Not sure if I changed a setting accidentally, but I really like the new layout!
Yo’s video was fantastic and the site looks and works better than ever. Good Job!
i’m gonna have to disagree, i think it looks like a bad myspace band page…sorry
i don’t know if it’s just not being used to it, but right now i find the layout confusing
I find it a bit confusing too. And what happen to the daily job postings that appeared on the home page?
I like the old orange. How about a little color, maybe just a teeny bit of the orange back…?
My 2¢:
What’s the deal with the forum board side bar?
Give me the black on gray contrast where I want it: TITLES, AUTHORS.
Not: by, (4replies), date, etc. I now it’s recent if it’s at the top of the list.
the gray on gray titles and authors…not so much.
Also, I never understood why when you moused over the discussion side bar that it didn’t allow you to scroll. That would be nice.
Other than that I really like the the new site.
I like the home page Nav bar now that it is bigger and across top (used to be small and to the left, barely noticed the little guy)
I like how when you mouse over a nav bar link it shows you some info in the box below about what types of things you may find in that link. It gives me immediate feedback which helps me make a more informed decision about where I want to go next.
Also, I like how they calmed down the top of the page and took out all the images that had text over them trying (trying to describe events), I pretty much never looked at that area, and it was the top of the home page.
The new style of post headers are a little weird to get used to, but they definitely break up the sections into easier to understand groups.
The advertisements in the main section seem to come out of center rather than hard left field.
Over all, Good job Core team. I’m down
I Was wondering that too.
I just found it. It’s at the very top left of the home page.
I like that the other sites (corflot and Design directory) are grouped together in a nice little area.
I’m a bit confused about how they decided on the order for the top nav bar links. I’d prefer alphabetical
few suggestions…
increase prominance of core77 logo ( new logo is cool)
i miss bright orange…at leat maintain outline of logo in Orange
too many fonts…& too many diferent sizes where used…
stick to couple of fonts…& sizes ( u can make difference with greys)
NO NO to capital words…top menus…( sentence-our other sites …may not be required)
i love wave form pattern used in top banner…cool
Use orange atleast as outline/underline or border…
( u can change the outline colour every6 months- customization)
How do I comment on the main page post???
ok with black & white layout…
agree about the orange…
I like the layout, but it needs a punch of color
the new core77 logo does not speak to the new site layout. i see the new site layout as austere, monochrome - the logo has a graffiti quality to it which would lend itself to color and playfulness.
But this logo is better than old one…
check the layout of coroflot front page…it is also in b&W…but very nicely done.
Thanks for all the great feedback so far. Our intention was to take it all down to a baseline, then bring it back up gradually, including the use of color. Nice suggestion on the outline!
thought i messed up the URL when i found the new look logging in lat night! had to do a refresh and double take to be sure! haha.
i dont miss the orange, and like the black and white, but cant really figure out the logic in the redesign, layout-wise.
overall, i see a good attempt at making a more clean, typographically oriented layout, but there’s waaaay too much variation in formatting and fonts. some are centered, some are left aligned, some are serif, some are sans serif.
aslo find there’s a bit too much stuff all over the place… mini posts between posts, lots of random stuff on the sidebar to the right, lots more at the bottom, buttons at the top, job o the day at the top top + graphic design directory and coroflot links,… needs some better heirarchy of content, methinks.
and maybe it’s just because it’s new, but i dont see how the forum discussion links on the first page are supposed to work. why are some topics up top in speech bubbles, and others in text? also no link to the main forum page?
also, not a huge fan of the new core77 logo gotta say… doesnt really fit the new clean look and as mentioned looks a bit “skate/action sports to me”
i know things are still in progress and looking forward to the updates. of course anything new will take some time to get adjusted to so i’ll give it the benefit of the doubt.
just my 0.02$ worth. sure you don’t really need more designers weighing in, but anyhow, thought i’d offer up my initial thoughts.
R
I don’t care so much about how the site looks as long as the content is worth reading.
I think the overall look says “fun design” and I think that’s a good thing. For those that want “corporate design” there are other sites, magazines and forums.
well said.
I kindof like the excersise of being “reprogrammed” too… I’ll probably catch some content i would’ve overlooked before. Change is usually a good thing.
I agree with JGray
I find myself bumping into areas I have long ignored and for people new to the site I feel like the Nav bar helps them find out what the site has to offer. The Discussions Nav link seems awkward though. I know that’s what this forum has always been called, but when most people look for this type of area they are looking for the forum link, not discussions.
Ok, ive given it a chance, lived with it for a while, but it’s driving me crazy. the new layout looks nice from a visual standpoint, graphically speaking far and above the previous layout, but functionally I’m feeling as though it was design to look at rather than use.
Let me explain.
For one, the design is very homogeneous. everything fits into a nice grid and the content is at the mercy of the layout.
For another, it’s also very unhomogeneous. lots of different fonts, alignment, shading and formats of buttons/content make it almost impossible to feel any real hierarchy of content. some things are “featured” by showing a large image, some are animated (as at the top), and some are text.
Every feature in the book is there, and well executed in and of itself, but the whole is less than the sum of its parts. The animated rolling content at the top looks great, but if you actually click on it, it doesn’t take you to the content directly. i realize it’s supposed to be a teaser for the different sections noted above in buttons, and the buttons do highlight, but it’s so untraditional, i don’t think many wold understand. We’ve got pull quotes for forum threads (not even the most recent or relevant, I have no idea why those were chosen or if they ever change). we’ve go tabbed list content for most recent posts. We have mini links to digg.com etc. below each post. We’ve got ads mixed in it all…
I know there is lots of great content that core features, that I’m sure most people never read (articles, more in depth interviews, photos, etc.), but with this layout, while it may encourage stumbling upon the odd link, it doesn’t help a user get an idea of the depth and range of the site. The hierarchy is not apparent. While there are 8 links at the top that should be the topline level of content, where would you go for interviews? reviews? are Events as listed in the sidebar the same as calendar? are the “greatest hits” articles? is the design directory different than the coroflot job/portfolio area?
Don’t get me wrong. I love this site and have been a steady user for more years. I just would hope that given we are designers, we could be more aware of the UI, be open to a critical approach and get more eyes on all the great content we have here. If a great article isn’t read, it’s not that great.
As a brief analysis I did the following to color code the different content of the site. I’d be happy to hear thoughts from others, and if I have time I would love to take a crack at a rejuggling of the layout, so please understand I’m not trying to only complain or knock the hard work of the designers involved.
Best,
R
smaller to see all at once.