Dear “Big Footer” Fans

It’s nice to see footers getting so much attention these days. Designers are treating them as legitimate pieces of real estate instead of mere afterthoughts. The problem is, it’s not as simple as throwing some content down there and calling it a day. Let’s use a food analogy to highlight the different ways footers are being used…

• Nice Meal + Dessert (e.g., Derek Powazek, Ordered List, Garrett Dimon)
  The “main course” features (more or less) 1 main blog post and some side-bar content. If the meal is satisfying, patrons can enjoy a lovely footer “dessert”.
• Full-Size Meal + Light Dessert (e.g., Business Logs, Asterisk, Hicksdesign)
  This particular format offers up three hearty blog posts with some sidebar content (links, photos, etc). Patrons might be a bit full after their meal, but if they really enjoyed the food, dessert might be an option.
• Too Much Food + No Dessert (e.g., SimpleBits, Subtraction)
  Do you ever “eat”/read so much that by the time the “dessert”/footer rolls around, you think “please, no more… too much…”?

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always preferred a “nice meal + dessert”. It leaves me full and satisfied, but not too stuffed. Of course, appetites may vary ;)