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Did we ever get a wake-up call. Boston.com, the website for the Boston Globe has metamorphosed overnight. A little box on the right-hand side of the home page asks, "Notice anything different?"
In case you didn't notice, the Globe has thrown in a letter to readers and an FAQ. The letter also mentioned what's coming--a "Things to Do" section. How that is different from the "Sidekick," the little insert that already explains things to do, is unclear.
Regarding the design, it is airier and far easier on the eyes. In the past, the page looked like heaps of icons clustered together. The site also bears a closer visual resemblance to that of the New York Times, which is hardly surprising since both are owned by the same parent company. While there are differences, it would have been nice if Boston.com's new site looked even more distinct just to avoid any hints of further merging with the Times.
On the downside, the design of the section categories is messy. Some subsections have a different treatment from others (see "Jobs" vs. "A&E"), and it isn't immediately clear why they would be different. The divider lines between the sections also have mysterious functions. It seems as if the designers are using three dotted lines versus a single dotted line to separate sections, but the dotted lines are so pale that they're barely noticeable in the first place. And they still haven't updated that boston.com logo, which looks like it was designed in Microsoft Word. What do you think?
C. Fernsebner contributed to this post. Boston.com logo from the Boston.com site.
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There's WAY too much white space on that site. I like that they're using the whole screen, and it's laid out a bit better. It feels like there are even more ads than before though. Thankfully, it's not the final version (I hope), but it just seems awfully plain. I prefer the Herald's site by far, and that's kind of sad.
The FAQ on the site addresses this so it shouldn't be too much of a concern:
Overall, I think the redesign is long overdue, but I still prefer the cleaner look of sites like NYT.com.
The new design is awful. There isn't enough white space to be honest. There is nothing that is set in such a way to draw my eye to whatever is the most important item on the page. Although the ads stand out even more, which I guess is the important factor for them. Overall I'm going to use the site far less.
Man, boston.com has always looked and still looks like one of those spam/advertisement sites. They really could use a new logo... why not use the BG font?
"Boston.com: what you need, when you need it."