Web
design has clearly come a long way and the standard experience is certainly
more attractive and useful than in previous years. We’re in an exciting period now where some
design centered groups are pushing the boundaries of what a reading experience
should be, taking into account the multitude of ways people consume information
online in 2013 (smartphone, tablet…desktop…).
In regards to a reading experience, I’ve noticed two sites I frequent
quite a bit (one more than the other) experimenting with heightening the
consumption experience incorporating multimedia seamlessly within the narrative
flow…and they are doing it beautifully.
The New
York Times, known for their push for forward thinking, published a piece last
December on the Tunnel Creek avalanche.
The piece incorporates excellent multimedia elements (which are USEFUL)
and blend them into the flow seamlessly, instead of in parallel or as a
distraction. This effort took an initial
agreement from all teams involved with the design and collaborative
approach. All facets from overall
concept, flow and design needed to be coordinated during production. The NYT
plans to roll this type of design out in an iterative fashion and I can only
assume we’ll see more of this in the future as they roll it out to include the
main site, ebooks and entirely new mediums.
It will be interesting to see how they incorporate adverting.
NYT: Snow Fall
Pitchfork
(yes, this is the site I frequent the most of the two) is doing similar work
with some of their artist profiles- check out the Ty Segall and Bat for Lashes
pieces.
You’ll be
seeing a lot more of this trend soon.
