Valhalla Island

Hell, I don’t even like the writing much. Actually, the writing is probably the worst part of the new design. I’m not talking about the content, more about the writing embedded in the design, the static parts that stick with the design wherever you go.

I don’t want anyone to get me wrong, I’m a big fan of non-conventional copy when it comes to websites, “Move along” instead of just a “Next” button, is great for example. But things like “What would you like to see today?” displayed before a menu only three items long is annoying and is taking it over the top. It happens again with the search, “What are you looking for today?” Why say that instead of a simple “Search”? Why even include the word “today”? If you’re searching in the present (and not from the future or past via some sort of time travelling machine) it’s not possible to be doing it any other day apart from today.

The single article pages have a curious and large gap up the top. That’s also the article the design was released on. Filled with almost 100 comments telling him how great it all is. I seriously feel like I am missing something, I keep switching between browsers trying to find something I haven’t seen yet. A lot of the comments commend the new categories, so I poked around the categories.

From what I find, the site seems to be completely split into categories much the same way a newspaper is with sport, finance, lifestyle, etc. Except with Avalonstar everything’s modestly preceded by “Rockstar”. Each category page also has it’s own excessively big header. The category links on the homepage also have their own little cartoon large icon/picture next to them, the point of this? I’m not sure.

The major problem for me is the bits everywhere that aren’t actually anything. Little lines, double lines when a single would do, patterns sitting in almost random places. It looks like Bryan has used some sort of little notes to make sure everything is lined up properly and then has forgotten to take them out. They’re everywhere and they’re extremely distracting, maybe I have undiagnosed ADD but I find it really hard to concertrate on the content. The width of content with grey text on a navy background doesn’t make it any easier.

I know Bryan has a lot of friends and I don’t want to piss anyone off, I just really loved the old one.