Well Fed Network

Posted by Colleen Fischer on Edible TV

If you’ve been surfing the net lately, surely you’ve noted that Food Network’s web site is sporting a fresh look. Gone are the days of lime green and tiny type; say hello to splashy crimson.

Literally . . . the header seems to be depicting something wet and red. Blood? Perhaps the head rolling of the old site designer?

I kid, I kid. I did detest the old Food Network site, though; I’d swear a blood oath to . . . never mind.

Hey, it’s almost Halloween, isn’t it?

Anyway, the new site appears on first blush to be a massive improvement on the old. Take the tour or view the introductory video if you’d like to become better acquainted. Here’s my take:

The Good

The designers have vastly improved the organization of the site. The top level now features three main sections: Recipes & Cooking, Shows, and Chefs. Within each section you’ll find logical secondary navigation links that whisk you quickly to the info you were browsing for. It’s way better than all the clicking around through barren lists you used to have to do to get to, say, a show home page or the section on Halloween.

The individual pages are easier to read and navigate as well. Whoever designed the new layout knows the importance of white space. The now-larger text is no longer crammed tightly together but instead elegantly spread out. Pages also take greater advantage of the horizontal area of the page, making it easier to take in more of a recipe in a glance.

The overall design just makes a lot more sense now. There’s consistency where before there were pages and sections in different stages of development with designs that didn’t match sitewide. The link structure is also more sensible, using readable English rather than garbled characters. If you copy a link to a recipe, you now always can know what recipe it was just by looking at the address.

And finally — pictures! The new site has huge, eye-catching photos everywhere, including on the recipe pages. You can now expand a recipe’s photo for a detailed look. Or just because you enjoy food porn.

The Bad

The home page still lacks a clear purpose. The landing pages for each section pop and clearly lead you to the top features within, but the home page features a bunch of text links rather than a big anchor graphic like the old version. Food Network’s folks should take a gander at the Epicurious site for inspiration here: Bring back a more graphic new features box, increase the visibility of the interactive, community-building features, and get your blog and web TV show up front and center.

Had the Food Network Addict not posted about Bob Tuschman’s blog, I might never have found the link to it buried on that home page. Wonder if that’s a signal that the lifespan of this blog will be similar to Food Network’s past blogging efforts? (Food Network Canada excepted, of course.)

Why not bump up the info people want from a Food Network site, too? Get that On-Air Now box to the top of the page — you’re a food TV web site, after all! And hey, how about making that feature auto-detect your time zone finally? Those of us living in the Pacific time zone don’t really care what’s on air three hours in the future.

The Ugly

I found that at least one ad blocked my view of the nifty drop-down menus added to the top-of-the-page navbar. Oops.

But the real ugly here is those annoying auto-playing videos! You would have thought that a sweeping redesign would have eliminated that irritant, allowing you to visit a show page quickly without having to endure the loading and playing of a commercial or quick tip. Instead, you’ll still give away to all your co-workers that you’re browsing for dinner ideas when Rachael Ray’s voice comes bursting from your speakers. I don’t mind videos, but I wish the Food Network had given us a choice in whether to watch them every time we visit.

At least they don’t crash my browser the way they used to quite frequently not all that long ago.

Cutting Too Deep?

On the whole, though, I dig the new Food Network site design. It’s a huge improvement over the old mishmash, and I can see myself actually enjoying the time I spend on the site a lot more. Most of the site greatly pleases the latent designer in me.  Just watch out for those sharp, sharp knives next time, Food Network!

Screenshots captured by Colleen Fischer from Food Network’s web site.