there's a preview of the new max lens on the squidblog
http://cobrand.squidoo.com/mjc/looks/newmax.jpg


http://blogs.squidoo.com/squidblog/2009 … ns-design/

Thanks, Christene. Missed some directions, there.

A few things people might have missed when reading the blog post:
1) the 'Min' or 'Unmax' style will also be changed to match the new Max style (hurrah!)
2) more choice to do with the look and feel of your lenses, including a variety of colours
3) new design for the Guestbook module...

Since I designed the new lens, I thought I'd tell you's guys what was going through my mind when I was pushing pixels in Photoshop.

I've had numerous discussions with Corey, Megan et al about lens design since coming on board last summer.  We all agreed that there was too much going on in the current (soon-to-be old) lens design.  But we also knew that much of that information was needed.  After a few revision cycles, we came up with something that is streamlined, yet still provides all the necessary essentials for site visitors and lensmasters.

In the site header, we lost the taglines and category designation next to the logo.  Links were consolidated into a single menu that uses dropdowns.  Finally, we made search and a lens-building call to action more prominent by borrowing those element from the recently-released home page.

The lens header has been moved to the top of the main content column.  Lens stats have been pruned and social icons have been added (previously housed in the sidebar).  By moving the lens header to the content column, the lensmaster bio is now more prominently featured, which we hope everyone will appreciate.

The sidebar is much cleaner as well.  Since search and the social icons have been removed, other sidebar elements have been moved up the page.  The lensmaster toolbox has been streamlined.  Gone is the orange background and intro text.

Not only is max changing on the outside, but Blake has been working hard to change it on the inside, too.  I won't go into details, but you'll notice the results when you visit front doors.  Max, Twttrlist, Squidlit, Squidwho, etc. will now be generated from the same files.  Styles and images will create the appropriate skins for those lens types. The result: all lenses will be laid out the same, so visitors (and lensmasters) won't have to search for nav links, search fields, etc.  Front doors have been touched up in the process.

I won't go into details about the new feature Megan referred to in the blog post, but I think you'll enjoy it.  In fact, it was the catalyst for all the above changes.

Paperfacets, even though we lost the vertical break between columns, I think this new design will be much less confusing to site visitors.  At least, I hope.

kab wrote:

I see now.  It doesn't bug me.  Although I don't like that our avatar shrunk, and I prefer the badges under the avatar, and not under the description

The avatar was just too big for the page.  When I came to any new lens, my eyes always went to the lensmaster pic.  Although that's cool for those of us better looking than me, the real focus should be on the lens title.

The badges won't fit under the new pic.

Chadrew wrote:

Also did the font change, because I don't like the new one much (although it might look better in a real lens than a screenshot)...

The new font is arial. Max used to have Trebuchet. It's purely subjective, but I find Arial much easier on my eyes when reading long lenses.

joshuabrown wrote:

I find Arial much easier on my eyes when reading long lenses.

Yup, when designing and try testing new fonts, I always go back to Arial or Helvetica. Great choice!

I notice that the lens' rank in its category is under the rating stars, which is good. But I notice the overall lensrank is in the Toolbox. That tells me only the lensmaster is going to see the overall lensrank for that lens. I don't like that at all. As an Angel, I pay attention to a lens' overall rank. It can affect what I might do about rating a lens or giving it a thumbs up/down.

Even aside from being an Angel, I just like seeing where a lens stands overall on Squidoo. If all we're going to see is its rank in its category, we'll be missing something I consider important. Some categories may be small in comparison to others, so a low number may not be as meaningful as the same low number in a much larger category.

I have to say I like the new look.  I think it's easier on the eyes.  I agree with MobyD on the lensrank thing though.

joshuabrown wrote:

The new font is arial. Max used to have Trebuchet. It's purely subjective, but I find Arial much easier on my eyes when reading long lenses.

can you increase the font-size too? I manually increase the size of most of my lenses to 14px, but it would be really nice not to have to do that any more. I think that Arial appears smaller than Trebuchet at the same size, so bigger would be better.

Trekkiemelissa wrote:

As someone whom is usually critical in the past when it comes to webdesign.  This time, you made me happy.   I love the new look.  I can't wait to see it.  Personally, I always hated all of the dividers.   It looks a lot cleaner with the new look.

Thanks! After looking over some of your lenses, I think you'll like what this next design update is going to include.

joshuabrown wrote:

I'm actually thinking about recommending we add a font size switcher to the lens.

YES!
Agree with Fluff that the default font is too small.

Cinetech wrote:

Trekkiemelissa wrote:

Personally, I always hated all of the dividers.   It looks a lot cleaner with the new look.

With all due respect, it's not a matter if one likes or not. It's all about the reader's experience.
It's about if the reader is willing to stay and continue reading your lens or leave because he
or she doesn't know where to focus on. It's about eliminating obstacles for the visitor to be invited
and continue reading our lenses. Btw, that's why I prefer a bigger default text font.

The thing is most sites have it without dividers.  Yes our eyes usually point to the right, but we also know where the information is supposed to be.  Its a rules of thirds when it comes to design.  There are other sites that don't have dividers.