Bully the bear's report card

I'd recently sent my blog - Bully the bear - up for reviews by another blogger who had an eye for designs. I wanted to see what are the things that I have done right and not so right and the areas for improvement. You can click on it - it's found at the bottom right hand corner of this blog. The badge is so big, you can't miss it.

Here's the reviews:

BULLy the BEAR

BULLy the BEAR is “la papillion’s” blog. In it, he shares his experiences and knowledge about the stock market. He is happy to tell all – from his humble beginnings as a newbie to his successful endeavors today.

Visual Aesthetics – 7

BULLy the BEAR makes use of a dark theme – white text on black background. It has a lot of potential in terms of visual stimulation . However, I think that the colors and other visual elements do not exactly blend well for now. For one, the header could be customized for more impact. The blog posts can also be “prettified” a bit more to provide a more pleasant viewing experience. The more recent posts are better in this regard – it’s the older posts that can use some sprucing up. In addition to this, the chat box and other images at the top of the page could be repositioned.

User Friendliness – 9

With regard to browsing, BULLy the BEAR is perfect. All of the necessary links can be found either in the right column or the top of the page. There are no issues with load times.

I suggest larger (or bolder) fonts for easier reading. The small thin font is not really easy on the eyes.

Reading Enjoyment – 10

I am not into finances and the stock market. I am pretty sure, though, that those who are into these topics will find the posts of BULLy the BEAR quite enjoyable to read. One thing that struck me is that the blogger injects his personal experiences and thoughts in a very open manner – a definite plus for the reading experience!

Useful Info – 10

There is definitely a LOT of useful information to be found in BULLy the BEAR. There is even a page dedicated to newbies who might be asking the most basic of questions. Practical information that can be understood with little effort – that’s what this blog has to offer.

Overall Experience - 8

I’d like to think of BULLy the BEAR as money matters presented in a personal way. It looks and feels more authentic than other stock market how-tos out there. If you’re looking for this kind of blog, then BULLy the BEAR comes highly recommended.


Not bad for a report card, eh? Too bad, I didn't get the 10/10 marks for all the categories to qualify for a gold award, thus I've no badge to display :) Still, I concur with AK71 that the bloggyaward site is doing the whole blogosphere a good service by encouraging people to step up on their aesthetics for blogs :)

I don't think I'll change my blog template any time soon. Firstly, there's a lack of time on my part. Secondly, I'm very happy with this current theme. I'm sorry for all those people who had have trouble reading the fonts (some had mentioned the dark background and the words do not have enough contrast). But my eyes are owl-like and cannot stand the white background and black words because it's simply too straining for me to read and blog.

I do want to take the advice to prettify my header too. Let's see if I can do something nice about it :)