Blog Post #1: Establishing a Mood

The color scheme and design that I specifically chose for my blog revolved around my goal of creating a calm, masculine, and non-aggressive mood for the viewers which, surprisingly enough, is the type of life I strive to exemplify. The somewhat faded, old-school blue-green color is a peaceful and relaxing decision, much less aggressive and bright than a red or yellow. I wanted to create a place where writers can focus on deeper thought. According to an article on about.com, blues have an ability to "lower the pulse  rate" and greens possess the effect of "relieving stress," both of which blend harmoniously together to achieve my target mood. The minimal contrast in color throughout the page allows the reader's eyes to be focused on one thing at a time, as pages with greater variation in color can sometimes subliminally cause a reader to become distracted. The black font of the blog text is also easily read.

The main font that I picked was "Crimson text," mainly because I wanted something traditional yet formal to sustain my credibility throughout my posts. With no specific mood that comes to mind with this typography, this font is not blaring or eye-popping, but subtle and passive--corresponding perfectly with the relaxed mood of the general blog. The scattered "Arial" font that encompasses the date and headings provides contrast and gives the page a more modern side effect to offset the traditional text that makes up most of my posts. I also want my audience to be able to comfortably browse through my page. According to an article by Carrie Cousins on tympanus.net, font choices such as "Arial" takes "the emphasis off the text so that it is easy to read."  The size 14 font of my blog posts is both comfortable to the eye and reasonable to fit an adequate amount of content onto the blog page.

As I preview the page for the twenty-ninth time, I take in a deep breath. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out...It is calmer already. Perfect.

Sources: http://psychology.about.com/od/sensationandperception/a/color_green.htm
http://psychology.about.com/od/sensationandperception/a/color_blue.htm
http://tympanus.net/codrops/2012/02/19/establish-a-mood-with-typography/