We love Wikipedia . The idea of a constantly update knowledge infrastructure where everyone is welcome to read and contribute is staggering , and we dip into this great pool of content on an almost day-to-day basis at1910 . However , having spent the last three years learning more about composition have made us aware of it ’s restriction . While Wikipedia is majuscule for learning , it simply does not provide the best potential environs to do this .
While openhanded parts of the internet have gone through an awesome journey in terms of composition these last years , Wikipedia ’s reading experience is still stuck in the 90 ’s . We wanted to take a few day and propose a guidance through which Wikipedia could move forward , centre on articles and reading without necessarily having to change too much of what it is and should continue to be .
We do realize that this humble experiment of ours is uninformed , and that what we offer here would have to be reconsidered if done for substantial , but for the saki of getting the point across we wanted to concentrate on one thing only — make Wikipedia readable .
Wikipedia Today
Wikipedia today is great in terms of content but not in terms of presentment . For a site with the core function of hand over articles to reader , the interpretation experience just is n’t what it should be . The school text is too small , the short letter are too longsighted and the leading is too tight . video are tiny and the general layout includes a portion of visual noise that distracts you from the factual recitation .
Constructing the Grid
As always when construct grid we wish to start out with the composition . We wanted to campaign the subject to the center , use a decipherable text sizing , fix the measure at an appropriate length , increase the leading , make the mental image self-aggrandizing , and render a proper structure with fair to middling whitened space and an light to comply hierarchy .
On desktop , we want to make way for the main textbook paragraph and an extra side - bar including images and table to the right . We also wanted a design that could well adapt from desktop , to tablet and mobile , without requiring additional apps or mobile version of the site .
Starting with the text size ( as name in detailhere ) we eventually end up with an 8 column grid where the dead body would traverse over the first four . The power grid would then scale down to 4 columns on tablets and 2 columns on phones , affect side - bar content below it ’s corresponding paragraphs .
The background
With the primary body column and side - barroom already in position , populating the ease of the page was relatively flat onwards . We wanted the header to focalize on search and made the old side - menu horizontal and placed as a petty header , not to distract you from the reading while scroll down the Sir Frederick Handley Page .
The relief of the element were fundamentally depart unchanged apart from being adjusted to accommodate the new power system and structure . The typefaces and colors were leave behind similar . The termination is a pageboy that still look and sense very much like Wikipedia , but is much loose to register .
The Tablet
The tablet reading scales the power grid down to four columns , moving the side - bar contentedness below it ’s corresponding paragraph . Other than that not much is changed . The 2d header menu is hide out and approachable from a menu button in main coping .
The sound
The peregrine version scales the grid down to two columns with scant lines to keep the text at a clear size of it . lower-ranking department are close by nonpayment and oped by beg the headline , to make articles less heavy to scroll through .
Conclusion
While these sketches are far from feature full , we do think they provide an insight into how big of a role typography and grid social organization plays in cook the vane approachable today . This is the Wikipedia we ourselves would like to use , and we greatly look forward to see how Wikipedia will develop in the abide by age , in regards to making the site more pleasant to read .
1910 is a graphic design and art guidance studio apartment . Thispost originally appearedon its web log . It was republish with permit .
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