The originality, personality and vision of a blog dictate how it will be received. Creative ideas are heard and remembered, more than the 100th page of a scholarly article on the archaeo-botanical records of a swamp from ancient Anatolia. Chances are if you are not studying BA History at University College London, you will not reach more than page 20. Creativity, thus, is essential in a blog. Your blog should be short, succinct and well-rounded.

Find Examples of Fun, Intriguing and Niche History Blogs here

Here I outline a process through which you can go about making your project unique and special.

 

  1. Develop an objective!

When you have done your research with your project partners, and done a deep dive into how your topic is presented in current media you can decide how you would like for it to be presented. Good blogs present the overall tone, intentions and viewpoint of their author. If you do a project on the Great Fire of London (1666) would your blog’s header be 1) a painting of a fire in a bakery, 2) the map of London’s destruction in the aftermath or 3) a plan for the reconstruction of London’s riverside? Your picture can tell a visitor whether you dedicate your perspective to depictions of the fire in artwork, the immediate aftermath and property destruction related to the fire, or the ways in which elite conceptions of “space” were imposed on this blank slate. This is why knowing what your team wants to achieve is an important milestone.

 

  1. Decide on “organization”

Now that you have a thesis statement, and argument you will decide how that argument can be broken up and presented. This is all very reminiscent of writing a normal Survey Module essay. But things could not be more different. For blogs the header, the footer, the links, the title, the individual posts all contribute to one cohesive whole. A visitor to the front page of the blog should be able to:

    1. See the name of the blog/any subtitles
    2. See the “table of contents” or an icon representing a link to that table
    3. Understand the visual tone of that blog: By visual imagery, I refer to pictures, maps, photographs, material culture or a design representing your Idea, or perhaps the unique way in which your blog plays with the screen and represents ideas.
    4. Be able to easily understand what your content is like.

They should get the “feel” or “tone” you have set for this space you have crafted on the internet.  For example, https://scandalouswoman.blogspot.com/ foregrounds book reviews on “scandalous” women (surprise!) in front of illustrations of women in the quintessential recognizable flapper costume! It neatly organizes the Home, About, Book Clubs etc. pages on the navigation bar above. It is not necessary to open on your home page. In fact, opening on your latest entry, or a creative, welcoming or intriguing written or illustrated post may just be the thing which clicks, and helps your audience skip the queue. Here are some other important tips for making your blogging efforts a tad bit easier in a quick fire round:

  • ALWAYS categorize your work in WordPress under categories if you can (learn how to here). These help categorize and organize your blog!
  • play around with the sidebar so that you can list important stuff right on the page (learn how to here)
  • make efficient use of the Header to make navigation easier for your users (how to here).

 

  1. Aesthetics and why they really do matter!

Now that you have your skeletal structure in place it is time for the truly fun part. Aesthetics! I know I do not need to explain what I mean here. Your blog represents a vision and a space where people can come for either light hearted history facts or a detailed analysis of a new acquisition at the British Museum. It also details when and with what purpose they will visit your blog, and in what mood. Your aesthetic can tell your viewers about the sort of life Rabindranath Tagore lived, without ever spelling it out. Maybe your blog’s aesthetic reciprocates the patterns or texture of the “Clothing” you are focusing on. Aesthetic is made up of the organization bits and the artistic direction and embellishments of your blog. The more purposeful they are the easier it is on your audience.

 

  1. Color Theory, Design and Placement

Making History this year gives lots of chances of developing amazing and unique visions for Colour, Design and Placement. Your colur palette can choose to recreate an experience, an environment, or an emotional position on your objective. Striking and cohesive colour stories are important to the aesthetic and to capture the attention of the audience.

You can make up striking combinations by either using colours which are 1) Complementary (opposite on the wheel) 2) Analogous (adjacent), or 3) Triadic (three colours placed 120 degrees from each other on the wheel).

Similarly with design a famous theory is Gestalt’s Theory. In order to make a design cohesive without cluttering or leaving it too bare, think of the pattern your eyes follow along it. Are shapes similar to each other, follow a continuation (to guide the eye), and establish a figure/ground (background and object). For more on the theory read https://www.creativebloq.com/graphic-design/gestalt-theory-10134960

While most of you may not be tempted by the designer jargon of creating entire pieces of graphic art which utilize these concepts, most of the blogs I have listed below all use colour schemes to evoke certain emotive responses. One take away for your blog and designs is this: consider how a viewer’s eyes travel from one place to another. Do not clutter your pages, or leave the eye wanting more. This can just be done by “gut-instinct” alone!

 

  1. Diversity in content

Make sure to break up the continuity of text with images, infographics or text bubbles highlighting important quotes or ideas. These aid a reader’s imagination and reading experience. Do you want to write a good old-fashioned write up? Look at our guide on WordPress and look at examples of good history blogs. Trust your ability to make a good write up and for most blog posts aim for between 100-500 words. Blog posts which are more detailed and investigative can be longer. However, consult your seminar tutor about word limits or how to structure written posts. Photographs and Graphics? Go to Freepik.com or any other free graphics websites and use free software like Inkspace or Adobe free trial to edit them. Learn how to use inkspace here. Infographics? Canva.com, visme.co, getstencil.com, or crello.com are your best-friends. While the first two are quite well known, Crello lets you create wonderful video content and animations in a hassle-free manner with easy instructions. Videos? Apart from Crello above Adobe Suite has many video editing tools which you can use during a free trial. In fact many inbuilt video editors on your laptops can edit, crop, duplicate and beautify your videos (the Interview we have put up with Third Year Students is actually edited on an inbuilt video editor!)

This advice works for podcasts and other interactive features as well.

 

  1. Parts of a whole

A way to question how your blog is developing is to get feedback! Simply speaking, ask your peers, but more importantly ask your childhood friend who studies Accounting. As historians we tend to look at the complexity, thematic significance and the effort we have put into a project as an indicator of its merit. However, those who consume our blogs will inadvertently be people who want to find a quick fact, or made their way over after a Wikipedia binge. Just like any good story a blog should have posts which aid one another instead of clash with one another! In this you must plan out your posts, and your tone with your teammates and ensure the resources you use are sufficiently different so that your blogs do not repeat the same things. It is also a good idea to have a workspace on OneNote, OneDrive and Google Docs where you collaborate on ideas and paste your work for editing and corrections.

 

  1. Some Examples:

Here are some examples of fun history blogs to look through:

http://this-day-in-history.blogspot.com/

http://victoriantimes.blogspot.com/

http://victorianpeeper.blogspot.com/

https://19thcentury.wordpress.com/

http://scandalouswoman.blogspot.com/

https://www.historyandwomen.com/

http://womenofhistory.blogspot.com/

http://famiss.blogspot.com/

http://questionablehistory.blogspot.com/

https://www.damninteresting.com/

http://bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/

http://historytavern.blogspot.com/

Read About why I particularly enjoyed these blogs here.

In conclusion, try to make the blog a representation of your project, vision and even, a little bit about your self. Your aesthetic, and ability to play with, and capture a viewer’s attention will aid you in creating effective and engaging content. In order to do that remember to keep your blog organized, and your color themes cohesive! You will have to juggle between variety and similarity to create a unique project which reflects your group’s hard work in the end result. Good Luck!