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Design Critique: The John Chow Redesign

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John Chow released a new version of his site on September 10th, sporting a more controlled, almost corporate look compared top the previous version. The new John Chow dot Com is the third version, and was designed by Unique Blog Designs. In many ways, it is a better theme, but there are, of course, some things I’d like to comment on.

Just like when TechCrunch redesigned, John Chow’s readers have voiced a lot of comments, 227 of them as I’m writing this. Nothing gets the readership involved like a brand new design!

The Good

  • I like the fact that they got rid of the car in the header. Nice balance between logo and the 468×60 pixel ad as well.
  • The logos for ad and affiliate networks that John pushes aren’t obtrusive, thanks to being in grayscale until you hover them. This is nicely done, since they should be annoying just because of their placement under the main menu.
  • The RSS and subscription functionality in the top right column blends nicely.
  • Good spacing in the ad segment, under Blog Sponsor.
  • The Featured Video box works nicely together with the ad below, and the recent photos, and the about box. 
  • I like the navigation links below the entire site, even though it is a bit illogical to have them below the copyright type.

The Bad

  • The JC logo is bland and boring.
  • The site lacks color, it is basically just white, light grey, and a very tuned down blue, which makes it look corporate and stale.
  • The Recent Photos block is pretty nice, but it needs to be better aligned with the width of the column, now it is 20 pixels less wide than the other elements in the middle column on the front page. If the plugin used won’t solve it for you, then put it in a box or something.
  • The categories part of the footer is decent enough, but the rest of it is a bit messy. I’d also do the copyright text in a different color, font, or whatever, to cleanly part it from the content in the footer.
  • The about page isn’t optimized for the design at all, sporting too little content to fit with the right column, and a photo that is too small. Same goes for the contact page, really.

The What Now?

  • Contextual keyword ads in posts are one thing, but why are they in the featured articles slide?! Same goes for the listings of blog posts on the front page. Really, that’s too much.

Final Thoughts

I can’t say that I’m thrilled about the new John Chow design. My main issue with it is that it feels like a corporate website rather than something from “a Dot Com Mogul”. At the same time, there are some really good layout decisions here, and I especially like the way the header manages to not feel littered with ads.

One other color to work against the stale look would do a lot to lift this design.

What do you think about the new John Chow dot Com redesign?

Design Critique: The TechCrunch Redesign

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Michael Arrington’s web 2.0 startup news blog TechCrunch isn’t just a huge success, making Arrington the poster boy of the tech blogosphere, it is also a very prominent leader in the blogosphere. When TechCrunch changes something, other bloggers look at it, and sometimes copies it. It was like that with the 125×125 pixel button ads, the de facto industry standard in the blogosphere right now, which I daresay got big because of Arrington’s design change in 2006 (from this version, I might add, to the previous one, screenshotted in this post).

And now they sport a new design, which in turn have sparked a lot of commentaries in the blogosphere, as well as 300+ opinions voiced in their Yep, We Redesigned post. Everyone’s got an opinion, it seems, as always when it comes to something as personal as design.

In other words, I won’t shut up either.

Screenshot of the new TechCrunch design
Screenshot of the new TechCrunch design

The Good

  • I like the whitespace, the easy colors, and the choice of fonts.
  • Front page using excerpts tightens the design a lot, toning down the need to scroll, and brings a better overview. I don’t care if the main reason is to get more pageviews, this adds to readability in TechCrunch’s case.
  • Top story on front page works, although I would’ve wanted some more schwung to it perhaps.
  • I like the middle column in the front page, only present for as long as needed. It works surprisingly well and almost gives the stories left of it a sort of a sub-top-story feel to it. Almost…
  • Previous/next post links on single posts are always good.

The Bad

  • The far right ad column is cluttered. Also, ads aren’t ideally aligned/placed, however, this isn’t something that is easily resolved, and ads are always the great EVIL of a design, so I won’t say more about it.
  • The site looks pale on high resolutions with maximized browser windows. Granted, that’s hard to do anything about if you want a clean and sober look.
  • The footer is simple, which is good, but I would like something more there. Especially on short posts with few comments, where the right ad column is a lot longer.
  • The subscribe element on the top of the right column is confusing. I expected some sort of tabbed box, instead I got links. I also miss the RSS icon (available in the footer), since it is something I think should be pushed.
  • A network menu is good, but it is not obvious that it is a network menu, it could just as well be a TechCrunch menu.

The What Now?

  • Why do you have previous/next post links on top of single posts? Sure, they might come in handy with short posts, but I find them unnecessary.
  • A blog like TechCrunch could really use a little more elaborate archives page. This one is just lazy.
  • No dates on the front page. While this is something I normally think is OK, the news orientation of TechCrunch makes me think it should be there.

Final Thoughts

Among the criticism of the new design is the fact that it isn’t “TechCrunch green” enough. The previous one certainly was. Personally, I think it does alright on that area, with a simple green bar in the absolute top of the browser window, green links and green hovering on headlines, and so on. It works, sure, it could’ve been picked up a bit more had they wanted to, but I don’t think there is any actual need for it, really.

Also, while clean, sober, and whitespaced, the design is a bit boring. I should like it, and I do, but it is a bit too corporate for my taste. That is a fine line to thread, and I think the real issue there is the use of images. Just doing logos, and always having them on the same spot, certainly doesn’t help with de-corporatifying the design. Then again, it is a business focused blog, so it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. After all, trying to be something you’re not isn’t something for the faint of heart, so why go out and about trying to look like a magazine, when you’re a news blog about startups?

My verdict: A step up, clean, sober, suitable, I like it overall. Good.

What do you think of the new TechCrunch design?

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