Oh hey that looks good, escapist should consider changing into something like that.DazZ. said:
And in my defence, I can't code worth a damn for websites :3
Oh hey that looks good, escapist should consider changing into something like that.DazZ. said:
Small? I wouldn't say small, looking at it from a design p.o.v. I actually discussed the site's new design with my webdesign teacher, as this semester is all about webdesign, and she applauded me for my analysis of it.Matt_LRR said:I've encountered a couple small design and usability issues, but on the whole, I think it's a VAST improvement.
-m
Shush! I do agree with everything you say, but please don't make them "improve" things again... if you want to see how not to "improve" the usability of a site, go to kotaku.com or lifehacker.com or any other gawker site... change the background colour... be amazed at the mess unfolding. Compared to that, the new Escapist is absolutely Shangri-Lalaland perfect.Cowabungaa said:Small? I wouldn't say small, looking at it from a design p.o.v. I actually discussed the site's new design with my webdesign teacher, as this semester is all about webdesign, and she applauded me for my analysis of it.Matt_LRR said:I've encountered a couple small design and usability issues, but on the whole, I think it's a VAST improvement.
-m
Basically it comes down to a couple of things:
1: They tried to put more air in their design, but honestly just failed at doing so. Air isn't just making everything white, spacing too is very important, and as it is now the homepage is still extremely full. Everything is still cramped together, regardless of the change in colours.
2: There's very little focus. Almost everything shouts for your attention at the same volume, adding more chaos to an already cramped homepage.
3: The colour scheme is pretty bad for overal readability. Especially for longer articles, which are an important part of The Escapist, it can be a real strain for one's eyes. I wonder what kind of feedback they had about this during user testing, because the complaints right now are numerous.
4: The 'feel' this new design has is just completely off. The layout and colourscheme does not say "This website is a cool, friendly and mature community for geeks and videogame enthusiasts." No, everything about this screams it being a cold and impersonal business site. The ice-y blues, the large amounts of white, the straight and no-nonsense fonts, it doesn't reflect what the content and actual feel of the site is all about.
They did make vast progress in terms of site navigation, not perfect but a lot better than in the previous design.
Agreed on this one- not that it's particularly hard to find things I'm looking specifically for... but that sidebar helped me discover a lot of things I otherwise wouldn't, by making it obvious there was a new something-or-other starting... or by letting me see the topic of the newest bit of an established column/video. I wouldn't have started reading the Name Game or watching... well, anything other than Zero Punctuation without that bar making me curious.Stale Pasta said:I also miss the list of popular stuff that was on the far right. Just made it easier to get to where I Was going.
Can I get your opinion on the white borders? Personally, I hate them. They need some color there.Matt_LRR said:I've encountered a couple small design and usability issues, but on the whole, I think it's a VAST improvement.
-m
Pretty much this. We need some contrast. It's especially bad reading threads. There's absolutely no contrast. It's just white with some text in the middle. I'm getting used to the new layout, but it need some borders to frame the site better.randomguy425 said:I'm more or less indifferent to it. So far I prefer the look of the old site, but I'm sure I'll warm up to it. My biggest complaint is the it is in dire need of some more borders or something. The nothing-but-white look is starting to burn my corneas.