Via Leisa Reichart’s disambiguity, Andy Rutledge has a discussion of “quiet structure” on the new CNN site design, contrasted with the busyness of the new USA Today design.
He mentions simplicity (in header and structural elements) and consistency (in element and whitespace dimensions) as keys to making your content stand out from its presentation and having it be easy to actually read – creating the right kind of affordances for large quantities of content meant to be read rather than just skimmed. I read a lot online – here’s hoping more news (and blog, for that matter) sites will listen to Rutledge.
