Mark Forscher

A couple thoughts on the CNN.com redesign by Huge:

• 1. There’s no 728 leaderboard. A full width expandable unit and box ad in the c-col are the main ad units above the page fold on the homepage. This is not surprising considering I’ve been hearing for years that leaderboard ads don’t perform well and this new combo seems to be the “Apple”-friendly ad package
• 2. The beautiful simplicity of the header, particularly the breathing room around logo and the treatment of headers on section fronts, really strengthens the brand
• 3. The new grid is nice and much stronger than the old grid
• 4. As many have pointed out, the “latest headlines,” are now somewhat buried—one of the things the old CNN had going for it was the latest headlines were always clear
• 5. The play icon overlay treatment on the lead video on the homepage makes the whole thing look like an ad
• 6. The consistency of design treatment even in the show promos near the bottom of the page is impressive
• 7. I can see how the arrow icons next to “Money” and “Sports” in the main nav can be confusing to people, although I will say that when I first noticed them I assumed from their placement and treatment that they were partner/sister sites
• 8. The fact that NewsPulse doesn’t remember your filtering preferences when you revisit the page kind of defeats the purpose of personalization. It’s also a lot more interesting when you change the dropdown on the top right to 15 minutes (otherwise it doesn’t offer much more than a most popular box on the homepage)
• 9. http://www.cnn.com/video/ is the same experience. Can’t wait to see what they’re planning for the next iteration of this section.
• 10. The CNN Challenge, an interactive video quiz with CNN anchors, is incredibly well executed. All the details are in place (e.g. flashy motion graphics intro with sound, a leaderboard, score tracking, interesting variation in questions and question formats, compelling transitions between states of the application, etc.)

One of the first editions of New York Magazine is available for free online through Google Books. The April 29th, 1968 edition, art directed by Milton Glaser, includes bold typography, illustrations and a story on New York graffiti. It’s nice to see that the logotype from ’68 is virtually unchanged today.

NPR’s Scott Simon posted a video walkthrough of the redesigned NPR.org site, scheduled to launch 7/27. It seems like NPR is trying to solve very specific challenges here, for example driving more traffic to their topical categories by moving the current left-hand nav to the top of the page and giving it a prominent treatment.

It’s worth noting that there isn’t a single feature here that is completely innovative (although the fullscreen slideshow is very nice and similar to something we have had in the works for Newsweek.com). But it’s clear from the video that the overall impact of specific interface changes can make a big difference in the overall site experience. I’m really looking forward to checking out the new site when it launches.

What do you think of the redesign?

Vanity Fair’s literary editor, research, and copy departments edit Sarah Palin’s resignation speech. It’s hilarious and reminiscent of when Colbert edited a letter from Newsweek’s Jon Meacham a few weeks ago, minus the Cheetos of course.

I’m not a big advocate of awards shows, particularly in advertising, but the Outdoor Grand Prix winner the 56th Cannes Lion International Advertising Festival this year is noteworthy. From AdAge:

The “Trillion Dollar Campaign” for the newspaper The Zimbabwean from TBWA Hunt Lascaris, Johannesburg, South Africa, plastered real Zimbabwean trillion-dollar banknotes onto billboards, murals and fliers, serving as a real-life symbol of the country’s record inflation and economic collapse. The campaign ultimately aimed to raise awareness of Zimbabwe’s suffering under the Mugabe regime and increase the newspaper’s customer base elsewhere in the hopes of getting it back into the hands of Zimbabwe people.

The paper was exiled from the country for exposing the corruption of its government, which subsequently imposed a 55% luxury import tax on the publication, making it unaffordable for the average citizen.

I’m glad the campaign is getting recognition outside of Zimbabwe.

Blockhead played a great set at the worst venue ever (the 2005 World Cyber Games USA National Final Tournament) in the Hammerstein Ballroom last night. Tim and I waited for longer than I’d like to admit, suffering through some terrible anime and impromptu push-up/pantomime contests (not kidding), to see Blockhead’s free set. But I think the other 5 people who stuck around would agree.. it was worth it.

Salon.com compiled a must-watch quicktime movie of TV anchors and reporters as they “grapple with their sources, the spin wars, and each other” in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. If only it didn’t take a catastrophe of this scale, with such blatant misinformation from government sources trying to dodge responsibility for their inactions, for reporters to grow backbones.