The Redesign and Other Be A Design Group Updates
by Adrian Hanft, (7 comments)
We have had a redesign in the works for quite a while and this weekend I finally got the nerve to pull the trigger and set it free. If you have any comments on our new look or are interested in the geeky design details then keep reading…
Here are some of the highlights of our new and improved site:
1. Flash replacement of headlines
Since the web isn’t any closer to font freedom, I used SiFR to replace our headlines with a non-system typeface, Futura.
2. New templates
BADG has been powered by Movable Type since 2004 and our templates were pretty old, not to mention I barely knew what I was doing when I first created them. Our new templates take advantage of MT’s improvements over the past few years. This should keep things flowing smoothly and with less bandwidth and strain on our servers.
3. Valid markup
Our XHTML and CSS both validate. Hooray!
4. Affiliate BAnners
More about this in the future, but we now have a system for rotating banners of our sponsors. I hate to call them BAnner ads, but the goal of our affiliate program will be to help offset the cost of maintaining the site. If you are interested in purchasing a banner, just send us an email!
5. Pages are now PHP
The really observant may have noticed that our pages changed from shtml to php a couple months ago, but now it is official. If you try to access any of the old shtml pages you will be redirected to the new php pages thanks to some tricky .htaccess redirection. Hey, I told you this was geeky didn’t I?
6. Improved comment spam protection
As an extra layer of defense you now have to type the word “design” before your comments appear on the site. This simple test filters out the robots from the humans and keeps BADG spam free. When combined with our top secret spam reduction methods BADG it is our goal that spam comments will never appear on our site.
7. Now hosted by MediaTemple
We finally outgrew 1and1 and moved our site to MediaTemple. They have been great so far and they are one of the few web hosts that appreciate and promote good design. That makes them the perfect fit for us, and we recommend them.
8. New BA photos
We have a fresh batch of BA’s in rotation. Thanks to everyone who has submitted photos. Keep them coming!
9. BetA Login
BetA, our private blog for graphic designers is still going strong. Now you can login to BetA from the sidebar on our homepage. If you don’t know what BetA is, read all about it here.
10. Updates by Email
This is actually an old feature, but the notification system needed to be reset when we switched servers. If you have signed up for email notification in the past you will need to sign up again. Any time a new post is made to BADG you will receive an email. You can sign up and learn moer here.
The launch of a redesign is exciting, but what really excites me is that the time I was spending on building the site now can go to writing for the site again. I have been relatively quiet on the site for many months and I am looking forward to stirring up some trouble again. Thanks to everyone for your continued support!
Comments (7)
Bob said:
Frankly, I’m not too blown away at first sight…
I find the colour scheme a bit bland, and the text in the big buttons on top gets cut off in my Opera 9.11.
Posted on May 21, 2007
Peter Marquardt said:
I have a problem with the top buttons. They have this huge target area but only a small strip is clickable. Also the underline rollover is flaky because unless I move the mouse out at a certain angle and speed often the underline will just stay there because it didn’t get a roll out action. Another thing that bothers me is the white delimiter bar between “10.” and the last paragraph because it kinda hangs there barely connected to the right and not at all connected to the left.
That’s all in safari… just sayin’
As for the color scheme, I think it’s ok. Nothing brave or exciting. I really do like the improved looks of the main page though.
Posted on May 21, 2007
Adelie said:
Hooray for validated code!
Just two small design critiques. Now that you’ve made the background lighter, I’ve realized just how easy on the eyes that light beige was. I find the new, lighter look a bit glaring.
Also, I agree with Peter that it would be nice if you could click anywhere in the squares at the top.
Other than that, great job guys!
Posted on May 21, 2007
ben swift said:
template is kind of messed up in IE6. other than that, good work you geek!
Posted on May 21, 2007
Nate Voss said:
Yeah I can’t read the type. It’s like reading a novel set as a footnote, or listening to a long story by a chronic whisperer. I know I can make it bigger, but then I go back to other sites and I’m hit with giganto-type. So I’m just putting that out there. Safari.
—nv—
Posted on May 21, 2007
Kyle said:
I like the new look—it’s nice to see something different. I would suggest adding Portfolio Tips ( or related topic) to the reocurring themes sidebar. This seems like a topic students and professionals would come back to search for.
Posted on May 21, 2007
Joe Moran said:
Adrian,
Way to go! Good stuff!!!
VR/
Posted on May 22, 2007