hey Aaron,
Here is my feedback for your layout: You mentioned that the Blog logo seemed very dated to you, and I have to agree. I also think the overall appearance of the site is very dated. It reminds of Windows 98 almost. Especially when you have those web 2.0 icons on the left. I would definitely start by changing your color palette. I would try and choose a more modern color scheme (bolder brighter maybe? ) even shifting the hues of the red and blue would help. Next I would change those bullets. The circular bullets seem kind of powerpoint to me (again.. windows) even having them be a separate color would be better. I would also get rid of the space on the top and the bottom of the navigation. I don't really see a need for it. I also don't think you need those drop down arrows in the navigation either. they can be scroll over drop downs instead. Look at some competitor sites and see how they're layouts look. Then update and post this again.
good luck! : )
Just trying to clear this from my system
Hi, Aaron
I think that your navigation background color don,t match hare, also if you give some little bit space at the "blogreaction.com" section & grow line-height of this section it would be batter.
The logo is good. Layout is good. What I dont like is the social network icons on left hand side in column structure.(my personal opinion)
In "What is Blog Reaction" box consider changing the color of the text, maybe dark green and put a button for Signup now, instead of plain link in blue.
The top navigation bar lloks good. But above it, the red button doesn't go well.
Hope this helps you.
Good idea you got going. However this kind of reminds me of web design several years back. I would suggest:
All the best, I hope this helps!