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I still had to throw pink in there, but it’s still much less colorful than its cousin. Although, I’m not sure why you’d even be here if you didn’t like color. Very rarely do I design anything that isn’t colorful. But I accept all kinds, so come right in. Maybe I’ll try to accommodate you one of these days.

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Sorry men, but this one is for the ladies. It’s much more…designed than my other themes. And by that I mean I added styling for answer posts, album covers for audio posts, tags for all posts, and…other things. If I can keep this productive train a-chuggin’, I’ll probably make a dark version of this very theme. I like to accommodate the less cheery people amongst us sometimes, too.

And if you haven’t already, you should follow me on Tumblr. It’ll make you feel like I’m not actually dead when I stop making content for months at a time.

By the way, I’m finished with my hell semester and will be giving approximately zero shits about my last five months of high school. So maybe I’ll make new content or something…if I remember how.

Long story short, I’ve given myself an excuse to spend more time designing things. Whether or not I actually will, I ain’t makin’ no promises. I still have my AP classes and my big-time client to take care of. But for now, I have managed to make a new Tumblr theme.

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I was sick of the one on my own page, so I made this. I’m usually selfish and refuse to put layouts up until I’m done with them, but let’s be real here – I won’t change this for months. So here it is, for all to use, two days after I made it for myself. Go for it.

I’m taking part in BEDA, Blog Every Day in August, over at my personal blog, Flamora. I’m am also working on two commissions, one of which involves six sites. So, my online time is a little full right now.

I generally don’t like explanations for short absences, but I realized this would be a good way to promote my blog without actually promoting it. So you should visit my blog. Every day. In August. I’ve been told I say interesting things there sometimes.

Ethetica is a blog. No generic resources. No pointless tutorials. No mediocre writings. Just the ramblings of an honest, down-to-earth design student named Liv.

Since I rarely make graphics that require outside resources these days, I’m typically drawn to blog-only or blog-and-portfolio sites. Of course, good ones are hard to come by. I’m picky and I have a dry sense of humor. I find that many of the bloggers I come by either try too hard to dig up “interesting” topics or tap into emotions that I, the generally apathetic girl that I am, cannot comprehend. But I actually feel like I can relate to Liv’s blog. She doesn’t write about popular opinions that teenagers seem to think are unpopular and pretend like she’s written an original masterpiece when she’s finished. She writes about her honest, unpretentious thoughts. I don’t feel as if I’m reading something forced when I read her posts, and that alone is enough to earn someone a feature.

But the main reason I’ve decided to feature Liv’s site is not because of the honesty in her blogs, but the honesty in her comments. Let’s face it – most of us are a little fake in our comments. We’re not super close to every blogger we visit, so we feel uncomfortable criticizing the work they post or disagreeing with what they have to say. Liv, however, always gives me the truth in her comments. When I posted some mediocre sketches and admitted that there were some problems, she was the only one to agree and offer up some advice. Who knows? Maybe everyone else really did think those sketches were great. Still, it’s always nice to hear a differing opinion, and she’s usually the one to give me said opinion.

And, on top of all that, she illustrates. I don’t think it’s any secret that I adore illustration and prefer it above all other digital art forms. I get the vibe that many designers are intimidated by the pen tool, so it’s always pleasant to see a fellow vector artist in this sector of the design world.

My main goal is to pick sites that the entire design and blog world doesn’t already know are great, mostly because I think better, lesser known sites out there somewhere. Granted, a promotion on my website isn’t going to help anyone out too much. These spotlights are more of a “Hey, I think you’re marvelous and I want to show my appreciation for what you do even though my opinion doesn’t matter” kind of gesture.

Of course, I’m going to need a little help. I have a couple sites lined up, but sooner or later, I’m going to run out and might not be able to find a site that wows me right away. If you know of as website that amazes the pants off you, comment on this post with the link and I’ll take a careful look at it.

I hope this is statement proves to be unnecessary, but please don’t suggest your own site. If it’s great, just hope someone else suggests it for you.

Click the screenshot for the installation page.

I may recreate the same theme with different colors. Maybe I’ll even add a background pattern. Who knows? I think you should leave suggestions for said backgrounds and colors.

After years of irritation, I’ve concluded that you should reply to comments however the hell you want. Yes, I’m just as annoyed by short and unrelated comments as everyone else. But who am I to tell strangers what to do? This may be my blog, but I don’t own the internet. Anything goes here. That’s why porn sites and viruses exist. And while porn sites may burn virgin eyes and viruses may destroy computers, lame comments don’t really hurt anyone.

Of course, leaving off topic, single sentence comments is not going to make you any friends in the blog world. You have to make some concessions if you expect to have visitors ever again. So, I’ve composed a list of simple guidelines to follow to make returning comments a little easier.

1. You’re not required to address the comment you receive, but if you do, respond in your comments (only works with WordPress).
Unless someone asks a question or says something that makes my fingers tingle with the desire to type a response, I usually just go around and address the the topics in my commenters’ blogs. I usually forget what I write in comments after a few days, so I assume others forget as well. But if you must reply, use the nifty reply feature in WordPress. That way, you won’t have to flip back and forth between your blog and theirs, and they’ll receive a nice little email with your reply AND their comment. It’s more convenient for both parties.

2. If you have nothing to say about someone’s latest post, wait it out.
I keep a Notepad document titled “Revisits.” In said document, I keep the links of websites that haven’t been updated since I last commented or have blogs I just can’t relate to. I’m sorry, but I have nothing but sassy responses to a blog about how much someone hates her mother because she won’t buy her a pony. Seriously, though, I have a particularly difficult time leaving genuine, helpful comments on very emotional blogs. I’m cold and apathetic, and anything I would say would be phony. Still, that person commented me, so it would only be polite if I commented back. So I wait it out and respond on a happier day.

3. Don’t fret about comment length.
Some people are under the impression that you have to write a book for a comment to be meaningful. That’s a myth. I’ve found that the three-four sentence comments I receive usually have the greatest impact because many multiple paragraph comments are full of fluff. Don’t feel like you need to reply to every point in a blog, either. If only one point strikes you, just focus on that point.

4. If you really dislike a person, don’t comment back.
I adopted this policy very recently. I’ve always felt as if I need to return the favor to everyone because that was the polite thing to do. All this does, though, is guarantee you another undesirable comment and another undesirable trip to an undesirable blog. Is it a little mean? Maybe. But just as in offline life, there will always be people who rub you the wrong way. No need to make yourself miserable.

5. If you’re going to skim, do the old textbook trick.
Read the first and last sentence of the paragraph. I’m a fan of loosely related openings and contradictions, and too many people “skim” by just reading that first paragraph. The result? A comment that addresses the opposite of what I was trying to say. Reading the first and last sentence of every paragraph is not only quicker, but it gives you a better idea of what the blogger is actually saying. Try to read the whole post whenever you can, though. You’re not Superman, so you won’t always have the time, but it’s the best way to avoid awkward misunderstandings.

With these tips, you should be golden. Damn the man if you’re not.

UNTIL NOW. Feast your eyes on this little number. It oozes manliness.

I was very tempted to keep the headers bright blue (I was working off the stylesheet of my CMYK^2 theme). The color worked surprisingly well with the brown, and blue can be a manly color, but I restrained myself. Go me.