Forum Activity needs to be there .... also I hate the white background and the pics are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy to big , minimizing on my end makes the words unreadable . Not liking it as much :(
The 1 thing I like is the "video pin" and that finally videos seems to work for me again (for the last month I havent been able to see videos on the site ... I have to go to youtube for that)
Alright, so here are my thoughts on the new site. Keep in mind that I'm no designer, but I do work in search for a top 10 Ecommerce site. (Probably the one you don't know about, so don't bother guessing - not Amazon or Staples or Walmart.) Anyhow, I think, read and work in this kind of stuff, so I'm not just some Asshole. Ok, I am just some asshole, but I'm not an asshole who thinks he knows web design because he surfs a lot. :)
THANK YOU for defaulting to a more typical light background. I know the dark background is edgy and all, but it can be really hard on the eyes for a pretty decent segment of the population. Especially if you're talking full on black with bright white text. It's smart that you have given users a toggle to switch to a dark theme, but it's smarter that it's defaulting to dark text on a light background.
If the two things you want to focus on are video content and searching the site, you're doing it right. I'm guessing those are the two primary goals. I worry that the search box, though large, is bleeding out a bit due to the very large image that's dominating the page above the fold. I'm also not a fan of rounded corners for no apparent reason. Basically everything else on the page is typical boxes, grids and straight lines. Why the rounded corners on the search box? Also, I typically view the site either on my desktop at 1680, or my laptop at 1366. I'll tell you that at 1366 the video content main spot is nearly all I see, I'm only seeing the top half of the other "feature" spots. I might want to squeeze that down a bit.
I think one of the strengths of GB compared to some other sites is the staff. It's a smaller staff, which feels more intimate (don't get weird on me now!), and probably elicits more loyalty from your fans. I think you could do some things to push that strength in the new layout. How about metadata on your video content that indicates which staffers are in it? Maybe it's already there and I just don't know, but easy ways to search for videos based on who is in them could be nice. Hell, maybe even some fancy combo searches. "I know when Ryan and Dave are in the same video, I'm going to lose my shit. I want more of that!" I also noticed you have some empty space to the right of the video well, how about small staff photos or icons or some kind to indicate who is in that video?
I wonder about the large image spots you have reserved in the recent releases column. I also wonder if there's a way you could get staff tweets up higher on the page. Again, I think one of your strengths is your staff, moreso than your particular coverage on new releases, use that strength when you can.
Overall, I think the new site is doing a better job at filling space. The current version has a lot of, well, black space. I feel weird saying that. You just aren't always utilizing space and organizing effectively.
Are quests gone, or am I just missing it? I know it's fluff, but it's cute fluff that scratches an itch for me here. :)
Anyhow, that's probably more than you need to hear already. I think it's a good direction, maybe a little more "typical" design in some areas, but that's often a good thing. Generally, I'd say find more ways to feature the strength of the GB staff when you can.
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