LebGeeks

rolf

Member

MDN design change

Holy ... MDN  (Mozilla Developer Network) changed their design!

The new design looks terribly Microsoftish / Google-ish, and I missed the old one from the first moment I saw it, when I opened this page:

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/doc … ouch.pageY

Very uninspired, if you ask me.

It must've happened the last couple of hours, because yesterday it was still the old design, hold on, let me make a screenshot, before it disappears forever:

What was wrong with the old look? They changed everything, even the colors, the logo is friggin blue now!

I want the old page back!

Last edited by rolf (December 10 2013)

xterm

Moderator

Re: MDN design change

Off-Topic: I'm sorry it's hard to concentrate on the screenshot with those pictures below it.

rolf

Member

Re: MDN design change

Off-Topic: I'm sorry it's hard to concentrate on the screenshot with those pictures below it.

Haha, yes I noticed them. You must have a big monitor, though. They don't show on my laptop LCD.

samer

Admin

Re: MDN design change

The new design looks terribly Microsoftish / Google-ish,

What makes you say that? The thin font-weight on headers? That's more of a design trend than a Microsoft/Google thing.

rolf

Member

Re: MDN design change

The new design looks terribly Microsoftish / Google-ish,

What makes you say that? The thin font-weight on headers? That's more of a design trend than a Microsoft/Google thing.

That, the font used, the usage of white space...

Also the colors, the lower contrast, the blue they used - which is a cold blue close to a color often used by Microsoft - and they even redid their logo in that color!

The old site had a particular visual identity and was more readable. I think it was great that they had managed to keep their colors and visual identity (and using "old" fonts) while having a modern navigation and organisation and still managing to look good!

I just want the old theme back. MDN is a great resource, and I really like to see an original theme, warm colors, readable fonts, and I liked the overall "mood" and the readability of the old theme, which I found to be very fitting to what the website is: a reference resource.

If this is a trend, I just find it wrong that it would be applied to everything, and to the extent of changing the logo and changing the all the colors. I think this has it's place on some more "marketing-oriented" pages, and not on all websites and for all companies. It seems to fit Microsoft well, as Microsoft have a thing for following trends and they were one of the earlier adopters of that look (if not the inventors) of that look, which somehow associates it with them, and makes it an identifying look to some extent. They also seem to be better at using it.

Following trends are not necessarily a good thing, especially if done indiscriminately, and surely not at the expense of brand visual identity. Besides, I don't really like that trend, to be fair! I'm not that much fan of this look. I think it's better off being a brand identity for Microsoft than being a global design trend.

Another trend which I am starting to dislike, is the trend of making everything huge, simple, and having big buttons (which seem to be growing boundlessly sometimes).

And finally, a word about trends: like the word implies, design trends, I guess, are supposed to pull and influence a design in a particular direction. This feels more like they painted all over the old look, than re-designing it with consideration to a new design trend.

Hopefully this was clear and informative enough, and as a disclaimer, I'm not a graphic designer or specialist of any sort in that discipline, but I've had much exposure to it, and I am passionate about this particular case (MDN redesign) for causes that I do not completely comprehend. So hopefully this opinion of mine will not be taken for more or for less than what it is.

TBH, I really hate this change, and find it somehow offensive when I look at it: I guess the lower contrast, the amount of white (and some other things) make it a step backwards in readability and usability, the warm and original color scheme is gone, and the Mozilla identity was significantly obliterated. The reduced readability and comfort of use is rather un-Mozilla-ish (and more Microsoft-ish), so that's one more thing...

Ok, well I guess there's not much left to add!

Actually, yes, by the way...
http://contrastrebellion.com

Last edited by rolf (December 10 2013)

samer

Admin

Re: MDN design change

Thank you for expanding on the previous answer. I mostly agree with what you wrote, although I don't seem to hate the new look as much. I would have also liked it if they maintained the previous identity / color scheme and modernized it.

By the way, I think you should have a look at DocHub. It sources it content from MDN, but has the advantage of being much faster to navigate.

rolf

Member

Re: MDN design change

Thank you for expanding on the previous answer. I mostly agree with what you wrote, although I don't seem to hate the new look as much. I would have also liked it if they maintained the previous identity / color scheme and modernized it.

By the way, I think you should have a look at DocHub. It sources it content from MDN, but has the advantage of being much faster to navigate.

You're welcome. Thanks for reading it, and I'm glad we find some common ground to agree on.
Also, thanks for the the pointer to Dochub. It is useful.