Without the image, or at least an explanation of the site concept, the old design just kind of… shoved each latest piece in the face of the reader, and with the more literary or subtly styled pieces, that might have created a bit of an “eh?” response in some cases, to the detriment of both reader and author.

When you bear in mind that, as I hoped, we never stick to one style or genre, and the site isn’t tied to one particular writer’s personality, it was probably asking a lot of them, without clarification.

It’s worth noting that James was there when I was designing the site, and has voiced this opinion a few times… so he has thought about this a lot!

James> I finally got it together to redesign the site a little bit… I had become horribly attached to the idea of delivering writing in a similar way to 365 Tomorrows, but I think you were right, the site concept needed to be more front-and-center.

I hope the new layout makes more sense!

My viewpoint is just the product of my particular imagination and visual stimulation; I could get the gist of the writing, (and you’re quite right, the window is explicitely mentioned) however looking at the image tied it all together for me.

If, outside of the brief of the site, you’d written it as a longer piece (or perhaps a chapter of a book) there might be something that hints at how the narrator arrived at this point.

For me, as it is, it’s a clear example of how elephant words piece works.

Cheers

James

By way of a suggestion, the story meant absolutely nothing to me, until I saw the picture. While this might sound like a redundant statement in the context of the site’s objectives, In the first instance I read every story without looking at the associated image; just as a self-indulgent exercise, to see if I can ‘get it’. Some stand alone with absolutely no need for an image (Nick’s last piece), others rely entirely on the image to provide context, like Douglas’ contribution. Without the picture, it feels like a page torn from a book; you can admire the prose, but it is hard to see the sense of it.

The reason I think this is crucial is – and I’ve touched on this before – there isn’t anything that immediately communicates the idea of the site to a casual browser. The ‘about’ section isn’t enough; a user still has to learn the format, and if they’re anything like me they’re probably a bit lazy.

50yfn conveys the idea of the site in about 5 seconds. Perhaps EW could aim for something similar?