new WP template, please crit

First off, I need to say that I have no idea how this looks in IE, because I've had a problem installing it, saying its already on my computer when it clearly isn't anywhere to be found. Anyways, heres just a css/html design that I'm working on for another personal site.

http://www.visualidiot.com/new/index.html

Feel free to crit every tiny thing about it.

Firstly, I'm not massive on the green/brown combination - I think if it had some sort of gradient applied it might be better, but still not my flavor.

Secondly - the typography, it seems you've used one font consistently over the site (Georgia?). Whilst its a bad idea to have a lot of different font faces going on, a little variation is good to spice things up. It also adds a clear distinction between content types (headlines and body copy for example). My preference would be to use your Georgia/Serif font for your headlines but switch to a sans-serif font for the main copy - it is far easier to read in large chunks.

Thirdly, margins, padding and line-height. At the moment they all seem a little irregular and have little relation to each other. Some areas have small amounts of padding and others (for example the article content) have a larger margin at the top. The line-height throughout could be expanded in order to make it more readable.

My advice would be to grab yourself a grid layout (for example the 960 grid) and to experiment with some different fonts. Once you've nailed those basics, go back over the design adding small tweaks and details (such as gradients). Its the little things that add "pop" to the design

Originally Posted by getrefreshed Firstly, I'm not massive on the green/brown combination - I think if it had some sort of gradient applied it might be better, but still not my flavor. Secondly - the typography, it seems you've used one font consistently over the site (Georgia?). Whilst its a bad idea to have a lot of different font faces going on, a little variation is good to spice things up. It also adds a clear distinction between content types (headlines and body copy for example). My preference would be to use your Georgia/Serif font for your headlines but switch to a sans-serif font for the main copy - it is far easier to read in large chunks. Thirdly, margins, padding and line-height. At the moment they all seem a little irregular and have little relation to each other. Some areas have small amounts of padding and others (for example the article content) have a larger margin at the top. The line-height throughout could be expanded in order to make it more readable. My advice would be to grab yourself a grid layout (for example the 960 grid) and to experiment with some different fonts. Once you've nailed those basics, go back over the design adding small tweaks and details (such as gradients). Its the little things that add "pop" to the design

Yeah I'm horrible when It comes to doing web fonts, especially something like Wordpress, because this is one of my first themes for it. Most things I do have nothing to do with content areas, so I will look into that website. Also, yes it is all Georgia font, not sure what I really wanted for the content area.

edit: Oh and thanks for the in-depth critique!

http://www.fictionalhead.com/resources/all-posts/

i would recommend checking that out bro.

it just may help you out a lot

Hmm so I started tweaking around with different fonts and I came up with this...

http://www.visualidiot.com/new/newfontstacks.jpg

I still need to work on the sidebar, but think it looks better overall. Let me know what you all think.

Originally Posted by jasonm56 Hmm so I started tweaking around with different fonts and I came up with this... http://www.visualidiot.com/new/newfontstacks.jpg I still need to work on the sidebar, but think it looks better overall. Let me know what you all think.

better -
focus on the colors first
use a color pallet tool if needed http://kuler.adobe.com/

Originally Posted by silent1643 better - focus on the colors first use a color pallet tool if needed http://kuler.adobe.com/

yeah I actually got 2 of the colors from one of the pallets there.

Its pretty good.
But 'GASP!' I need breathing space!

The design lacks whitespace (brown in this case).
As 'getfreshed' mentioned - paddings and margins.
Header and footer seriously needs some space with dark colors you really need to keep white space in mind coz the colors are ... heavy, you see.