The Secret Garden ▬ A Collection of Layouts

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Description

the secret garden collection layout

designed by aleric and coded by lizryan

about

this project started out as a mini collaboration between aleric and i. but after much discussion, lynn decided to join this project as well. i've came up with the idea that this collection will be monochromic themed and since i've always wanted to try to incorporate layouts with flowers so, we decided to go with this idea. then, both aleric and i struggled to find the perfect name for this project but then came lynn with a suggestion that we should name this as 'the secret garden' and we found suits our theme perfectly.

after a month of designing and coding the layouts for this collection, that has in total of 12 layouts. the secret garden is finally up and ready to be shared to everyone. there will be 3 free layouts and 9 premium layouts that can be purchased by everyone. there will also be pre-packed set layouts to be purchased and mix & match set where you can choose any 2 layouts from this collection and purchase them as a set.

if you would like to purchase our layouts, please do subscribe to our thread. thank you and we hope you will like what we have for you here!

coders

liz / lizryan

hello! i'm liz, the owner of layout paradise and the paradise & heaven network. most of you may know me as a designer through poster paradise. i've been coding since 2012.

lynn / lynnryan

Hey, I'm lynn. I'm the owner of poster paradise and a few more threads under paradise network and heaven network. I co-own layout paradise with liz. I started coding in the year 2012.

alec / aleric

i'm aleric, most people call me alec and i'm the sole owner of the resource/misc. thread 'the boy in seoul'. i've been coding for probably about a year, but i don't own a layout shop. i'm kind of freelancing. heh.

get to know the coders

let's first introduce yourselves, the threads you own and how long you've been coding for on aff.

LIZ

Hello! I'm Liz. I'm from Malaysia. I majored in Culinary Arts and I love baking as much as I love food lol I'm kidding. I'm a really straight forward person but I'm nice at times too! Anyways, most of you would know me as the owner of Layout Paradise or kaisoo heaven and i am also one of the founder of Paradise Network and heaven network. I've been coding since 2012. I don't remember why or how I started to learn coding but it's something I love to do whenever I'm free!

Lynn

Hey there, I'm Lynn. If you guys don't already know, Liz and I are actually twins. I'm a culinary student and I love to bake. I'm an awkward potato but I love making new friends so feel free to talk to me! I don't bite I promise :') I own quite a few threads tbqh. Poster Paradise, Resource Paradise, Baekyeol Heaven and a portfolio. I co-own Paradise Network and Heaven Network with Liz :) I started coding ever since LP opened so it has been 2 years? I've always been interested in coding and AFF kinda drove me to start coding.

alec

What’s up? I’m Aleric, but everyone just calls me Alec. I’m the sole owner of ‘The Boy in Seoul’ which is a resource/misc. thread, and I also have a graphic portfolio thread. I’ve been designing for over 2 years, and coding for a little over a year. But then again, I don’t really keep track so I don’t know haha. I recently just picked up on the coding business so this is pretty new to me. Please take care of me /bows.

q1. if you have to describe your layout design style, how would you describe it?

LIZ

Definitely minimalist! I've tried other styles before but I'm always crawling back to minimal layouts. I guess I like that because It's nothing too complicated, I like to keep it simple but sometimes a lil bit more :)

Lynn

Simplicity perhaps? I don't really have an exact style tbh because I always try to go for something new. I like to challenge myself but sometimes it didn't work out quite well in the end...

alec

I’d say I’m all for simplicity, but I know Liz and Lynn would roll their eyes if I say that haha. I think my layouts have less of that graphical element.

q2. besides each other, which other coder(s) inspire your work?

LIZ

Hmm well I do subscribed to most of the layout threads but I don't really stalk them much. But there are some coders like AkaneX, Jay, Flamzfox, Cas and Jaimee (there are more) that I respect and really love because of their uniqueness on their layout design style.

Lynn

Just like Liz, I subscribed to most of the layout threads on AFF. But being the lazy me I view the threads for only a very few times OTL Although, I must say I look up to some other coders like Jay, Jaimee and Cas.

alec

I’d have to say holistic, owner of ‘Syncratic’. She has that simplistic and bold lines kind of style that I find very interesting. She already knows how much I love her work. Oh, and also pompous, owner of 'upperclass themes'.

q3. out of all the layouts (graphic, protfolio, etc.), which styles do you still need practice in and why?

LIZ

Profile layouts. I think it's because I'm used to designing a graphic or roleplay layouts and designing a profile layout is way more different because of the elements needed. I struggle a lot when I'm designing a profile layouts and sometimes I'm not even happy with the final designs. Which is why I really need to practice more, so that I'll be more comfortable in designing them.

Lynn

I'd say its Portfolio layouts and roleplay layouts. I think I've only ever made one or two portfolio layouts out of all the layouts I've made lol which is why I think I need more practice in it. As for Roleplay layouts, for some reason I always struggle when I try to make one..it could be because of the content and also that I still don't understand how roleplaying works which, makes it hard for me. Definitely need more practice in.

alec

For me, it’s definitely roleplay. Since I don’t roleplay, and I needed to research a lot on what elements need to be in an RP layout. There’s so many things like masterlist, wishlist (whatever that is lol) and a couple list. But the main page has a ton of crap like featured roleplayers and event information, group links, updates, etc. It’s craziness.

q4. what are the few ways you find inspiration behind the designs of your layouts?

LIZ

A lot of people always ask me this and I always give them the same answer, which is google. Google is the easier way to look for inspiration. All you have to do is to key in the right keyword and you'll get everything you're looking for. So if you ever need anything or inspiration in this case, please look for Mr.Google because he's everyone's bestfriend!

Lynn

Google is definitely the first place I'd go for if I need inspiration. But there's two websites that I'd always visit, siteinspire.com and awwwards.com

alec

I usually browse through other websites or behance.net which is a neat graphic design portfolio website. I recommend going there if you need inspiration. Sometimes random things inspire me like plants LOL.

q5. any tips of advice to people who have just started learning how to code or want to learn how to code?

LIZ

I always start coding by using a base <(div style="width:0px;height:0px;margin:0 auto;")> <(/div)> (remove the brackets) and then all the codes will go inside the base. I do this so that nothing will go our of the boundaries but stays inside. Also, I find it easier if you add float:left into every div as it will automatically help to allign all the divs. If you're a newbie and you know nothing about html or css, you can always learn them online. You just need to know all the baiscs and you're good to go!

Lynn

Just like how I started coding, I'd suggest for you guys to visit sites that have tutorials for all the basic html codes and tags. Like w3schools.com, that site is very useful. It's probably best for you guys to familiarize yourself with the tags which I find helps a whole lot.

alec

Just like how Liz mentioned, the div tag will be your best friend when you're coding. If you know the fundamentals of the div tag then you're good to go. There are a lot of threads on here that have a div tag tutorial so just go for a quick search. I'd start off with http://www.w3schools.com/tags/tag_div.asp But the best advice I can give is to experiment, once you learn about the div tag always try and experiment with what you can do with it—testing what attributes work with each other, etc.

q6. tell us a little bit about the approach you made to the layouts you designed in this collection.

LIZ

I designed all my layouts in this collection as simple as possible by playing with colors that I don't use often. I'm a er when it comes to colors but in this collection I tried to step away from my comfort zone and do something that I've never done before!

Lynn

Since it has been awhile since I last coded, I wanted to try something new. My approach this time is quite different from all the layouts I've designed before this. I'd say its leaning more towards contemporary designs.

alec

I have only one dark layout that I designed in this collection, only because I felt like I needed to have one and it couldn’t all be white/light gray. But I wanted to accentuate lighter colours and white in my layouts. The main approach I took was to complement the flower type/tree type that I chose to feature in my layouts. Like the rp layout where the colour palette revolved around the colours of the jade vine. Overall, my layouts are pretty minimal with less of the graphical element.

q7. what would be your favoured layout out of all the layouts you designed in this collection?

LIZ

that'll be baby's breath. it's a graphic layout featuring youngki from kara. i actually really love the color i used which actually brings out the beauty of baby's breath and also youngji.

Lynn

for me, it's definitely baek peony and no it's not because I'm biased (byun baekhyun ftw) lol I just like the overall color scheme and the simplicity of the design :)

alec

Hm, maybe Jade Vine? I mean, it's pretty different from any other layouts I've designed—but then again I've never designed a RP layout that's why Jade Vine is so massive because I thought I needed to add everything and anything otl.

q8. what was the most difficult layout to code from the layouts you've coded in this collection?

LIZ

ah well... i'd say baby's breath as well. i mean the layout looks simple but it's not easy to code. I made a few mistakes here and there but i was able to solve itm of course. overall, this was a fun layout to code.

Lynn

it'll be red floribunda. I had to recode that layout 2 times. i'm not sure why but there seems to be a problem with the code I couldn't seem to solve. I had to ask liz for help xd

alec

Jade Vine and Laurel, but mainly Laurel because there were just so many sections. Each section I added just made the already long code even longer haha. For this layout I had to do each section in separate chapters then add them to the main layout code when I was done.

q9. WHICH LAYOUT(S) FROM THIS COLLECTION WOULD YOU RECOMMEND?

LIZ

i'd recommend jade vine by aleric and peony by lynnryan. They both look great and i love the colors used in both layouts. aleric did a really great job eventhough it's his first time coding a roleplay layout. honestly he did a better job than me. i rec lynn's fanfiction masterpost layout because the layout can be used as a profile layout as well. i really love the flower she used and well no one can resist byun baekhyun right?

Lynn

first off, i'd love to agree with what liz said above as she mentioned how no one can resist byun baekhyun. that sentence holds so much truth :') lol anyways, i'd definitely rec' baby's breath by lizryan and jade vine by aleric. i absolutely love the color scheme for both layouts and the overall design of both layouts. liz and aleric both did a great job on it :d

alec

All of course! But if I had to choose I’d definitely recommend Baby's Breath from Liz’s layouts because I think she pulled off the horizontal scroll perfectly, the colour palette of the layout is amazing and matches the theme nicely. From Lynn's layouts I'd choose Baek Peony/Peony, because it has that light and soft look about it and the white div set to low opacity over the header image—I thought that was a nice touch. They’re both really unique and highly recommended from me.

leave a message for the viewers and potential buyers of "the secret garden".

LIZ

i really hope that you'll like this collection. we pour our hearts to each and every layouts we designed and coded with the thought of sharing this to all of you. i hope that you are able to look for the layouts that you like in the secret garden. to the viewers, thank you for taking your time to view our layouts! to our potential buyers, thank you for purchasing and supporting the secret garden!

Lynn

to those who are reading this, much thanks :') i apreaciate your kind effort in reading this whole interview segment. I'd also like to thank everyone for supporting us and aslo for subscribing to this collection. it has been awhile since i last coded so the layouts for this collection hold a greater meaning to me compared to the ones I did in the past. i mean, wow, i can't believe i still remember how to code? anyways, thanks a million for purchasing our layouts! we hope you love them :')

alec

How’s it going? First of all, thank you for even taking time to view this collection (and this interview segment for that matter haha). We really appreciate it especially after how much work and dedication we put into it. I really hope you enjoyed all 12 layouts we’ve prepared for you. And a special shoutout to the people who purchase the layouts and the layout sets. Heck, that’s woah—LOL!