Help me mefi look like I'm blogging from 2013.

February 4, 2010 10:37 AM

Form, not content: What blogs are rethinking how they lay out their material and really pushing the boundaries?

I like to make cool radical website projects that people love. Lately, I've been thinking of remaking a new blog for one of the projects, but not in the usual top down standard blog format. Think multi-author, entries, image sharing (ala ffffound), and video, and I don't care yet about CMS or the technical side (we'll be smart enough to make whatever we want).

What blogs out there are presenting things in a new way, but this is still completely accessible to people who stumble across them? I don't care if they're about gardening or feminist epistemology, I just want inspiration for a smarter blog design.

posted by history is a weapon to media & arts (10 answers total)

Jason Santa Maria gives almost every article a new design on his site, which works quite well
posted by gregjones at 10:46 AM on February 4, 2010

The Panic Blog blows my mind with its use of templates, fonts, and CSS trickery. Try reloading the page, and watch the degrees of tilt on each entry change randomly!
posted by mathowie at 10:58 AM on February 4, 2010 [4 favorites]

I don't know how unusual this way of presenting information is (it's new to me), but today I noticed on the Guardian newspaper website their new 'zeitgeist' page.
posted by selton at 11:00 AM on February 4, 2010

Dustin Curtis. His site is pure design inspiration. It really makes you rethink form.

I'd also check out Gregory Wood's site.

And, yeah, Jason Santa Maria is a genius.
posted by 2oh1 at 11:18 AM on February 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

On the other hand, if you really want to look like you're ahead of the curve, I'd recommend you master minimalism. The mobile web is going to push design into directions designers aren't used to pursuing. I think the notion that less is more will become a very big deal sooner than most people think. Screen sizes had been rocketing upwards at an unbelievable pace. I remember when a 17 inch monitor was a pricey luxury. Now, Apple is selling 27 inch iMacs! ...but screen sizes are shrinking rapidly too, and there's nothing designers can do about it.

Netbooks.
iPhones.
iPads and tablets.

The future is mobile. Design will be too.
posted by 2oh1 at 11:25 AM on February 4, 2010 [3 favorites]

I always thought Jeff Bridge's website was one of the the most awesome things on the internet.
posted by caveat at 12:08 PM on February 4, 2010 [3 favorites]

40 beautiful examples of minimalist website design.
posted by conrad53 at 7:07 PM on February 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

Here's another neologism to loathe: blogazine. I like the idea though.
posted by cephalopodcast at 7:12 AM on February 5, 2010

One thing I've noticed recently: widescreen-format blogs. Examples: firmuhment and luxirare.
posted by acidic at 7:46 PM on February 5, 2010

All of these sites marked as "genius" are really f'n hard to read.

Unless you're doing something involving design, where you want people to say "wow, that's so novel", you're going to want to consider the usability of what you're putting out there.

Jason Santa Maria is wasting most of the first page - before I need to scroll - on graphics and a not-entirely-illustrative title image. From experience working with users on web applications... they *hate* scrolling, in almost every case.

$0.02.
posted by talldean at 12:36 PM on February 6, 2010