Subtraction
Jeremy at Alpha-Geek.com pointed today to Subtraction.com as a website design that stands out from the crowd (in a good way). He writes:
For some reason, I am really taken aback by the site. It’s so simplistic in design but so rich in all of the nuances.
Boy, do I agree. As I’ve noted before, I love clean, simple layouts (and do not hold up my own as a shining example). Subtraction is almost breath-takingly clean and stark, without feeling bare. There are so many nice things about this design.
I’ve been wanting to do a redesign for some time. As I first looked at Subtraction, I had a number of “I wish I’d thought of that” moments. With a design as distinctive as this, any thoughts of borrowing design elements are quickly suppressed by respect for the original. Take the links in the ‘Colophon’ section of the right column. They are text links with little pictures, so similar and yet so different to the ‘badges’ seen here and on so many other websites.
A couple of ideas which I saw were not completely new to me. I’ve actually been kicking around the idea of a black and white layout for a little while. Of course, if I do it now, it’ll feel like copying. The little image blocks at the beginning of many of the stories is another idea I’ve kicked around, but this implementation is much better than anything I’ve considered. The categorization scheme is also something I’ve been thinking alot about – Subtraction uses tags, like del.icio.us. I’ve already made plans to switch this site to a tag based system as soon as I figure out how I want to handle the permalinks.
Although the tag-category idea isn’t surprising, the four-column layout for displaying all of the categories is. As is the linkblog at the bottom of the page, which is more than just a link blog. Each item has a star-rating, and many of the comments are more extensive than the average linkblog. The layout is (like the rest of the design) understated and elegant.
Other details are subtle, but accumulate to great affect. The use of simple fonts, the font sizing, and the use of several shades of gray in addition to black and white form a whole greater than the sum of the parts. The use of horizontal lines also strikes me as stunning in a way I can’t quite put my finger on.
My only dislike is the use of done-to-death bright orange as the highlight color- in such a breakout design, it’s disappointing to see such a cliche. But this is a minor (and quickly forgettable) flaw, and every true masterpiece must have a single flaw.
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Bright orange has become a cliche in web design? Man, I am really out of the loop… I must be spending too much time in my aggregator because I thought subtraction.com was original with that. shrug
Well, to be fair, I suppose I’m not seeing it as much I used to; but I also spend most of my time in my aggregator. The first thing that pops to mind whenever I see bright orange is Zeldman.com, but of course his latest site redesign no longer uses it. And of course, orange is the new black.
But orange or no orange, Subtraction.com rocks.