While NY Magazine online has been consistently one of my favorite sites, it’s been mostly because of their interesting use of typography and graphic treatments. Where their previous site had a sense of dimension and flow, their redesign launched this week does not. It is a clusterfizzle of elegantly designed content. Even though the front page is beautiful in its design sensibility as the route has followed for years, they’ve missed the mark in terms of usability. They have failed on an epic scale to give their audience a scannable page that has depth and compartmentalization. Instead, they’ve delivered a dense, overly-packed ‘tabloidy’ portal with no clear focus. (I think even a few simple heavy lines could have saved the day.)

They do succeed in some areas. The top nav anchors well. Its boldness is refreshing and makes good use of space. The drop down menus are expertly handled, with a clean break between content and utility. The dark top nav bar helps to ground the page and gives quick access to core features. They also succeed on interior pages, where there is more of a traditional column structure. Though, even here there’s still room for better demarcation. All in all, a moderately successful effort that ultimately falls short of being great. If I were to grade the effort, I’d give it a solid B.

On display at MOMA (New York), Design and the Elastic Mind “explores the reciprocal relationship between science and design in the contemporary world by bringing together design objects and concepts that marry the most advanced scientific research with attentive consideration of human limitations, habits, and aspirations.”

“The exhibition highlights designers’ ability to grasp momentous changes in technology, science, and history—changes that demand or reflect major adjustments in human behavior—and translate them into objects that people can actually understand and use.” The Web site “presents over three hundred of these works, including fifty projects that are not featured in the gallery exhibition.”

Highly recommended for anyone interested in design and especially, information design.