By Cassandra Germsheid
Creating a header for your blog is one of the best ways to make it unique and stand out from the crowd. When you're trying to come up with an idea for your new header, you may be drawing a blank. I've got a few ideas that will help kickstart those creative gears in your head.
Just Text - I've seen a lot of great blog headers that are simply text. Using typography to make your blog stand out is gutsy but can result in a beautiful header. Find a snazzy font - there are tons of free fonts available on the web to download - and use your favorite image editing program to create a cool graphic with your blog title.
Add some text effects to make it anything but generic. You can even make it look like it's 3D, shiny, or glowing. Try using different colors for certain letters, add a copy of the text flipped upside down to create a mirror effect, or create text using other images. There are lots of ways to get creative with text.
Photography - Some headers are nothing but a photo. A scenic landscape, a city skyline, or a row of cute babies smiling for the camera can make a memorable image for your blog readers.
If you want to get even more creative, design multiple headers and have them rotate each time the page is refreshed. This is a great idea for people with photoblogs who like to showcase their own work.
Minimal - If you have a busy theme or you want to direct the focus on something in particular, you may want to choose a header that doesn't attract a lot of attention.
A simple blog title may suffice, or a small logo. This works well for blogs that already have a brand that is recognizable.
Grunge - There are lots of grunge images and textures that you can download for free. Grab a few, splice them together, and create your own unique header with them.
While you're looking for some grunge textures, find some grunge fonts to go with it. A dark grunge background with a white grungy text over top would look great on a personal blog.
Color - Using bright, vibrant colors for your header is extremely eye-catching. It could be something really abstract (in which case many examples can be found on free stock photography and images sites) or you can use a mixture of images that add a lot of color contrast.
In one blog header I designed, I took one image of an apple, duplicated it twice, and changed the color of the second two images resulting in a row of three colorful apples. It was simple and eye-catching at the same time and the same idea could be implemented for any niche blog using different images.
If you can't decide on one idea, why not try more than one? Some blogs are known to change their headers regularly. In some cases this could confuse your readers, but if done properly, it could end up being something that makes your blog unique. Your readers will expect the change and look forward to seeing what you come up with next.
Cassandra Germsheid is the owner of http://mamasontheweb.com where she helps moms and dads earn money online. Visit her site to learn more about how to make your blog unique.
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