I have said previously that I am in no way to be confused with Mr Photoshop. I have the graphic-design abilities of a sleepy 2 year old. Here, then, are some tools that can help you to create unique graphics, and add those graphics to your blog even if you're artistically challenged.
Button Makers:
You may have noticed that there are two-tone buttons on every website in the entire world at this point, or so it appears. It's a good way to get a distinctive, uniform sized logo that other sites can use when they link back to you. For the largest collection of these I have yet encountered see Steal These Buttons, a repository for button-kind.
There are a number of sites that offer automatic button generation. They allow you to pick the color of each field, the color of the border, and the text to be displayed in each section.
Brilliant Button Maker (allows the inclusion of images in your button)
Yugatech.com (has a preview feature for looking up color hex codes)
When you've generated your button, you'll need to save it and upload it to the web, then link to it from your blogger account to show it on your template. If you're lucky enough to have your own server, you can of course store the image there.
Logo / Banner Makers:
Want more than the skinny button? Need an image that has real impact to introduce your blog? Check out these logo / banner makers. Limited design skills required, and quality output possible.
- Coolarchive logo generator (plenty of fonts, and the ability to preview & the go back to make changes)
- GRSites.com logo maker
- Logogle (make a google-style logo for your site. Probably not smart, copyright wise.)
- Iridescent Logo Maker
Favicon:
This is as close to hackery as this particular post is going to get. There's a bit of code for the head of your blog, but first you'll need an image. Check out these sites:
Favicon from Pics (transforms an image into an icon)
Favicon.co.uk (build an icon pixel-by-pixel, using their inline image builder)
Once you have an image, saved and uploaded to a webspace of your choice, the code for the head of your template is as follows:
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="http://example.com/favicon.ico" />
<link rel="icon" href="http://example.com/favicon.ico" />
Replace "example.com" with the URL of your webspace, & paste the code between the head tags of your blog. The favicon will appear in the address bar of the majority of browsers, and in the bookmark lists of people who bookmark your site. You'll be branded!!
I recommend picking a color scheme / font style &c, and then using these tools to develop a "house-style" for your blog. Try the tools out, & let me know how they work for you.
See other posts in Blogger Hacks: The Series