher, I could have been a lot more impressed had I seen it last year... so what really wins? content, and frankly, although very versatile, the content is not objective, and little research on it, most of it is personal. That's alright, but the huge comments on each post is NOT alright. Basically i would give it an 8 for design, and merely a 3 for content if promoted as an effective blog, 10 if promoted as a personal blog (without the comments)

@Amal Ayyash: You must feel exhausted now after reading all my 433 posts and coming to the conclusion that content only deservers merely a 3. I'm really sorry to have wasted your valuable time. You should be rewarded for reading through all that crap really ;) Too bad you didn't see all the tutorials, tips and tricks but only focused on the popular ones on the home-page with the most comments. But hey I can't please them all ;)

whoa.. Veerle, you need to back up a bit. I understand that you are taking heat from some people but you have an overwhelming crowd of support, don't ruin that by getting testy ;). I would take it as a compliment that you have this surge in readership. I know that i now make you site a daily visit. dont get involved with fray, just say thax and bow out gracefully, it will be in your better interest in the long run.

dont ( I know Rundle is lurking somewhere ;) ) let this turn in to a 9rules debackle -tongue in cheek-

@David B: I'm not testy at all. I responded in a humorous tone that's how I see it and I wrote the above with a smile on my face. ;) If you don't see that then I'm sorry.

"I even think i rated it a little under what I would have if I had just seen it unbiased, but it definitley is a nice site. I just don't think it's as good as advertised."

Do you not just love people intentionally trying to force their view on a site by scoring it lower than what they believe it should be?

If you think the site is only a 6 or 7 then score that. [I still wonder what you think a 9-10 would be...] Why do you feel the need to try to force it to what you think it should be?

Oh no someone might think it is a 9 so I have to score it as 3 to make it the 6 it should be.

Still boogles my mind that this site is currently the best rateed site here and it is only an 8.

Where are all the 9-10 sites?!?

i saw the smiley faces, but that can also mean sarcasm. its a funny thing thiswriting is. emotions never come across like they should. but also it was te tone/ take for example:

"If you don't see that then I'm sorry"

I could take that one of two ways.

1. she is sorry for the confusion that the comment caused

2. sarcasm as in if you dont get it then im sorry you are so stupid.

so like i was saying. its better not to evenget involved in that kinda of banter/ lol i almost lost a friend that very way. we wemt back and forth on an email about something goofy, but he got real mad at me when iwas joking with him and could not tell through the writting tht i was just poking fun... just food for thought

I can see from the rating that people are just voting it down for thehell of it now. the law of averages says that with almost 300 votes people have to be voting like 4s and 5s to bring it down from an 8.1 to a 7.8

That reaction to amal ayyash by Veerle is rather typical belgian; a smile with a sting...

Amal's reaction is complete rubbish; you wonder why he is complaining about too personal (it's a personal blog-not a dry portfolio), lack of content (huh?) or quantity thereof? And he's raving that "it is well done, and it is sort of original" and still says he's seen it before? Still trying to make sense of that.

everyone has a right on a opinion, but it better be an informed opinion based on criteria, not just personal feelings like envy or jealousy. (heck, Bitter-chocolate brown with pistacio accents is not my favorite colourcombination, but it works)

Wow, people, did not know i dont have the right to express my openion!!!

I did not say it was all personal, i said it was subjective, like I can't really quote you in an edition of a newsletter for say some design company, because it belongs to you alone, I quote Jakob Neilson because he has done a lot, and I dont expect anybody to quote me until I reach that level, and you are wrong, I did see some of the tips and tutorials posts, but I already knew them because the orignal vendors already told us about them, that is why I said it was subjective besides personal. Now I do not know why you jumped at the 3, and did not consider the "10" for personal content, which is a rate I wouldn't give myself, my site is waaay too personal, with no comments allowed, and I made it clear I wanted it so... there is nothing wrong with that! That is at least what I saw in there.

Kiji: It is well done, and I have seen it before, and it has "some" originality in it, where is the contradiction in that statement?

Jealous? hell yes, I couldn't do it myself :)

Seen better? yes I have

What I like about it? design, and its HTML

What I dont like (personally)? comments (too many comments)

by the way, I couldn't rate it, because I knew I would be unfair either way. I think it deserves to be on stylegala, but I cannot judge the rate.

Chill people, deep down, we are all in agreement.

Lets keep this sweet n' simple. Stylegala's recent features have been nice, but none as nice as this one (Of course stated as an opinion...I realize you all have yours as well).

When I saw this redesign for the first time, I thought "ohh crap" with jealousy. I agree with Bryan Veloso of Avalonstar that "the bar has been raised."

What I love about designs like this one by Veerle is that now all designers will have more creative influence in their designs. This design does what all good designs should: inspire. This site inspires me to create and makes me want to one-up Veerle in a healthy competitive way (not that I could...I guess we'll see).

"we are all in agreement." if this is true then people would not be intentionally voting it down. there are 315 votes and the rating has lost .5 points within 35 votes ( i know its weird that i have been keeping track )

which means the last 25 or so votes have been people voting it between 1 and 3. sad that people would do that.

Would be nice if people would be willing to discuss more.

Amal said "Seen better? yes I have" Can we ask again that you share the better ones you have seen?

-----

I am still trying to figure out how all that color works... Part of my mind seems to say that those colors shouldn't look good together but then wonders why they do not look as bad as I think they should.

I think I have seen colorful sites placed on a more white/black background. Most of the site takes a background to the colorful features. Would be nice to know how all this color was pulled off. (If you have already posted something about this then I will find it eventually. If not...wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more... [out of context I know])

Might be just because I am on a laptop... Did you know the dark blue-grey in the top color bar is the same hex as the lighter blue-grey in the previous/what's cooking background? That kind of amused me... (Top that for weird David)

I don't understand the whole fuss really. Why should anyone explain why he or she does not like the design? Why is it so hard to leave others with their opinion, especially when it comes to design?

I personally love this design and can say that this is one of nicest designs I've seen in a few years. Who am I to tell others to feel the same? Indirectly criticising someone else for not having the same sentiments as I have alludes to that. I find it to be useless and unecessary. Who cares about rating? In my mind this design of Veerle has a solid 10. Why? Why not? I do not need to justify why I think this is a 10 just as the next person does not have to justify why he/she gave it a 3 or 6 or whatever. In the end it really does not mean anything at all because rating in the context of showcases is a useless feature. The level of discussion right here is proof of that. My opinion, not a fact.

I don't understand the whole fuss either - it is an attractive, well though out design but it is just a blog. I think all the bellowers out there need to drink less fizzy pop and maybe go outside and kick a ball around.

And there is an awful lot of fawning out there - people ought to be wary of becoming de-sensitized to fawn-words as if something truly ground breaking does come up y'all might pop a kidney.

As was pointed out by David. It would take some fairly negative ratings to drop from 8 to 7.6 with almost 300 people having already rating it an average 8.

Is there a valid reason for this?

I do not see a reason so I am asking. What part of the design isn't working so that it doesn't get repeated by anyone that might take inspiration from this site.

-----

I believe you do not have to agree with a point of view to understand it. I would like to understand those that have genuine problems with these websites.

Sorry you find this to be pointless. I have more hope for some here. ( I do believe some of these lurkers are a lost cause. )

"I don't understand the whole fuss either - it is an attractive, well though out design but it is just a blog."

Is the problem that it is a blog and not a "real" website?

@Maleika E. Attawel part of the fun and reason why i am a designer is to debate the design asthetic. i myself have been on the side of "this sint that impressive" in a mountain of "wow this is so cool" on other sites. my point here is to discuss/learn.

how do we as designers better ourselves and our craft if all we do is live in a bubble and dont question each other about their ideas/beliefs. mine is not so so much a descenting disagreement as a position of discussion. I fully support every to have their own independent opinions.

However is that opinion not able to be backed up/supported when questioned? if you dont like then hey you dont like it. but to say i have seen better lends me to ask .."well show us all so that we can bask and draw inspiration" you are right. it makes no sense to have a rating system if its only objective is chase a number here and there.

makes more sense if it helps spark healthy conversation on an issue or related design topic, no?

"And there is an awful lot of fawning out there - people ought to be wary of becoming de-sensitized to fawn-words as if something truly ground breaking does come up y'all might pop a kidney."

and when something truly ground breaking comes out we will all bust a kidney, but until then we can draw inspiration from the perfections and flaws of this current debated design ;)

Maleika E. Attawel-

I don't understand the whole fuss really. Why should anyone explain why he or she does not like the design? Why is it so hard to leave others with their opinion, especially when it comes to design?

The reason people should explain why he or she does not like the design is to help the artist/designer make changes in the future. If you asked for feedback would you just want people to say that they don't like it? No you wouldn't and if you say yes your lying to everyone here and yourself.

but it is just a blog

So? A web site isn't defined as 1) a online presence that sells something, or 2) a portfolio site for a designer who is looking for money.

Now a lot of websites fit in as a 1 or 2 but they also have blogs. A web site is something that can be created by any number of people and can be on any topic.

I happen to really like the design. That's my opinion and I will go into detail of why I li

@ Joshua. Please place the quotations correctly as I never said that "it is just a blog".

I expressed my absolute admiration for Veerle's design and it's pretty much my favourite design that has been posted on Stylegala. Reasoning? The reasoning pro or contra has not been much different in terms of indepth analysis. Many have said why they did like the design. Many have voiced why they did not like the design. In my opinion, a design at the level of Veerle's blog leaves little room for valid arguments as to why one does not like it. Reason being, the IA, typography, visual expression, color schemata, content divisions and SEO are all well executed. The only point of critique I would see is that of style. And the liking/disliking of a style on a personal website is subjective in my opinion.

I was actually quoting Joel. I was running out of room and did not want to make two seperate posts.

Fantastic effort, Veerle! I love it!

Well, when I say "it's just a blog" I am not knocking it, just the format is limited from the start. http://www.duoh.com/ says that this blog has conquered the internet - but you have to be a blogger who reads blogs about other blogs to feel this i guess.

I just read ALL the previous comments...

all I have to say is...

hello. ;)

All of the gushing comments here just don't resonate with my opinion (yes, it’s an opinion so don’t let it ruin your day) of the site and I find them a bit shocking, really.

This site is little more than a poshed-up version of the same 3-columns-in-your-face-with-everything-that-could-possibly-define-me blog layout that seems to be more and more popular these days.

I think that the Archive page and Comment pages are wonderful. All of the other pages are cluttered and overbearing. The color palette is nice and I would be able to enjoy the site a bit more if the “flickrness,” “Veerle’s art,” and “art/type elsewhere” sections weren’t busy violently pulling my eye away from the wonderful (but low contrast) main section.

I also think that the Categories and Previous sections should be switched. The lack of the Categories list on the Comment pages is strange as well. Finally, why is there a “skip to content” button if you’re only sending readers down ~300 pixels?

"This site is little more than a poshed-up version of the same 3-columns-in-your-face-with-everything-that-could-possibly-define-me blog layout that seems to be more and more popular these days."

Although I might agree a bit with this I reach a different opinion. The reason being is that I ask myself "How else could it be done?"

1, 2, 3, 4 or more columns? No columns? Is 3 columns just evil to have?

If she didn't put all that stuff on the first page then it would require more clicks to find that she had some of these things available. As it is you see what she offers and can explore if interested.

I still do not understanding what is so cluttered. Do you mean too much info/colors? I did notice that the pages you do like have less images then the pages you do not.

Jared:

Shoving tons and tons of information onto the front page (favorite music, recommended books, links to other blogs, flickr images, etc.) doesn't add value to a page and this type of information is almost always better off being in some other place (like the About or Links sections).

It's quantity over quality in my opinion, and the excessive use of this technique makes Veerle's site (and other similar sites) difficult to visually parse. This is especially true for the top half of the site where the flickr, art, and elsewhere sections distract the eye from the main content.

---

On another note: After reading through the comments again, I'm completely dumbfounded by the individuals claiming that this site is undeniably excellent and that anyone who believes otherwise is in the wrong.

Nu nog een vlaamse versie!

What I like:

1. Grid - Provides a solid foundation for the elements without being overpowering.

2. Navigation - Simple, modest and easy to find.

3. Proximity - Related elements are grouped together and easily identified.

4. Alignment - My eye can scan horizontally and vertically across the page without unnecessary interruption.

5. Repetition - Colors, typefaces and layout are consistent from page to page.

6. Contrast - The bright colors on the neutral background attract and hold my interest.

What I think would strengthen the design:

1. Though the width of the written content on the homepage is great, and the text size is easily readable, the white and gray combo can't compete with the strong colors next to it for my attention. My eyes keep drifting off to the right to that red-headed girl.

2. Continued below.

Continued from above:

2. Smaller subheadings for less important elements. I would like to see "Veerle's art" have a larger heading than "hot tunes i dig."

3. Maybe softening or removing the multi-colored bar along the top. It distracts me, but I just scroll it off of the screen.

What I can learn from this design:

As a CSS hobbyist who has no formal design training at all ... A LOT!

Excellent job, Veerle! Thank you for the inspiration!

Putting Belgium on the map...and then some!

This is what you get when a great designer is also a great coder...blogging bliss!

Respect!

"Skip to content" is for screen readers bat boy - Veerle has had her accessability lessons.

The design is excellent, anyone who thinks otherwise please show us something better.

My only improvement might be to tone down the right hand column, it doesn't need to draw that much attention (especially not from the main content anyway).

Awesome re-design Veerle - A huge improvement!

I hate to be the only stick in the mud here but I gotta be honest, reading content ( even as good as it is ) on black is annoying and after awhile strains the eyes. The site look sgood but in my opinion the color scheme from the screen in her re-design blog entry is much better and a better experience once you get past the design and into the content ( which by the way, shes brilliant! ).

Not saying the black is awful, I just dont care to spend much time on the site reading.

Veerle's blog is without doubt the finest I've ever encountered. Not because it is designed to channel the user quickly to the information, but because it does what a blog is designed to do- be an interface for the individual with the world. Veerle's blog tells me a lot about her. That is more than I can say for just about any blog I've visited.

And, if you see clutter, it's merely because you are not interested enough in the blogger to connect with them on their level, which is what blogs are typically used for.

Terrific work, that I took the liberty to link to in my humblest of all blogs.

here is one that looks pretty much like it:

http://www.vivabit.com/

The site is realy inspiring for many webdesigners but the effect it's real!

Just w0w !

The thing I really like about the HTML is that there are hardly any additional DIV tags for presentation to make up the boxes etc. I often find I have to create extra DIV tags to those.

I don't find this site to be too cluttered, I think it does a nice job of using space to organize a large amount of information. The type which is often neglected on the web, is great. I also appreciate the liberal use of illustration, I don't think we see enough of it in web design.

However, (no disrespect to the designer intended) is this the greatest thing I've ever seen, is this even an 8? No. The style is boring. The design is used to organize the content but not to enhance it. Clearly Ms. Pieters has earned all of her accolades, but just once I'd like to see one of the "big names" attempt something a little more dangerous.

Very nice showcase of CSS and design skills, but non-informative, highly cluttered and hard to read. Which makes it a one-visit-only site.

Great Site

Great, simple and beautiful.

Her website is gorgeous! I love the Illustrator tips she gives on her blog.

Great blog