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Did You Notice Something a Little Different?
UPDATE: Thanks for all the feedback! For those of you who were having issues with blurriness, we have good news: we pushed out an update this afternoon that improves the sharpness of the font for users who were affected. We’re monitoring all the comments and will keep you posted on any further updates.
If you’re a frequent visitor to Goodreads, you've probably noticed a few tweaks we’ve made to the fonts and colors on the desktop site today. Our goal with these small-but-important changes was to consolidate and refresh our visual styles and lay the groundwork for some design improvements that we’re planning in the future.
What’s different?
To enhance the readability of text on Goodreads, we’ve adopted two new open-source fonts. Lato, our sans-serif font, was designed by Warsaw-based designer Łukasz Dziedzic (“Lato” means “Summer” in Polish). Merriweather, our serif font, was created by Eben Sorkin and was designed to be pleasant to read on screens.
To make it easier to scan the page for information you need, we’ve touched up and modernized the design of common page layout elements like section headers, tabs and links.
To simplify and modernize our visual design, we’ve reduced the number of link colors we use, removed gradients from buttons and the site navigation, and applied a more harmonious color palette to interactive elements such as buttons, stars, and links.
Before:
Comments Showing 1,051-1,100 of 3,113 (3113 new)
message 1051:
by
[deleted user]
(new)
Dec 15, 2015 03:26PM
I am sorry I don't like it the color hurts my eyes to no end and I can barely make out the words because of it, it really does hurt your eyesight.
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When I refresh the page the font changes to the old one (I think) for a second and even though it's smaller it's easier to read them because they are thicker. Maybe try it with this font and wait what others'll say.
Love the new design and fonts!People saying it's killing their eyesight need to Chill...
Oh JFC, the flailing dramatics from you Goodreads paleos is making me root for every bullying you (possibly) got in high school. I've been here since 2009 and adaption is how the internet rolls.
WHAT THE FUCK EVS.
WHAT THE FUCK EVS.
Goodreads mods, please, the font needs to be larger, please!
Sharli wrote: "Love the new design and fonts!People saying it's killing their eyesight need to Chill..."
I'd love to chill by reading this site. Instead I have a headache because my eyes can't focus. Not everyone has perfect eyesight.
Hm...I can see what you were aiming for, but the serif font is a little too large and "soft" for me (I am nearsighted). The sans-serif font is a bit crammed in terms of word spacing. The old fonts were actually much more readable and easy on the eyes.That said, would it be possible to let users choose their own font? Even just 3-4 options would be nice...I mean, it's a book-related site, so users do a lot more reading on Goodreads than they do on other social media sites...having options would be worth the development effort (I hope?). :)
Edit: Snap, now my user pic (being smaller than default display size) is blurry as well....not cool, guys.
I loved the previous format. I hate the new one.
I preferred the old layout, especially the more obvious breaks in sections. The new layout is harder to read. But hey, as changes go it's not so different it's impossible to use, so thanks for that :-)
Rick wrote: "Casceil wrote: "I hate it. It is harder to read. I know I am not the only Goodreads member with "older" eyes. I would bet the decision to make these changes came from people under 40, who have no c..."Well I'm 25. My eyes are fine. But I do have Dyslexia. Now people with this condition all respond differently to different types of fonts and font sizes. I personally work best with 14. and above. And this change has really, really messed with brain.
YUCK!!!!! The font is MUCH harder to read. It looks blurry and small. It's absolutely horrible and it gives me a headache to read it.
Michael wrote: "Just amazing how GR is consistently good in fixing things which are not broken instead of fixing things which are..."Ditto!
I, too, find the fonts very difficult to read. They are not as dark and clear as the former fonts. I significantly increased the zoom level, and still find them uncomfortable.
Taylor wrote: "Is it just me or is the background TOO white and bright ?!"Background is too white and bright. Too much white space, not enough contrast. Blargh. I'm getting a headache.
Still hoping for a toned background here... I feel like I'm looking into a blizzard.
All I notice is that the mini profile picture at the top of the page is now a circle and the fonts look a wee bit different. No clue why people are freaking out about this.
I like it, it is subtle and yet more modern.
Nick wrote: "All I notice is that the mini profile picture at the top of the page is now a circle and the fonts look a wee bit different. No clue why people are freaking out about this."You should have seen it a few hours ago... It was crazy.
The font size on this page is good, but it's a bit too small on my updates feed page.
Yes, I have, since when I arrived here, there were letters I couldn't see and the fonts' size was not all that pleasant to the eye (actually, in certain parts of certain pages it still isn't) , I had to step away from the computer. When I came the letters were all visible - so yay for that.I also don't know if the search bar is supposed to work like this permanently, but I like it better when I write something and the bar gives me suggestions/possibilities fitting the searchable word. It's so easier to find something when you can't remember the full title sometimes and quicker when you know what you want.
I really do think the size and thickness of the fonts should improve. It is not visually ergonomic at all! If it still doesn't work, you need better/improved ones or the older ones.
Being a lover of blue/green/turquoise/foam and colours within that spectrum myself, I still think the site becomes more tiring in the way that it is too plain. We need a bigger/more different colour spectrum to find different sorts of things and keep the interest going - just like when preparing studying materials. My eyes, aside from hurting at the quote of the day in italic and these smalls letters on the comment box, etc, etc... get bored and my brain looses interest quickly. I don't have the will to read all of this, or keep searching stuff on the links/tabs... It lacks stimuli and appeal.
I do like the letters being rounder in a way, it always gives me a quirkier feel to the text. But that's about it.
awful awful awful. Is there a way to change it back??????
Goodreads user for 5 years. Can't tell any difference even with before and after picture.
I was more of a fan of the previous fan. This font is not that great.
I'm using chrome and have my font size set to medium and my page zoom set to 175%. I had those settings before this change and maybe that's why I like the font. I also where reading glasses or else everything is blurry.
Karla wrote: "Oh JFC, the flailing dramatics from you Goodreads paleos is making me root for every bullying you (possibly) got in high school. I've been here since 2009 and adaption is how the internet rolls.W..."
You mean adaptation.
Also, internet sites also listen to their user base. GR asked, and users are reporting the site difficult to use because of this change. It's not being whiny. It's legitimate, hey, I can't use this site because it physically hurts. So no, not WHAT THE FUCK EVS.
Krista wrote: "Also, would it be possible if you could create a button or link where we can see/expand the updates' history on our personal wall? Could you allow us to see all the updates we've made and not just the recent ones?"Hey Krista - we don't have this holistic view, but we do have status updates: https://www.goodreads.com/user_status...
Marian wrote: "That said, would it be possible to let users choose their own font?"
As this was an update we made for visual consistency, we won't be offering multiple font options for different members.
New font is horrible to read! The color headings are OK but trying to read blocks of print is now awfully hard on the eyes. New ain't always better....
This aren't "small-but-important changes", the font style and size along with the background color changes were completely unnecessary let alone small. My eyes have been watering for 10 minutes looking at this site and from the amount of the other 1100+ comments, I'm not alone. I have had to zoom to 125% to view this website comfortably.Change for the sake of change, as the font style & size along the background color clearly are, are always mistakes that people who run websites make which results in web traffic declining.
Give how unpopular these changes are, I urge you to return to the old font style & size as well as the old background color for the sake of your user's eyesight or see an exodus of users.
Out of curiosity, what was the name of the previous body font? I'm beginning to notice the change in the way my eye reads here, too. I'm not adamantly against any of these changes, though. Experimentation will eventually lead to something everyone enjoys!
Good god, the fonts in the "My Review" section of a book's page are ALL over the place. All different sized fonts, serif and sans-serif, all mashed together in a really unappealing, ugly way. Is that getting fixed?Also, please, please, please change the white background. I'm all for sleek minimalism, but it's really rough on the eyes.
The new design looks simple and much more modern. I like it. The only thing I don't really understand is the choice of the colour for the links. It doesn't seem to match anything at all. Thankfully, no-one here is afraid of changes and no-one is overreacting at all < /sarcasm>
Not enough color contrast. I can hardly see the color difference in the message bars between those by a moderator and those by everyone else. And both are very close to the background.The message font is huge and wide, so not sure why people are saying they can't see it.
The new font makes it really painful to read on the computer. It hurts the eyes, for real, you guys should change it back.. didnt you guy test it before going live??
GR, I have a headache. I've been on GR for ten minutes. This is not normal.
What happened to the notifications? Now it's just showing the really really recent updates (like 1 minute ago things)
Also...the blueish link color is so close to the black text.
You also need a bigger contrast between the background and subtitles, (and all the other colors) they're too close in color and it's hard to tell the difference
Can't stand it!!! If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The fonts are too small and it hurts my eyes.
Why change the stars from red to orange? Did you learn from Martha Stewart that orange goes better with teal or something?
Noooo.The font is terrible. It hurts my eyes.
Please put it back.
Very difficult to read. The original version serif font is better on the eyes than these new ones, please give the option to revert and use the OLD Goodreads.
After all, we are READERS and many of us have poor eyesight, and this is NOT helping.
*sigh*
Gray text is too close to the background color also
