One of my favorite designers (that I only know about due to his blog) is Jon Hicks and he’s just released an amazing Google Reader theme.

The theme cleans up Googles interface so that it makes a better use of the space and polishes it up quite a bit. Jon has re-worked Bloglines in the past and was hoping he’d re-work Google Reader eventually. I tried to create a custom theme for Google Reader once, but gave up a short time later. My CSS skills are good, but Jon’s are amazing.

The Google Reader theme is Mac like (which is one reason why I really like it) and very professional looking. A great makeover!

You can download the files and the install instructions from hicksdesign and have a fancy looking Google Reader in no time.

[tags]google,google-reader,css,hicksdesign[/tags]

The Online Marketing Blog got a face lift today as the new design was made public. I’ve spent quite a few hours on it the past couple of weeks and I’m very pleased with the outcome.

The new design cleans up the look and feel quite a bit. The header area has been condensed a little and the menu has been re-worked stand out a bit more. The design also removes the left column and gives more room for posts. This is a big feature as it gives the ability to post bigger pictures and long posts don’t look quite so long.

Other features include:

• More prominent RSS icon with a drop down menu that includes the feed buttons.
• No tables, all cascading style sheets (CSS).
• A few social bookmark icons followed by a drop down social bookmark menu with many other choices.
• A live, ajax search box.
• Separate pages for archives and resources.
• Fancy quote boxes.
• Overall, design upgrade.

The feedback so far has been quite positive. The trick now is to keep the clean and organized look and feel as the weeks and months go on.