Gadgetopia Redesign
By Deane Barker | February 24, 2005 | 29 Comments
I mentioned in the last post of 2004 that one of my goals for 2005 was to get the site redesigned. Well, it’s finally gonna happen. Here is the new design, and I invite comments from anyone who has an opinion.
Also, in the next week or so, look for a new sponsor announcement that we’re pretty excited about.
What Links Here
Comments
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It looks great, but the usability is terrrible. Nothing works.
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Michael has a good sense of humor :)
Site design looks very usable, not deviating really from the current navigational system– which is good, because this one works.
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I liked the simplicity of the old design.
The green was becoming part of the identity of gadgetopia, in my opinion the new one should keep some of that green. I would also make the “O- gear” in the gadgetopia logo a bit smaller.
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The logo makes it look a little more like gadget-O-pia, the irish relative, and a little less like gadget-opia, the country.
But aside from that, I like it. As long as the text fits in the boxes.
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I like it but the current design is much better in my opinion. The minimalism of it makes it distinctive and unique.
Large images are used widly in blogs. It´s not negative. But sometimes it distracts the reader from the content.
Anyway, I will visit gadgetopia in future too. Whatever it looks like.
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Sorry to be a grumpy old man, but I agree with those who prefer the old minimalist design.
Plus, art3.gif is over 100k! Think of all the poor Gadgetopia geeks with a slooow connection or monthly traffic limits on their broadband….
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Okay, how about it in green…
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kill the black background, it is an eye killer
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current design is much better, Deane!
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After seeing the green without the background I went back and looked at the first version without the background. At the moment that would top my list of choices.
I sort of agree that the green was part of the image, but 2 months after you switched the look to something else, that look would be associated with Gadegetopia. And personally I like the new look better.
Of course one thing you need to consider before switching is what it’s going to cost to have new business cards and letterhead printed, the signs changed at the company headquarters and other locations, plus the logo on the company jet. But first someone should fix the links on the new site. They still don’t work. Who’s the webmaster around here ;-)
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I think Gadgetopia should stay green, so I prefer the second design for that. Which would really be a great improvement. But my big wish would be for you to remove the boxes around each post… it makes it look like the post is an after-thought, or post-it, or add-on, but not the actual main content… I even complained about that in my blog :)
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I vote for the green, with the white background.
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Stick with the current one.
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I like the second one. The current look is good, but I really do like the green redesign. I agree that the new look will be the new identity given a couple of months.
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I like the green, and personally I think I like the dark background a little better. But I don’t like the logo a whole lot; I think the big thick gear O is distracting and makes it a little hard to read. What if you instead made the G a gear like this: http://danhudlow.f2o.org/doodles/gadgetopia.gif
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Huh. I kinda like the gear G now, too.
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sorry deane but i’m not sure any of the redesign suits gadgetopia. i’d stick with the current one for now. the fonts/font size used and O gear for the redesign don’t work for me. sorry.
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Hey Deane, I really like the 2nd green redesign and I like Dan Hudlow’s Gadgetopia logo (changed to white). Also you might want to try using the shadow effect and lighter background like I have on WarpWebb.com.
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I like current look and feel as well. Clean and easy to read the lastest entry.
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Like most, I too like the green 2nd design. Its weird, but the color green really has become associated with this site.
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I like the current design, very simple, and easy to read. The new design top part is a distraction and the content part is not cool! On a white background color everything looks good.
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Please! NO, don’t change, Theres nothing better than a Fast! text site with great content. But I understand the why, change = holiday.
I love the big gear image, and it would look great at the top of a flyer or something but i don’t like it at the top of the website. The ‘FAT’ image at the top of the blog is, eye catching to start with and certinaly popular, but my personal feeling is it’s ‘passe’.
How’s that for an opinion?
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In my opinion the old design looks much cleaner than the new design. If I will have to choose I would choose the old one.
I offer my design services to you. I can make a layout that is clean, simple and professionl. You will only have to mention – Design by MVDmedia.ro on the bottom. What do you think? Of course, it will keep the lines and the identity of the old one but will look how a 2005 website should look. Waiting for your feedback on this.
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Gotta stick with the green.
Also, I’m fine with wanting to use a little bit of graphics in the header, but I’m not thrilled with the inch of space devoted to the gears above the logo. Can you bring the gears out a little more in the section where the logo is?
I’m not a fan of the gears on the G. It looks forced. I agree with the others that the O gear is too large. What about putting the gear inside the O?
Got your favicon ready?
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Ouch, looks like mine will be a lonely voice on this one: I’d love to see a redesign and I really like the first design offered (http://www.santiinteractive.com/gadgetopia/).
However, I also agree with Alejandro, the gear graphic in the logo should be smaller.
Nice work.
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4 Quick Points I pulled from all posts to date…
“The green was becoming part of the identity of gadgetopia” “What if you instead made the G a gear like this: http://danhudlow.f2o.org/doodles/gadgetopia.gif“ “The new design top part is a distraction and the content part is not cool! On a white background color everything looks good.” “I’m not thrilled with the inch of space devoted to the gears above the logo.”
–My opinion, I like the new blue but I like blues and shades of blue in sites. Green may be gadgetopia’s color though. Not my decision. –G gear – interesting idea. I like how willing people are to design variations for free. Nice Dan. –Top is not as simple as before. That happens with logo and design. Aesthetics gained. Basic text lost. What would it look like with a white background anyway? May be cleaner. –Yeah, it is an inch or so.
When I worked at Gateway, there was a huge debate about changing the old “G” for the new green colored Gateway. Within 3 months, all who disliked the change initialy loved the new image. Most people hate change…look at your daily routines. You drive the same way to work every day…not because it is the fastest always, but because your mind does it for you. I changed offices this month and already 3 times, I have driven to my old office only to enter the parking lot and U-turn.
Lighten the background just a bit, keep the blue, shrink the logo some and .com a bit more and launch without asking for comments or feedback. If the content of the site remains great as it does, the people will come. I never have come to this site for the greens, simplicity, or layout…I came for content and information.
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Nothing personal, but I really don’t like dark background sites, too hard on the eyes. Gadgetopia is one of the 10 or so sites that I like to check out every day, great content and easy to read, A change like that would probably be enough to get me use my RSS feed reader for Gadgetopia rather then browse the dark version.
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Perfect redesign. I would have done it just like it. Great job.
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Sweet. I see that you are making the changes. Looks nice. I’m glad that you didn’t sacrifice the extra inch at top.
