Now is http://www.jaszdesigns.net

Btw, this logo rocks! Thumbs up for that =)

If others say the logo is unoriginal, well, maybe they know. But honestly, it looks original enough to me.

Now THAT is a sweet font in my opinion! Not sure it would work with your website though, but nevertheless. The logo came out really nice in my opinion, as did the design.

Mike’s logo is great and I notice it every time I visit. I know I’m supposed to develop a sort of blindness too it, but it hasn’t happened yet. I find myself looking at the logo a lot and trying to understand what it is that draws me to it. I think it’s the simplicity.

I also like the contrast between the fonts for Pro and Blogger as well the color. The thin/thick contrast works well for me. And the P atom out front gives it an extra emphasis.

Mike’s post is a good one as was Ben’s. Anyone with an interest in design should read both to get a better understanding of the thought process that goes into any design work.

I think that your redesign was a good thing for you site. It looks different, it looks fresh. I find myself coming to the site more instead of just reading it in RSS. And your stats show that I’m not the only one.

Having said that, I find that your logo has a problem.
I won’t accuse the designer of plagiarism, but when I first saw it, I immediately recognized the old DAZ3d logo. The colors are the same, the font is the same, even the circle thing is the same.

Well… not quite. It’s all not exactly the same, but the similarity was enough to confuse the brands.

Today in my RSS reader I’ve seen the Ubuntu logo. Again, the same idea of circle with atoms. And again, I’ve connected it with ProBlogger in my mind.

Now, with the logo design process is explained, I think I know what the problem is. You, together with the designer have followed the usual chain of associations for the site like yours. The community, the circle, the “atoms”. It’s been done before and I’m sure it’s been done a lot.

It’s unlikely that you will get into any plagiarism problems, but it sure doesn’t help your branding. Your logo is plain ordinary.

I hope you wouldn’t get offended for this comment. I’ve really liked the unique look of the previous ProBlogger design. I’m a little bit sad it becomes less unique. It is actually my very first comment in any blog. I guess I have strong feelings for the new design. Which is also good, isn’t it? :)

On a side note: it would be interesting to see, if your and John Chow’s redesigns will start a chain of “redesign wars”.
Many new bloggers are going to think that they must follow suite. They will start changing designs instead of developing their blogs with content and networking. Soon we might have a blogosphere full of ProBlogger design rip offs.

You may want to write a post on when and how often a blogger should redesign. And that redesigns are not for everyone.

Anyways, thanks for the great site, congratulations on your redesign and good luck to you, Darren.

Ilya Stremovsky.

The design took some getting used to, but I now like it as well. It’s much cleaner and less cluttered than the old one.

On the downside, it’s not as bright as the old one. I like bright orange colors. I also don’t like not having your picture on the single post pages until you get all the way to the bottom, as I rarely get all the way to the bottom.

All in all, logo gets an A, re-design a B+. Way to partner with great designers Darren!

The one thing I just cant get off of my mind, as I did comment when you first displayed it, is the fact that you decided to remove the slogan “Helping bloggers earn money”. I thought it was a great idea to have a short descriptive slogan next to the logo, clearly visible as soon as you enter the site. It helps new visitors see what your site is about with only 4 words.

Glen – the actual redesign was paid for by b5 (although I guess that means partly by me as an owner of b5) and the logo was paid for by me. I paid for the job board redesign/re architecture.

thanks everyone for the feedback – keep it coming.

It doesn’t look too unique if you ask me…