Bloggers Face-Off: Brian Gardner vs. Cory Miller

by Daniel Scocco

Daily Blog Tips was recently redesigned therefore I decided to match two bloggers that work as web designers. We all know that the design of a website is a key success factor. This edition of the Bloggers Face-Off should be interesting both to aspiring web designers and to bloggers aiming to improve the look of their blogs.

Brian Gardner is the man behind my current theme, and he also has an awesome collection of free Wordpress themes around the Internet. Cory Miller is another great Wordpress designer, you can find most of his work on the RockingThemes blog.

	Brian Gardner	Cory Miller
1. How long have you been blogging?	I started blogging about 8,760 hours ago	Since July 2006
2. How many hours do you dedicate to your blog daily?	At least one, whether it be writing, or redesigning	In the early days, 1-2 hours a day or more. Now, about 20 minutes
3. How important is the design of a website? (0 to 10)	5 – Sites like MySpace drag that number down	8 – As they say, “Content is king” but I believe it must be gift wrapped in a nice package
4. Is the blog your main marketing tool?	Yes, especially my porfolio section	Not really. My free WordPress themes are the best marketing tool I have as a designer
5. How long do you take to design a Wordpress theme?	In some cases, when I’m on a roll, 2 hours. Others usually take 4-6	I plan on 4 hours minimum
6. Do you think Adsense units make a blog look unprofessional?	If they are placed in the right spots, and with the right colors, no	No. Properly designed, I think they can look professional
7. What is the most common mistake on blog designs?	A lack of SEO and proper validation	Designs not based on your core strategy and objectives
8. Fluid width themes are a good idea?	Never designed one, never will	For some, but I prefer fixed
9. How much will I need to spend for a custom theme?	Depends on who does it. Mine usually run between $300-$500	Minimum $200. But realistically, for something rockin’ … at least $500
10. A theme should have one, two or three columns?	All of the above. Depends on the site’s intent	Totally depends on your strategy, subject, goals, preference and blog personality
11. If you could read only one blog, which one would you pick?	Whoorl	Impossible to pick just one
12. What is the secret of your success, expressed in one word?	Perseverance	Grace, which means “I ain’t that smart”

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18 Responses to “Bloggers Face-Off: Brian Gardner vs. Cory Miller”

Armen on April 10th, 2007 6:47 pm

Man…that’s a tough one! Both of these guys have helped me in some way of another.

It was nice of you to give these guys more exposure Daniel.
Brian Gardner on April 10th, 2007 7:01 pm

Hey Armen. Vote for us both – then you won’t feel guilty, but can say you voted!
Randa Clay on April 10th, 2007 7:11 pm

Impossible to choose. Both guys are great at what they do. Brian looks as though he could use some cheering up though – so serious and full of angst!
Brian Gardner on April 10th, 2007 7:28 pm

Randa, it’s my Theron Parlin impression. No offense meant, I dig Theron and he knows it.
Daniel on April 11th, 2007 2:29 am

Yeah that face from Gardner is very serious ! Although I can not say much, go to the about page and you will see my expression there is quite similar…
George on April 11th, 2007 1:10 pm

Those design prices are very fair, considering I have seen them range from about 200 dollar to 1500. With most designers charging over 500 for a custom theme.

Apparently, I wasn’t looking in the right places.
Andrew Darlow on April 11th, 2007 4:35 pm

Hi Brian and Cory:

Great info. I was wondering if the table above was created with a special plug-in. It is great. Thanks for any info.

All the best,

Andrew Darlow
Editor
http://www.imagingbuffet.com
Daniel on April 12th, 2007 2:13 am

Andrew, the table was created with HTML.

Actually I am trying to that over CSS cause HTML tables are not optimal at all.
Andrew Darlow on April 12th, 2007 5:52 am

Thanks Daniel:

I was impressed by this plug-in (supports .csv export), but the cells didn’t seem capable of being hotlinked:

Someone asked the developer and he seemed to indicate that cells could be hotlinked. I guess I should post over there, but you would probably know just by looking at it.

I can see so many great uses for this.

All the best and thanks,

Andrew Darlow
Editor
http://www.imagingbuffet.com
Andrew Darlow on April 12th, 2007 5:53 am

Sorry, the last post did not have the link to the plug-in:

http://alexrabe.boelinger.com/?page_id=3

All the best,

Andrew
Kim Calakoutis on April 5th, 2008 5:43 am

Brian, Whoorl is your favorite site, that is really funny! I need to send that link to my dad too!
Jim Edward on January 22nd, 2009 8:21 pm

I think I would vote for Cory Miller. Brian Gardner looks mad. Probably because his revolutiontwo.com website is down again. I’m mad too because I just paid $150 + dollars for non-existent Wordpress support.
I will give him the benefit of the doubt since he offered his Wordpress themes for FREE and his traffic spiked. I suppose his server has crashed??? Hope your server company backed-up your db.
Bang Kritikus on January 28th, 2009 9:22 am

The useful face-off
Arun Basil Lal on April 16th, 2009 12:40 pm

Oh man! Brian looks hot, I have never seen him this hot, usually he is a cool guy in pics!
Ken Ivey - Murfreesboro Web Design Czar on December 14th, 2009 3:22 pm

Yes – I’ll vote for BOTH, as Brian and Cory each have some very powerful and good-looking work out there. I’ve bought from both and have been very satisfied. They make me look good!