The Web Blend’s Louis Gubitosi Interview
I recently met up with Louis as a result of buying an ad on his site, The Web Blend. As we got to talking, I decided he’d be a great candidate for an interview. It’s been awhile since our last interview, but those of you who have been reading long enough know that we have done some great interviews in the past that put a magnifying glass on some of the most prominent figures in the design industry including Erik Miller of TBWA\Chiat\Day, Michael Lopez from Google, W3C’s Shawn Henry, Todd Garland from BuySellAds, Mike McDerment from Freshbooks and the list goes on. In this interview, Louis sheds light on the creation of The Web Blend, talks about what makes a post popular and shares his thoughts on video blogging among other interesting topics.
For those who may not know, tell us about The Web Blend, why you started it and how quickly it has grown.
The Web Blend is a community for designers, developers, artists, photographers and tech junkies and it keeps everyone current with a summary of the latest in design related news and trends. The idea all started when I was on twitter and a link took me to a site called Design Newz. I was immediately influenced by the amount of data it contained and how efficient the site was for finding that data.
The first version of The Web Blend was built similarly to Design Newz and was also powered by WordPress. I never really used DesignFloat or DZone simply because their design never grabbed my attention, but when John Campbell’s DesignBump redesign came out (designed by Chris Spooner) I knew I had to go in a new direction. This is how I was first introduced to Drupal.
I owe a lot to John from DesignBump for answering the millions of questions I had about the Drigg module. Without his patience, I’d probably still be learning and building the site! He was also one of the first to add the vote button to his site. It’s amazing that you would think he would be my “competition” but it’s the exact opposite. I’m still looking for my chance to offer him some tips to help his site grow.
I think The Web Blend has grown quickly ever since popular websites like designbump.com, naldzgraphics.net, fuelyourcreativity.com, imjustcreative.com and inspiredm.com have been placing the vote button on their blogs.
What differentiates The Web Blend from other “social voting” design news sites in the design arena such as DesignBump or DZone as well as the other “hand-picked” design news sites we mentioned here?
Well, even though we all pretty much have the same purpose, I think my site is different from the rest for a couple of reasons. I offer a detailed navigation with a bunch of categories and sub categories. I try not to have too much go on the page that would distract the reader, and lastly, if a user submits a link to The Web Blend, they will have 16 other social networks at their fingertips to continue submitting and voting all in one location.
What categories seem to be the most popular on your site in terms of getting the most submissions and why do you think that’s the case?
That’s a good question. If you go to the front page of the site or archived pages, you will see that a single category doesn’t stick out over the rest. I guess there’s a pretty good “blend” of ideas and links happening here.
In your opinion, what are the characteristics of the most successful design blog articles that get submitted to your site?
Well hands down, what helps the most is having the vote button somewhere on your blog…. These are by far the most popular articles. Other then that, the blogs with the best content and best layout usually are voted on very often. In other words, if it keeps the reader interested, then it’s a success and readers want to “vote these up” to publish and share them with the rest of the community.
For example, I’m a big fan of Jad Limcaco and his site DesignInformer.com. He has a great habit of finding different and creative ways of laying out his blog content.
What are a few of your favorite design blogs to read and what specifically do you like about them?
Besides checking out The Web Blend (because it covers a lot of what I’m looking for already) then I’d have to say I learn a lot from these guys: sixrevisions.com, css-tricks.com, blog.spoongraphics.co.uk, pvmgarage.com, myinkblog.com, designer-daily.com, aext.net, 1stwebdesigner.com, littleboxofideas.com, and webexpedition18.com… to name a few, sorry if I missed anyone 
Are there any topics design blogs have covered to death that you think people just aren’t interested in reading about anymore?
Well, I think there are some blog posts out there that have been done before, but the noticeable ones to me are when I come across an interview and every question seems like a repeat. I like when I read something that offers new info with some originality behind it.
What do you think about video blogs? Do you think they will start to become more popular and eventually replace text-based blogs in the design community?
I’m a fan of video blogs, but I don’t think they will replace text blogs and I say that because I don’t think video blogs are as convenient as text blogs. If you want to watch a video in public, you have to be conscious of the volume (wear headphone). If the video is flash based, you won’t be able to watch it on a phone (caugh, caugh… iPhone…) Ok, I really only have two reasons why, but I do think they will become more popular over time.
Do you like roundup and list posts and why do you think they are so popular given that many recycle the same old graphics and information?
I like certain list posts, but like you said, I don’t like seeing repeats and old graphics. It’s nice to see a collection of images/ideas that all share similar qualities. It gives the reader a nice way to collect and process the information. I usually use lists for sources of inspiration. For example, I had to design a purple website last week so I searched it on The Web Blend, and sure enough I found something.
What are your future plans for The Web Blend’s blog? It’s already off to a nice start with a Chris Spooner interview. Is there more to come?
Yes, much more to come. I’m looking to expand the blog a lot more by having several more interviews with other familiar designers such as David Leggett, Sneh Roy, Jacob Gube, Adelle Charles and Jon Phillips.
I’m also looking to develop a “compact” external vote button. I see so many blogs that are missing out on adding our button because they prefer to use the small horizontal version instead. I think that will raise the traffic dramatically when it’s completed. Other then that, I’m just going to have to ride the wave and see what other ideas come to mind. We do have a forum where users can comment and suggest ideas.
As your parting shot, what’s your best advice for designers who are feeling a little entrepreneurial who may want to start a design related site to make money?
I think you have nothing to lose! A blog is the best way to attract visitors from all over, and everyone has something to share. I think it’s also a great way for you to interact with the design community and be exposed to a lot more. In my opinion, the money comes later and shouldn’t be your initial game plan. Start off with an idea, and over time if it’s a success, then contact BuySellAds!
Last but not least, keep up the great work Chris! I’m a big fan of your website and outlook on design. I think you have a very creative approach to your writing and your attention to detail and I like what you’re doing. Keep it up and thanks again for this opportunity!
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6 Responses The Web Blend’s Louis Gubitosi Interview
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Louis is a nice and helpful guy, I meet him recently regarding adding TheWebBlend button to my blog, and then I decided to buy an ad on his site as well!
I didn’t know that TheWebBlend was running on WordPress when it fisrt started, and of course I am sure that the move to Drupal has changed completely the future of TheWebBlend and shift it to another level specially with the awesome unique design!
Thank you guys for the nice interview, really good and useful read!
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Interesting read. It’s nice to see how websites were inspired, and the processes used to get it up and running. Thanks for this.
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Video blogginging is an exciting way to share your daily experiences with your family and friends. I have just started video blogging~-;
hey Chris, thank you very much for the interview! I really appreciate the opportunity.