Reflecting upon the Signal vs. Noise Redesign

Web-based app maker 37signals� Signal vs. Noise (SvN) is one of a select few blogs that I frequently visit. SvN underwent a redesign last Fall by designer Mig Reyes, who joined 37signals near the start of the same year. Besides being an avid user of 37signals� apps, I know Mig through his inspiring leadership of CreativeMornings in Chicago.

Now that there�s distance from the October 2012 launch of SvN�s redesign, I wanted to share some first impressions, evolved over time:

Legibility

The large headline and body text sizes were immediately obvious, even more so displayed on my MacBook Pro (13 in.).

I was used to viewing more of the mass of a post in SvN�s previous design. The redesigned post is augmented by default, which means that the focus rests almost exclusively on the most recent post. I found this change jarring at first, but I learned to like it. If you incorporate the context of 37signals� history and attitude, you wouldn�t be surprised by 37signals� decision to elevate the text�s stature.

This change reminds me of Paul Rand�s last book From Lascaux to Brooklyn (1996). A distinctive characteristic was the prose, typeset at a larger size, easily compared to the design of his previously published works.

There are angles, of course, to interpret this design decision. The angle I�ve settled into was that it helps to clearly present, even provoke, a point of view, with the volume raised (but not to 11). Fast forward from 1996 to the present, Josh Brewer, principal designer at Twitter, tweeted: �I am pretty sure that making your text as legible/readable as possible is the most basic thing you can do to improve the experience 100x.�

Typographic Layout and Details

A blog is essentially a spine of information. The pattern of minimal blogs is its central axis of reading: one column, to view, to read, facilitated by generous margins. Reinforcing examples include Chicago-based Ideal Project Group�s blogging platform Brytter, web designer and publisher Mark Boulton�s journal The Personal Disquiet, and web culture series the pastry box project. From Allen Hurlburt�s classic book Layout: the design of the printed page (1977), �Symmetrical balance has produced page designs of rare beauty, and the aesthetic conditions that inspired classic page design continue to set the pattern for a fair proportion of contemporary design.�

Finding influence again in printed matter, Frank Chimero�s book The Shape of Design (2011) showcases a well-justified, albeit dignified, column.

Paul Rand�s design of author Thomas Mann�s The Tables of the Law (1945) also utilizes a single column with well-distributed kerning.

A detail, carried from the printed interface, is the indent, shown in both examples. Indents also play a role in SvN�s redesign. Block paragraphs were utilized in its previous layout, where a line space marked the start of a related group of thoughts within a post. For indented paragraphs(1), the line space is reduced to a notch of space. Sounds and looks like simplification.

Another detail is the series of signal-wave forms, which punctuate the prelude of each SvN post. They also add to the total vertical form of the blog. But by themselves, they�re delightful accents, like these ornaments from Our Deportment, a book about etiquette from 1881.

Speaking of etiquette, some of the criticism toward the redesigned SvN was unsurprisingly swift. Any effort�even redesigning a blog�consists of many, upon many, decisions, both seen and unseen. Sensing this underlying dynamic, and thereby giving something a definitive chance to be used, is not everyone�s M.O. In his blog post �Stop telling us how much everything sucks,� user experience designer Rian van der Merwe encourages proactive attention followed by articulation:

�It�s easy to write a few paragraphs about how much something sucks. You know what�s difficult? Recognizing and respecting complexity. Giving people the benefit of the doubt and trying to understand why they made the decisions they made�whether it�s related to business, design, development, or anything else.�

One of my favorite quotes is by industrial designer and professor Jan Michl: �Design is redesign.� The add-on: Redesign is reflection.

(1) Paragraphs after the headline are not indented. This follows Robert Bringhurst�s recommendation in The Elements of Typographic Style: �The function of a paragraph is to mark a pause, setting the paragraph apart from what precedes it. If a paragraph is preceded by a title or subhead, the indent is superfluous and can therefore be omitted.� Adapting Bringhurst�s classic book to the screen, designer Richard Rutter made The Elements of Typographic Style Applied to the Web.

Photos by Nate Burgos