@craig zheng: The only other thing that jumps out at me as I look at this again is that it’s not entirely clear to me how the comments template works. Is it meant to be appended to the bottom of a blog entry/article page?

— That’s still up for discussion. My recommendation is for comments to appear on a separate page (as A List Apart) because a: I hope that there will be a lot more of them after the relaunch and b: I want to maintain a visual link between the article and the call-to-action that will appear at the bottom of each page.

@Dinyar Godrej: I definitely prefer the first option here for the home page to the alternative design.

— That’s been decided.

I’m mentioning this now as it looks like the cut was done to make it fit under the logo: it’s ‘The people, the ideas, the action’ not ‘The people, ideas and action’ which doesn’t have quite the same emphatic ring. 

— I made that edit, for visual reasons. It won’t be an issue to change that and balance with the logo by making the wordmark larger.

The magazine page looks fine: however, will there be somewhere where readers can find a contents page as of old? That let you know everything that there was in any particular edition. I think that’s quite an important function.

— You’ll see, when more real content is added, that the magazine issue page itself acts as a contents page for that issue and will feature all its articles, grouped into logical columns.

One overall comment - whereas I really like the open look of the spreads, I feel a bit concerned at the regularity and restrained look of the fonts, in particular the New Internationalist at the top. It gives an annual report kind of look to some pages, which may play down the liveliness of some of the content.

— The design, particularly of typography, has evolved through the process. It most definitely more ‘restrained’ and that is a key part of my design decision to make the site look less reactionary or angry (as some people have mentioned of the current site). The type has also been designed to showcase the content and I hope that it allows that content to speak for itself, without the need for fancy fonts or other elements doing the talking for it.

Apologies to everyone for this next, detailed reply to marketing. (Isn’t it fun to have these discussions in public and not hidden on a Basecamp? (gulp)

@James: However perhaps need a bit more thought about how best to give strong selling messages with special offers etc without harming
the overall design.

— That, is a hugely important point. I know how important it is to generate sales. I also feel (and best practice backs this up) that the current site’s use of internal ads or links to internal content that look like paid ads is a bad move. We all know that users instinctively avoid paid ads (unless they have a need in mind), so disguising navigation as ads makes it less effective, not more. We need a fine balance in visual style and I’ve agreed to help the marketing team with a style-guide that balances sales needs with aesthetics. On other point, I think that because the navigation right across the site is clearer and more intuitive, you will need fewer ‘internal ads’. This has the flip-side of opening up more paid slots — yum.

Home page

Can the 3 top sections change or are they fixed as magazine, shop and subscribe.

— The magazine slot should be fixed, as it acts to link a reader to the magazine content below the fold. Shop and subscribe are flexible, but I’d need to hear a good use case to move them.

Logo should be in current font. Subscribe button is missing top-right. What is the thinking behind the funny little box top-left. Note street address is UK so is each visitor geo-targeted? This would be good as we need to do this when linking books, archive issues etc to Shops.

— The typeface I have used is Whitney. I have chosen this face because of it’s similarities to Knockout (the current face) but without the distorted letterforms (N, I, L) of the current logo. I don’t want to fight a battle over this, but I do feel that Whitney better reflects the new, more modern, open direction of the redesign. If by ‘missing subscribe button’ you mean the red sash, sorry, that won’t be returning. The issue number box is designed to subtly reinforce the notion that this site is magazine based. It is also a quick visual indicator that the site has updated. Adam, Phillip and I have already discussed geo-targeting in detail.

Magazine

Use ‘issue’ rather than ‘month’. Cover images should be linked. Will the main box describe the issue, if so this might give spare space underneath? We note that the red used is different from the red in the current magazine banner.

— Good catches on the ‘issue’ and linked covers. I have made the changes. The current ‘intro’ dummy text will describe the content of that specific issue (as this template is reusable), so yes. Well spotted, the red is indeed not the same as the magazine banner. That is because colours that look great in print (CMYK) rarely work on screen (RGB). The case in point with your red is that it looks angry on screen, it makes you want to claw your eyes out. So my new red for this site is a hue (tint) of your red, over black. It makes for a more restful look, better readability for links and doesn’t make you want to murder someone.

Articles

Not convinced by new version with article in a central section. Prefer previous version. Like wide image but will there always be something appropriate with this width. Like book links, assume they will always be appropriate to article. Similar articles might be better higher up on right.

— My reasoning for the narrow article layout for current/important articles is to maximise readability and take away distractions. When an article fades into history, it will automatically be presented in the more conventional layout you like. The narrow layout for current/important articles is one of the key part of my new design. You will likely see me stamp my feet like a little girl ;)

Browse, we like it. How do you get here?

— Follow the link adjacent to the search box.

I will post a new set of files with updated templates to our internal Basecamp tonight. Please ask Philip or Adam for a copy.

@Sales and marketing:

Home page

The 3 boxes at top of Home Page which are the main place which we want people to use in order to buy, subscribe etc. So we are not convinced that these are clear or colourful enough compared to the surrounding material, eg the paid ad at top of page. We would also like to have the ability to flag major events in these boxes, eg launch of a new book, NI exhibition opening.

— The finished visual design is still being worked on, so expect to see that panel a little more eye-catching. The middle and right boxes will be flexible enough for you to feature this content.

Most people coming to the Home Page will be looking for New Internationalist and so to give reassurance we think that the font (bodega sans) and strap line should be the familiar ones.

— I understand, but we also need to consider those readers of the web site who are not familiar with the magazine or regular readers of it. They are our target audience as much as regular readers.

With “missing subscribe button” we didn’t mean the corner badge; we meant that “subscribe” alongside donate etc top right.

— It is poor usability to show several links (in different places) in view that lead to the same page or perform the same action. While there is a subscribe function in the teaser panel, an additional link in the navigation is redundant and confusing (do they do the same thing?). However, when the teaser boxes are used for something other than subscribe, it is then justifiable to add a link to that in the navigation. Then, and only then.

Blog

Bit text heavy, perhaps photo of main blogger or illustration if available. If you are reading there doesn’t seem to be an easy way of getting to the related comments.

— All addressed in the latest revision of the designs.

Books

Author should be mentioned in boxes of featured books. Need ability to say “available as e-book”. Right side underneath categories) could be useful space to be used for special announcements, eg book launch. In individual book pages should be links to similar books or books by same author. Will be other things to go under Categories, eg book trade enquiries, submissions, download catalogue pdf (image), academic/educational enquiries etc. A Coming Soon tab alongside Latest Publications.

— All addressed in the latest revision of the designs.

Shop

Not sure exactly what you are controlling and what new Magento system will control. Here are some initial thoughts but do you want more detail from us now?

— The new store will be controlled by Magento, so my job is to design an overall visual look for the store, rather than the specific features or functionality. I expect that there will be a later phase, once the store is built, where I’ll revisit the store templates to make sure that they fit with my style guides.

Where do press/media enquirers go to? Is site wide commenting still on the agenda?

— I expect that they will be most logically placed on the contact page. Yes, I really believe that commenting should be available on all magazine articles as well as blog entries.

@Amanda: How will people be directed to the correct fulfilment company to subscribe? How about flexibility to promote incentives and payment methods that other offices can’t or don’t want to offer. Geotargeting? Can the light box (which I love) be geotargeted for example?

— Earlier iterations of the subscription box (even before the popup was thought of) contained a drop-down for a customer to select their country. I had lengthy discussions with Adam Ma’anit who brought up the possibility of geo-targeting in the process. You might want to check with him and the web team about that, but I think it’s still on the table.

Thanks everyone for all your amazing feedback on this project so far. I’ve posted a design update with the latest look-and-feel design, plus links to revised versions of all the templates at New Internationalist redesign - entering the final stages.