Sign in with Facebook
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 1,751-1,800 of 3,113 (3113 new)
message 1751:
by
Kira
(last edited Dec 16, 2015 05:08AM)
(new)
Dec 16, 2015 05:06AM
Well.. It looks like a fade away font and color to me, btw is the new font color teal? I personally prefer the old one... BUT.. This new style's not that bad, it will take some time to get used to it. There is room for improvement. ie the color and font.
flag
But lay-out? Best left to the professionals, I'd say.Professionals would have tested it on a wide array of platforms, a wide array of character sets and a wide array of user types.
Designing for accessibility, not just looks is a big part of being a professional web designer nowadays.
This bright white background is killing my eyes
I think phone users will definitely have a problem. And also, I feel like I'm reading a very childish version of my handwriting.
But I think I'll get used to it.
Oh and it's a pain in the -wherever-
I find the new colour and font harder to see / read. I suppose I'll get used to it... (sigh)
I mean...To be honest...I don't really care...It still kinda looks the same, except there's no preview option, so...yeah.
It's harder to read than the previous version. The font really makes my eyes hurt and my head dizzy.
It... will take some time getting used to.
First of all I'm not against changes...but some changes need tweaking. ;)Unfortunately, I'm also one of those who have trouble with the new font. It seems kind of blurry and I have to increase the page to be able to read it.
Also the page is really bright and the longer I stay on the website the more it hurts my eyes.
So, having slept on it, the font in the comments section doesn't look to bad, but there are now people stating in my update feed that they're not going to write reviews, because the new design makes their head hurt. Thanks so much for this.Also, the link colour in reviews blends with the text, and the block of text is aligned to the left, which doesn't look as clean as justified.
I just don't understand why you felt the need to use several fonts and several sizes, because it's now more difficult (especially with the missing borders and background colours) to browse the content.
Why not address the more pressing issues, like the many MANY requests people have made on several things? It doesn't seem very professional to announce a change like this when it has clearly not been tested enough.
Accessibility is important, and although we all appreciate your hard work, this was a failed effort.
am i the only one here, who love its new UI?
Looks great to me (using Chrome on a PC).
Wow, it's terrible. The font is so hard to read compared to the old one.
I don’t like it.The new font makes the text more difficult to read, especially for those with eye sight issues.
Moreover, the background is too white and makes it tiring to keep looking at it.
The new font against a brighter background is so difficult to read, it's making my eyes hurt! Please change it back to the previous font and background color!
1. The background is too bright.2. The font is serif instead of sans Serif.
3. The fonts are unusually large.
I thought the iOS app was underpowered and underwhelming, but the new website design has touched a new low.
Please please please fix it ASAP!
Sebastian wrote: "But lay-out? Best left to the professionals, I'd say.Professionals would have tested it on a wide array of platforms, a wide array of character sets and a wide array of user types.
Designing fo..."
I totally agree that something went obviously wrong since so many users are reporting problems. I was referring more to the feeling that we as users should be allowed to decide what the site should look like.
I don't mind the changes, but the font needs to go. This font is not conducive to reading long passages. My problem would be for those of us who use Goodreads to discuss books. Yesterday, I did what I normally do - read all the comments in various groups and my eyes were definitely strained accompanied by a massive headache. I've heard there is a workaround (I'll definitely be trying that) but I would think all the complaints on here would prove that this font isn't for everyone. It's a "pretty" font and probably looks nice to those who don't spend hours on here reading.
Update on my Stylish fix. On reading the comments, I've changed the main font back to Georgia, which I believe was the original body font Goodreads was using. You can get the fix here: https://userstyles.org/styles/121888/...
I don't like it. It really bothers my eyes now. I prefer the old way! Why does everyone always have to change stuff when it is working fine and say they make it better when they really don't. If it isn't broke than don't fix it!
I guess I might get used to it, but I think it is harder to look at. It is way too small and thin!
I like this. I can read this font a lot better.
Amy wrote: "Wish I could see what the hell I'm looking at. This blinding white background is ridiculous and then you top it off with a tiny, unreadable font. Reading reviews is completely impossible. I can't c..."I agree with you! That bright white light is blinding. The print is blurry. It really hurts my eyes and I have enough trouble with them already. I do not need to make them any worse.
Sebastian wrote: "But lay-out? Best left to the professionals, I'd say.Professionals would have tested it on a wide array of platforms, a wide array of character sets and a wide array of user types.
Designing fo..."
The funny thing is, I know people have left the site before for GR's continued ignorance regarding accessibility issues. I thought that needed fixing before - definitely do now that the layout is giving me and plenty of others with no previous vision problems a hard time.
+ 1000 for an off-white background color and quickly loading, readable font (serif for review space & feed, PLEASE). At the very least.
Okay the way I see it-For this : 5
Against this : 95
Please fix it, ASAP
Gail wrote: "I don't like it. It really bothers my eyes now. I prefer the old way! Why does everyone always have to change stuff when it is working fine and say they make it better when they really don't. If it..."My sentiments exactly.
The new fonts are much harder to read, I don't like them. I miss the previous coloured background on the headers.
I don't mind the color changes, but the Merriweather font still seems very blurry and hard to read. Even Lato is still a bit blurry for me. I'm reading both on pretty large desktop screens too. My eyes keep wandering trying to read it and it's giving me a headache.
The font visibility has improved slightly since yesterday, but it continues to be too small. And you have surely have worked so hard on an inexistent need to change the font that you forgot completely the borders; Border lines are inviting, reassuring.Sorry but now this Website looks depersonalized, unclassy, cold, improvised and incomplete. Oh, right! It's incomplete: remain lacking of advanced search options, half stars, LIKE button on comments, etc.
Appearance over content, are such your priorities? Really? How sad.
So I thought that after sleeping on it I would like it....but no go. It's still a major headache, especially when WRITING in the comments box. I think it's the bright white background with the tiny typeface. I just....ugh. I can't like it, I'm sorry.
"Notice something different?" Yes, I do, what was nice and readable is now blurry and harder to read.
I don’t like it.The new font makes the text more difficult to read, especially for those with eye sight issues.
Moreover, the background is too white and makes it tiring to keep staring at it.
Maybe it's just me but don't see much difference, only that the font seems smaller? It's ok, i guess.
Unfortunately the font is really difficult to read. Totally fine with the other changes, though.
I don't want to be a hater, but I really find the new fonts significantly more difficult to read. Can I change it somehow?
Most of the changes look great, but I'm finding the font quite pale. It looks like a mid-grey against the background, rather than black, and so isn't easy to read.
Thanks for the update! Overall, I like the clean-up. The serif font unfortunately is hard to read, the lines are too thin and especially the serifs are disappearing on my 1920x1080 resolution screen.
The sans serif is better, but also difficult to read in certain sizes, e.g. the main navigation with "Home My Books Groups ..." is not well rendered.
Has anyone else's feed disappeared on their home page? How do I get it back?
It looks nicer but... I'm not sure what it is, I'm getting a headache after thirty seconds of looking at the screen. Tried in three different browsers.
I hate how there are no borders around reviews!!! It is so distracting! Here is a before and after (I happen to have a review up on my computer before the changes)https://twitter.com/DentistHeatherK/s...
Also, look at the different fonts with the book titles- stupid! That font is so messy. The spacing is more crammed, and I hate how the authors' names are in black so you can't tell what is a hyperlink or not.
i am so glad this website exists i would probably use it if you used the papyrus font. loving the new design!
Oh, and also I'd revisit the font size of the new sans serif headings, esp. the all caps ones: they are smaller (in height) than the content text in serif that follows, which looks wrong to me.
Gemma wrote: "Most of the changes look great, but I'm finding the font quite pale. It looks like a mid-grey against the background, rather than black, and so isn't easy to read."I agree. And it still looks fuzzy, probably because it's so pale.
