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CSS-Tricks Redesign(css-tricks.com)

over 6 years ago from Charles Jones, Visual Designer/Developer

  • Erik ShawErik Shaw, over 6 years ago (edited over 6 years ago )

    Genius is generous. Chris is simply the messenger. The majority of "tricks" come from other people, however, that's not to say the content isn't interesting or helpful — it is. But, the site design has always been poor, in my opinion. That's what you get when a dev attempts design.

    3 points
    • Charles JonesCharles Jones, over 6 years ago

      I agree to that to some extent. The site is so accessible to gain information quickly and that reads well though; It might not be a trendy/modern design aesthetic, but I don't think that is necessary for the subject matter and tone of Chris' site.

      1 point
    • Thomas MathewThomas Mathew, over 6 years ago

      What's poor about it?

      1 point
      • Erik ShawErik Shaw, over 6 years ago

        1. Information Architecture: It's very difficult to decide what to read. There is no hierarchy of content. Should I read the left column, or right? Very overwhelming.

        2. Typography: The text is too large and in-your-face. Text is meant to be read, not looked at. This makes it hard to quickly scan the content and focus.

        3. Spacing: The site feels very cramped resulting from the layout and text size. It could benefit from some white-space.

        4. Aesthetic: Harsh gradients, weird header and footer "angular" thing, non-harmonious colors, etc. There's a difference between "intentional ugly" and poor visual taste. This is the second.

        I could go on, but it's not very important as this is purely my opinion. Chris does a fine job managing the site and this has nothing to do with him personally. Simply, my observation and feeling.

        9 points
        • Thomas MathewThomas Mathew, over 6 years ago

          All good points, I mostly agree.

          I rarely spend time on the home page, though, so the typography and layout of the article pages is most important to me. I didn't immediately notice, but I do think the articles feel more cramped (I wonder if the line-heights are actually smaller).

          0 points