Small Steps, yet Big Leaps
Driven by clarity and the need to inspire, our site redesign is live
One year in the making—and almost four years after our last refresh—we’ve just unveiled a brand new design for the site. As we’ve affirmed and honed our mission statement, you’ll continue to find much of what you’ve long loved about COOL HUNTING here. We aim, of course, to inspire, to quench curiosity, to filter through the ever-changing world of design and uncover that which speaks to the future. And yet, you’ll find that our visual emphasis has changed. Our previous six designs pushed boundaries and targeted unknown-to-the internet innovation. This time, clarity drives the site so that viewers can easily discover what we’ve spent time exploring and sharing.
When we started this publication almost 16 years ago, the site design was handled in-house—at first with the rudimentary tools we learned and sharpened. Several iterations afterward were done by us alone, as well. We pushed browser technology as far as possible introducing features like infinite scroll and interactive content maps before many other publications. Our last version was beautifully designed by our long-time friends, HyperHyper. After years meandering through the eccentricities of our own custom CMS, the WordPress community has taken us under their wing and have proven to be the most remarkable partners. And the skilled team at 10up guided our intention—and vast archive—into the clean, organized presentation you’ll find today. Together, we delved into the weight of every story type covered on the site and built a new balance—usable, of course, regardless of what platform we are viewed on.
As you explore, please feel free to drop us a line and share your thoughts. We, too, like to learn from those curious and observant.
What are your thoughts?