Voilà … Looka!’s spiff new look!

October 16, 2009 Chuck announcements, webloggy stuff 12 Comments

Finally, this place is gonna start looking a bit more like it used to!

As of today, we’ve got the basic look of the blog down.  The theme is based on the free Vesper theme by Valen Designs, which had the kind of layout we were looking for, if not so much the exact look.  (I wasn’t really down wit’ da urnge.)

The custom Looka! theme was designed by my friend Marleigh Riggins Miller of SLOSHED! fame.  Not only is she a terrific cocktails and spirits writer and drink-maker, she’s a very talented graphic designer — the kind of stuff she does for a living — and she did a really lovely job.  It’s still a work-in-progress, and over the next few days or week or two we’ll roll out other features, including navigation along the header with links to full archives, an about page, a list of cocktail recipes (i.e., the old “Cocktail of the Day” feature, which I will gradually import into WordPress going as far back as I can), a page of links (instead of that really long frakkin’ sidebar) and maybe some more.  We’ll see!

I also want to thank my friend Jay Hepburn of Oh Gosh! (the UK’s premier cocktail and spirits weblog, in my humble opinion) for his preliminary work in helping get this place ported to WordPress.  He’s meeting Wesly and me at the Connaught Bar in London next Thursday, and I think there’ll be a drink or three there with his name on ’em.

Onward and upstairs!

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12 Responses to “Voilà … Looka!’s spiff new look!”

  1. Brian said:

    Oct 17, 09 at 5:57 pm

    Looks good, Chuck. I was wondering if I was going to miss the “hand-craftedness” of the old Looka!, but this new version is coming along nicely!

    Have fun in Europe; looking forward to the forthcoming food porn.

  2. Chuck said:

    Oct 17, 09 at 8:34 pm

    Thanks Brian! It’s all Marleigh’s doing. 🙂 This is the basic look, although there’s still a lot left to do — additional pages (like an about, etc.) to go along the bottom of the header, and we’ll try to slide the Google ads in here so that they’re at least as unobtrusive as before. The list of cocktails should be really cool, though, to name but one. Stay tuned!

  3. Ken Moorhead said:

    Oct 17, 09 at 8:44 pm

    Liking the layout. Also a fan of Oh Gosh!

    Glad to see I’m not the only person saying “have a drink or three.” Two is just a bad, improper number.

  4. Chuck said:

    Oct 17, 09 at 8:50 pm

    I’m with you. Odd numbers are the way to go. There’s an old bartender superstition too — you never garnish a cocktail with an even number of garnishes. It’s either one cherry in a Manhattan, or three on a pick. Same thing with olives in a Martini.

    Speaking of Martini olives … make sure your olives are ALWAYS chilled before using them as a garnish! Plonking warm olives into a Martini will warm it up in seconds, and that’s just nasty.

  5. Stevi Deter said:

    Oct 17, 09 at 10:38 pm

    Oh, great, NOW you tell me that even numbers are bad luck!

  6. Wendy said:

    Oct 18, 09 at 9:51 am

    Looks great Chuck! hope you have been saving your pounds to buy those cocktails! SPENDY over there across the pond!!

    And the odd numbers thing is also a Japanese thing- you can’t even buy packaged things in even numbers! cocktail picks, appetizer plates, even packaged miso soup all come in odd numbers!

  7. Chuck said:

    Oct 18, 09 at 10:29 am

    Uh oh. Is Stevi doomed now?

  8. Jay Hepburn said:

    Oct 18, 09 at 12:23 pm

    Welcome to the 21st century Chuck! 😉

    New layout looks great. Look forward to seeing you and Wes in a few days.

  9. Chuck said:

    Oct 18, 09 at 5:20 pm

    I’m ready for my jet pack now.

  10. Tony Harion said:

    Oct 19, 09 at 9:11 pm

    Looking good Chuck! I bet your live will be much easier (once it´s all set)!
    It´s Just crazy all the option wordpress can provide. Nice job Marleigh!

  11. Tiare said:

    Oct 21, 09 at 4:36 pm

    I second that, the site looks really good.

    Odd numbers are also used in florist works but more for the esthetics of it. I myself don´t care for odd or not odd numbers i use what i like.(i hope i`m not doomed now..)

    So sorry i`m not able to make it to London but oh well..sometimes life is up and sometimes down, have fun guys!

    T

  12. Svetainiu Kurimas said:

    Oct 22, 09 at 7:15 am

    Looks Like Looka!’s Lookin’ good:). Seriuosly – well done. Keep up the good work.