For the past few weeks I’ve been enamored with Garrett Dimon’s recent redesign. I’m a sucker for clean sites that focus on great typography and really step back to let it shine, but that’s not what’s got me so interested in his site. It’s been the philosophy behind why he did it that I really like. He hopes “not only to improve the quality of [his] communication, but also the clarity of [his] ideas. This entire redesign was motivated and designed around that single goal.”
It’s unabashedly all about the content and trying to communicate ideas. He’s spent the time to really style all the content page flourishes that can so easily become after thoughts or “I wish I had time to design those”. The different inline images you want to include, good looking pull quotes, etc. are all there and it’s great. Occasionally with the shorter articles I’ve noticed some of the visuals are a little distracting, and I’m sure the articles aren’t quick to write now with all the extras, but overall it really accomplishes his goal. He’s been experimenting with Campfire and comments too, which while I’m not sure live chat is really doable it’s great to see some new experimentation out there. I’m just hoping he can keep up the blogging.
The other thing I really enjoyed is that it’s powered by a content management system that also shares his goal—Simplelog. Simplelog is now in version 2 and is “a Ruby on Rails weblog application that helps you focus on writing above all else.” I’ve been following it closely for a while now and been on the latest betas. It’s quickly become a favorite of mine for simple weblog publishing. The user interface gets out of your way and lets you focusing on posting. Or as Garrett Murray so aptly puts it “by focusing on simplicity and usability, SimpleLog allows you to spend your time writing, rather than managing a convoluted CMS.”
The site design and the backend make up are an almost perfect blend of a site with a beautifully simple design and a content management system that compliments it. To see both design and technology combine so nicely makes me smile—well done.
I’m just excited to see the “solution” to documenting interface design that Garrett has been teasing us with for quite a while now.
He has said it’s a hybrid approach that combines wireframes, page description diagrams, and functional specs.
I want him to show it already!
Walker: Yeah, I’m interested to see what he’s come up with as well. Hopefully soon!
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