I must appologise for the delay, and without any further ado introduce you all to Diligent Design.

The first thing that strikes me is that the blog is very neat. The blue theme is professional looking, but I must say it’s wonderful to see colourful thumbnails next to the most recent posts. They lift the page and catch the eye, which is something most blogs need in this era of tiny attentionspans.

The content is presented on the homepage as short paragraphs with a “Continue Reading” link. Certain web users with hang-ups about page load times would complain that they have to click another link before reading the article and that full posts should be visible on the homepage, but I have no complaints in this case. The summaries work well and keep the page tidy.

The information is easy to understand and covers a good range of topics about general blogging and networking without a heavy focus on making money, or being more eficient. This makes it a light hearted but useful read and doesn’t put you under any pressure to optimise your blog or lower your bounce rate.

The monkey I don’t quite understand. (I assume it’s a monkey, it may be a particularly ugly child.) As a logo it could be well utilised as a trademark for the blog. It could be used as an entrecard card, a forum avatar or even as a favicon, but I only see it twice on the page. There’s some potential there.

Overall, a 6 out of 10.

Get your smiling muscles ready for this next blog review, because it’s Time For A Smile!

I think this blog probably has the most unique concept I’ve seen so far. It’s essecntially a collection of photographs of people smiling. In a world where there’s nothing cheerful on the news anymore, this blog is a welcome relief.

There’s not much else to say about the content, other than to have a look for yourself. I’d have to say the RIb tickling smiles are my favourite.

The layout looks custom, and is well balanced all the way down the page. Having two RSS icons are a littel confusing, until you realise that one is actually for email subscriptions. The only think that really bothers me is that it might not be designed for viewing in my browser, because the header looks like this:

The RSS feed is covering up the catch phrase!

Overall a highly enjoyable site. earning it a 9 out of 10.

Here we are at yet another free blog review and it must be said; this one is very pink.

It is, of course, Domestik Goddess, a lady’s blog about all those sorts of things that ladies are interested in; homemaking, clothes, craft, pets, kids etc. Not a power tool in sight!

I feel quite out of place reading a blog such as this. There’s lots of sewing and craft, and I can’t remember the last time I tried to do anything of that sort. Don’t get me wrong, they’re very informative, but they’re going to appeal to those people out there interested in doing creative and practical things around the home.

Mind you, I was entranced by this post: Bacon Bits Collection. Fascinating, especially as I’m writing this just before lunch.

The layout isn’t as pink as I originally implied. The page is bright, clear and easy to read. Even the placement of ads doesn’t detract from the overall appearance, and the regular use of images makes it an appealing blog to read.

Is there anything I would change about this blog? I’d maybe consider havign one less post on the front page so that the length of posts match up with the sidebars a bit more. I know standard advice is to have at least 3 posts on a blog, but the recent posts widget in teh top left would probably compensate.

Overall a 6.5 out of 10.

What a nice concept for a blog: looking at life.

Blogging on life philosophies is often very difficult to do without diverging into religion and either starting debates and alienating readers. However, Lucy’s Planet Happinessmanages to write freely and welcomingly without forcing any personal beliefs onto the reader. How very refreshing!

The content of this blog has a distincltly ‘meditating’ feel to it, and the content is quite thought provoking. A personal favourite post of mine is about Conditioning. The posts do not appear to generate many comments, but I think this is because readers leave with a head full of thoughts that they just can’t turn into a coherent sentence.

They layout is simple and elegant, and the lack of colour is largely made up for by the colourful thumbnails at the start of each post. Her most recent posts have adsense instead, which I think is a shame. Perhaps a little tweaking is in order to find a way to put an image next to the adsense block instead of replacing it? It looks like there’s space there, so it’s worth a try. Also, at the moment each image is a thumbnail that can be clicked to view just the picture by itself. That’s not necessary, and is occasionally distracting, so needs to be looked at and fixed. I make that mistake myself from time to time.

 Overall I would give this blog an 8 out of 10. It’s very enjoyable, each to read and only requires a tiny bit of tweaking.

 A Singaporean in London. The title of this blog piqued my interest even before the page had loaded. I looked forward to a selection of posts comparing cultures, or perhaps just poking fun at England, but unfortunately the author seems to be on a bit of a break, and has only posted funny things for the last two weeks. Not that there’s anything wrong with taking a break from a blog when life gets busy, but I do hope that the author returns to more regular posts about life on the other side of the world.

I like the header on this blog, though it does have a distinctly ‘home-made feel’. I could be critical and point out that the dark writing is less lcear closer to he buildings, and perhaps yellow text with a black outline or shadow would be better, but at least the header is personalised and unique. I also feel that the header does not match the colour scheme of the rest of the blog, and perhaps some tweaking is in order.

 I also wonder if there might be a way to more clearly define the three columns of this template. As they are the columns seem to merge together, and I prefer viewing pages which are more clear-cut.

The pictures in each post are a nice, much needed touch because they lift the page and draw the reader’s eye. It would be hard to blog about living in London if you didn’t have any photos to prove your point. There are some interesting reads here if you have time to browse.

And although I have it on good authority that Vegemite is infinitely superior to marmite, it seems quite a few blokes out there still enjoy it.

I like this blog, but personally feel that the layout could do with a bit of a lift, and it will pick up some more with new on-topic posts. I will give it a 6/10.

(I should also mention that the blog directory buttons are nicely arranged in the footer of this blog, and I have visited a few to add myself to them. Thanks mate!)