Out with the old, in with the owl
Were you expecting something else? Perhaps something dirty, grungy, and a little more meaganfisher.com-centric? Well as you can see, that’s not happening here. I realized recently that the internet needs to be a little more Owltastic, and dammit if I don’t do it who will?
There’s lots of reasons why I wanted to redesign the old site. For one, nobody knows how the heck you spell Meagan - is it Meghan? Megan? Meaghan? And my last name is tricky too! People like to throw in the odd “c” here and there, thanks to those freakin’ Fischers trying to get fancy. Additionally, my style has changed so much since I did the design for MeaganFisher.com that I could barely stand to look at it anymore - hence the abandoned, creepy, Children of Men air that has hung around it for the past couple months.
It’s not that it was bad; well, actually, yes. It was. It was hard to read, the markup was written in a hurry and not my best work, and the navigation got lost amongst all the elements I tried to squeeze in. I needed something simpler, cleaner, brighter, friendlier. Basically, something a little more Owltastic™.
This new design is still very much a work in progress, and will probably be tweaked quite a bit over the next couple weeks. If this were a site for a client I probably would hold off on launching it after a 10-cups-of-coffee-fueled-all-nighter, but for some reason I’m just buzzing with excitement at the moment and couldn’t wait. If you’re using Safari or Firefox and you come across any layout wonkiness, broken links, etc. please be a doll and drop me a line. If you’re using that other browser, please upgrade, or just know that I’m working on supporting you and will do it as soon as I can.
So there you have it! Welcome to Owltastic, expect to see some new content on the way soon, and please do feel free to post feedback in the comments. Don’t worry about ruffling my feathers, I can take it.
Woot! Or should I say, Hoot! This is a great redesign.
I especially like the small caps / lowercase-italic headings. Also the Owltastic in the Tubes section on your About page is great. It’s the small things that make me happy.
What’s the typeface in the heading (i.e. “Owltastic”)?
I am loving this redesign. The blue/brown/white color scheme always seems so clean to me, and this is no exception. Lovely!
Beautiful redesign. Definitely a totally different feel from your previous design, but brilliantly put together, and I’m loving the small details.
Not about the design, but my wife was a Fisher in a former life. She was offended when I accidentally spelled it with that pesky ‘c’ so I can understand that bit of the backstory.
AND…the site looks really fantastic.
Really beautiful design Meagan - you’ve managed to combine an air of modernity and nostalgia without sliding off into the realms of cliché. The mark of a great designer! Congratulations.
While I’m here, if you’re into owls, check out this awesomeness:
http://www.tawnycam.net/
Tawnytastic!
Wow, I love the new design! Just found it on CSSBeauty and had to leave a comment…
Congrats on a job well done =)
Aww, love it! Awesome colors, use of caps in headings, the owl and everything else, actually. Hell of a good design work, Meagan!
Very nice redesign, congrats. I like the clean navigation and colour selection.
Also, good job on your Mobile talk at FOWD. Lots of useful info I plan to (hopefully) use at work one day.
Cheers
Dennis
The new site has a very open and friendly appeal that seems to be more in line with your brand. Nice work Meagan!
I’m a guy, but I have to admit, that owl is cute! Props on the beautiful new site! (I loved your previous design too)
I really like the cute owl design. Nice colors too.
Absolutely beautiful design, and nice self-reinvention.
i really love your redesign! i own a children’s store, and swear it is slowly becoming solely dedicated to owls, so this may have something to do with my love for your website. my husband and i are big fans of dan’s work, and although we are not web designers, we have completely built ours from scratch. you guys are inspirations.
Lookin’ snazzy! I am in favor of increasing the number of owl-related websites, especially with illustrations as cute as yours.
The site looks amazing…
My browser is having some display issues with it; I’m using Safari 4 Beta on Mac OS X Leopard:
http://www.grabup.com/uploads/f9a9da3896e9c6364cadc6d822d9eb01.png
Thanks for all the great feedback, everyone! So glad you guys like it.
@Jason Robb - the font is Zebrawood Fill.
@Phillip Ridlen - it looks like you have your font-size decreased, which is what’s causing those layout issues. Good catch though, that’s something to work on!
I love the easter egg
The site looks great, you captured perfectly that particular style; I’m not sure what it’s called honestly, I still haven’t found a name for it, but I dig it.
Lovely redesign, it has a lot of character while also being clean and simple. It has a lot of nice subtle details that you stuck in.
Well done, well done indeed!
I visit your page sometimes for inspiration, and I was pleasantly suprised by this fantastic re-design. Super! Have a swell day. ~Lauren
OK, yeah, that fixed it.
I wonder how many sites I’ve thought were broken, but it was all my fault to begin with :/
Beautiful! Lovely color profile and the owls are awesome
What a lovely website! I love the texture. Color scheme is amazing too, I’m jealous at your talent.
This is a beautiful site, indeed! I was perusing the Creattica ‘Best of’ list and had to check out the owl that popped up on the screen. I am a newbie blogger and am always on alert for inspiration. I look forward to visiting Owltastic regularly - well done!
Very lovely indeed, love the parallax scroll too.
For the record, are the work/about pages etc. just static?
Aha! I only JUST discovered the owl eyes following the mouse (not unnatural in nature!) even though I’ve been visiting your site for a few months now (since I saw you speak at FOWD London)…
Nice surprise were the eyes! Cute touch.
Also downloaded your & wallpaper, so thanks belatedly for that too