The Globe's online push

The Globe and Mail has been very active with changes on the online front. Back on April 28 when it launched its print redesign, the national newspaper also unveiled a redesigned and restructured business web hub - reportonbusiness.com - which premiered a new look for globeandmail.com.

In Monday's paper (June 4), the Globe took the unusual step of carrying a glossy insert promoting "Canada's new financial supersite."

reportonbusiness.com takes the Globe's online business coverage, globeinvestor.com pages, advanced investment tools and mutual fund data and analysis into one enhanced site.

The Globe has since flipped its home page into the new design. It also gave birth to a new GlobeLife hub in the new look back on the April 28 launch day.

Here are the highlights of the new design:

• Elimination of vertical navigation column in order to create more above-the-fold space on the page for editorial content.


• New design allows editors to switch the layout of any page on the fly to reflect the news of the day -- there are a collection of routine news and major news options.


• Built and launched a new video player to make video content an integral portion of the site. This can be seen in both the "multimedia centre" on the Home page and in the redesigned story pages that allow video to truly stand out.


• Redesigned article page to enhance readability and to allow content related to the article -- such as video -- to stand out without in any way impeding the reader experience. Article page now also allows for in-line stock quotes.


• Subtle adoption of the design element of the print edition -- the new maple leaf, new font on page labels, etc.


• Use of a more subtle palette on the hub pages to reduce clutter and visual noise.
  
• Fewer images on hub pages, but images used more selectively and creatively.


• Ad placement has been tweaked to maximize ad effectiveness without in any way detracting from the effectiveness of the editorial.

Here's a link to globeandmail.com editor Angus Frame's online chat about the new look on May 23.

On Friday, June 1, the Globe flipped six more content hubs into the new design: Technology, AtPlay, Personal Tech, TQ@Work, Science and Opinions