Site Critique: The Awesomer

http://www.theawesomer.com

The Awesomer is a blog where every entry links to something interesting the proprietors found while surfing the net. Duly noted, anything - from Steampunk Star Wars toys to skull-shaped vodka bottles - can count as “something interesting.” Since it was originally conceived in August 2008 as a “technology shopping blog for guys,” frequent subjects include cars, video games, and alcohol.

From a functional perspective, the site works like a charm. The RSS - efficiently yet subtly integrated into the primary navigation - is convenient, letting me use Google Reader to fetch my updates automatically. Since the site concern material goods, entries have "Buy It" and "Hat Tip" links which point offsite to places you can buy the item or to relevant articles, respectively. Clicking one article brings up links to others you may like. I enjoy how the designers provide, by links, sorted by interest, to its sources and bridges common social networking sites by maintaining accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace.

Browsing entries is a breeze. The site architecture never deepens more than two levels, and the navigation stays constant on every page. Navigation consists of two menus, a primary for entry filters and a secondary for site information. While the site information categories – “About,” “Contact” - are relatively standard, the filter titles are more ambiguous when they try to be hip. I could deduce “Wearables” pretty quickly, but I still can’t quite describe “Lux.” “Leisure” is pretty vague, and there is the much-hated-by-Gavin “Etc” category. The home page lets you view all entries, but there is no “All” category in the filter navigation. Instead, users click the title image to return to the homepage. Although this does not bother me, it may not be obvious to less-experienced users. What does bother me, though, is that nothing indicates which filter I am under. Since the only difference between filter sections is different entry pictures, the primary navigations’ maroon rollover should also be used as a selected state.


My favorite aspect is the look. The logo is at once modern and retro, and its constant presence helps users remember the site name. Especially for a site that updates constantly, it is important that users remember the URL to return later. Each entry consists of an image, a succinct title, a one-sentence description, and some sharing information. They are laid out in a uniform grid. Online, images are preferable to text for efficiently conveying information. They are much more clickable, more engaging. Unfortunately, the Awesomer deceived me with such large calls to action – pictures opened up in Lightbox rather than directed me to articles. The background is off-black, screen-printed with a subtle, abstract, grey design. Paying homage to its technorati roots, the site uses easy-to-read, white, text pops out, so users can read it easily. Serif fonts distinguish header text from copy. However, the maroon links can be hard to read against a dark background on dim monitors.

Overall, the Awesomer deftly organizes a lot of information through filters, uniform layout, and imagery. A few design details have been overlooked, but there are many subtle features which I appreciate. When things are constantly updating, simplicity and subtlety define elegance, and the Awesomer presents news stylishly.