The top of their home page is nice. There is a main story and several other top stories highlighted. Then, there is a line with the title "Recent Stories". Below that is just a huge list of stories. This format reminds me of an "above the fold" format. The design is much sleeker, much more welcoming, much more enjoyable to read "above the fold." But below that, it's like the website didn't know what to do. Salon.com has tried to carry over the print design a bit too much. I think it is time that they throw these concepts away and learn what functionality they can really utilize. Once they learn how to better manage the information, then they can put more thought into the form.
As is, there isn't much to be said for the form. There aren't that many colors used. It's strictly set to black, white and red. The articles are written in a serif font. Even the layout is lacking "below the fold". Even "above the fold" there is a bit of awkward spacing with layout...
I don't think Salon.com has really even started to utilize the format of their delivery. And that's a shame.
"I don't think Salon.com has really even started to utilize the format of their delivery. And that's a shame."
ReplyDeleteWell said Heather. I am also disappointed by Salon. They have some great content but can't seem to get their act together on design
Well I do agree with what you had said about Salon I don't necessarily agree that on-line publications have a huge advantage over print versions. I feel that on-line publications have an advantage in that there material can be published right away to inform viewers, however, there stories are often very short and you don't always get all the details. I noticed this when doing my project on the people magazine. The online publication has many more stories but the stories are short and often lack the details the print version has. Those are the details I enjoy reading about in articles.
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