Our last design has served the site well since Oslo 2010, but the world of the web has moved on. So, for your viewing pleasure, meet the new ESC Insight. It has all the same content as before, and moving forwards we’ll be able to make better use of images, videos, and audio throughout the site. We’ve also worked to bring a consistent look across desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.
It may be a bit bumpy for the first week or so – we’ve tested as much as we can in advance but some things will slip through, so if there is something that goes a bit wrong, leave us a comment on this post, ping us on Twitter (@ESCInsight) or find us on Facebook (facebook.com/escinsight)/
In the meantime, what has changed, why did we make certain decisions, and how will this make ESC Insight better for you, our readers?
The Relentless Web Moves On
The Internet has changed since ESC Insight first launched. The rise of mobile computing, smartphones, and tablets has changed how people view the web. Social networks have changed how people find news. And the expectations of layout, presentation, and accessibility have all evolved.
ESC Insight has one core product… our words. Whether they are spoken on our podcasts, videos, and radio shows or written in our headlines, articles, tweets, tumblrs, and Facebook posts, our words deserve the best possible presentation. In the website’s first version, you could read them, but it’s time to stop squishing them and drag them into a new look.
We’ve started with the written word, and focused on how to present them in a better way. How we handle our other media properties will be addressed in the first few months of 2016.
It’s Been A Long Time Since Ewan Wrote The Site
There was a bigger problem lurking behind the words. The first site was a mix of templates, plugins, and forks of WordPress. For the last five years, we’ve been bolting new bits on to the website, tinkering with code to make ‘something’ work, and that’s resulted in a mess of spaghetti in the code that runs the site. We needed a professional that knew web design, knew Eurovision, and could work with our design ideas.
Step forward Ross Barber’s Electric Kiwi.
The Mysterious Designer Arrives
Barber’s design house specialises in working within the music industry, creating websites and artwork for artists, labels, publishers, and others who are looking to establish a unique online presence. He’s worked with singer/songwriter & actor Tyler Hilton (Walk The Line, One Tree Hill, Extant), Supreme Entertainment Artists (representing Lee DeWyze, Aaron Carter, John Waite) and Eurovision Song Contest alumnus Demir Demirkan (‘Every Way That I Can’s’ composer).
Now the first part of the web design work is over, I asked him about his thoughts on working with ESC Insight. “I’ve been a big Eurovision fan since 1996 and have always been hoping to work with Eurovision-related artists” he told me. “The opportunity to combine a mild obsession with something I do for a living is always an exciting prospect. When approached about redesigning ESC Insight website, I jumped at the chance.
One of the many drafts in designing the next generation of ESC Insight (image: Ross Barber)
“It was an ambitious undertaking given the scale of the site, the existing content, and various sections of the site. Working pretty closely with the team has been great (and I must admit, there’s a bit of a fanboy element at play here as I’ve been listening to them debate and comment on Eurovision since Düsseldorf 2011).”
While it may look similar, the new version of ESC Insight is in fact a complete re-write from the ground up – Barber took one look at the existing code and decided it would be far easier to start from scratch, bring in the existing content on top of a new look, and then do a straight switch from the old to the new over a weekend.
“That’s when things got… interesting.”
Electric Kiwi’s Ross Barber (Image: RossBarber)
“Because the site is so large, it required a backup of the old site, then running both sites on the ESC Insight server, then moving the articles over, before switching to the new site and removing the old version. After a couple of hours of uploading and downloading this weekend… the upload failed at fifty-two percent. The second attempt reached ninety-seven percent before the server digitally complained.
“By this point (it was taking around an hour or so for each attempt), it was almost 2am. But I refused to be beaten (well, at least until the next day – sleep had to come first). After upgrading the server space to accommodate the behemoth of a site that is ESC Insight, we were finally able to upload successfully.
“After that there were a few minor hiccups, but nothing too extreme, and the ‘maintenance’ page was removed to reveal the brand new site!”
This Is What We Have
Now you can see what we’ve been working on over the summer. We’ve kept many of the elements that help make ESC Insight what it is. Our featured article images stay on the front page, you’ll find the podcasts, videos, and newsletter archives in the same place, and every article has been moved over to the new site.
We’ve not changed our Musical Eye Icon or Typographical Logo – designed by the brilliant Ben Morris (the man behind the Eurovision Minipops). They are a huge part of our identity, and the new website is an updated design, not a re-imagining of the site.
ESC Insight Wordmark and Logo (Image: Ben Morris)
Our words are in a better place, but there’s one more design goal that we had in mind: we want to highlight the individuals on ESC Insight. The site has always been a collective of writers, and while everyone had a ‘byline’ before, we wanted more. There’s more detail about each writer on every article, with space for headshots and biographical details. We’re also working on an improved ‘Author’ page for everyone, and the first version of this change is now live (here’s my page as an example).
Now It’s Over To You
We’re pretty sure we’ll have missed some bugs, layout problems, and similar issues. Please let us know in the comments what you find and we’ll get it addressed as quickly as possible.
And now, on to Albania, Festivali i Këngës, and another Eurovision season!
Congratulation for the new look.It does look more fresh.
I have 1 suggestion for you:At this point you can’t see if there is a reaction on a certain post. You have to go into the post/article to see if they are reactions.To be honest it’s quite annoying.Try to make the number of reactions visible on the site.