TechCrunch, the group-edited blog about technology start-ups, launched their redesign today. It's quite different from the previous design and it's already drawing a lot of criticism and hate. They redesigned everything, including the logo which is causing quite a stir right now.

Here's just some of the comments on their redesign.

• AOL obviously has some bad marketing execs if they switched from the old TC look to this crayola crayon design. This is about as bad as TC adopting FB Commenting over Disqus.
• I can't even see the search bar at the top. Am I supposed to guess where it is? GREAT design bro! ALL CAPS ON THAT TOP BAR AND EVERY TITLE FOR NO REASON. And worst of all, everything is in a “sans serif.” Who decided that would be a good idea? there's a reason books, news papers, and anything with articles is written in serifs.
• This has to be the worst "redesign" of all time.

What's interesting about the redesign is that TechCrunch seems to have expected this outrage in the community. They have already published two articles that defend the redesign. One says they chose this logo just to annoy those complainers. And the other one is a straight out challenge to send them a redesign hatemail.

• Redesigning TechCrunch: We Picked This Logo Just to Piss You Off
• The TechCrunch Redesign: A Copy-And-Paste Hatemail Template

Hate the site? Hate the change?

The fact is that large websites like TechCrunch don’t just redesign without much planning and preparation. Most people are so quick to judge the design without taking the time to even use the site and try it out for a few days.

The reason most people hate the site is not because of the new design, but because they hate change. They were comfortable with seeing the old design and using it so when the site got a drastic redesign, they suddenly became unfamiliar with everything so they automatically said that they hate the new design. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that their website is perfect, I’m sure there are still a ton of bugs that will pop-up over the next few weeks that they will have to address and fix.

But my point is that so many people are already hating the site without knowing the reason and background behind every design decision that was made. They don't know the data, the analytics, the thoughts, the studies and the tests that went behind this new design.

Do I like it?

Yes, actually. I like the new site. I like how the homepage does not have the carousel up top like most other news sites. These in my opinion just clutter the page if not done correctly. I like the use of whitespace throughout the site. I also like the implementation of the share buttons on the homepage. It attracts my attention enough, but it’s not distracting or annoying Someone mentioned that they should have used a serif typeface. I don’t think so. I think the sans-serif is readable. I use a sans-serif as well on this site and many people have told me that Design Informer is very easy to read. There’s also the large headlines that attract my attention which is good.

Side Note: It’s interesting that a site this large is actually using WordPress. Go WordPress!

The Logo

One of the things about the site that have people raving is the logo. Most people hate it and say it was made in Microsoft Paint. It's funny because Dave Feldman, the project manager for the redesign, was able to poke fun at their own logo.

The new logo is our most controversial change. I love it, though that’s no accident: we went through many, many options with Code & Theory before finding one we liked. It’s bold, simple, and versatile. It works in any context — from a tiny monochrome icon to a mosaic on a poster. It fits the TechCrunch brand perfectly. And no, we didn’t build it in Minecraft. We used AOL Paint, which comes free on the AOL CD and has this sweet UltraLogoMatic2000 feature.

I personally like the new logo. I think it works for their site and their brand. I also like the execution of it. It’s a surprise to see it reveal the words TechCrunch when you scroll down. They didn’t change their colors which is good, because it’s about the only thing connecting this design to the previous one.

What do you think?

The site isn’t without design flaws in my eyes. There are still definitely some areas of the site where I think it can use some refining and tweaking. But overall, the experience was great when browsing the new site.

It was a lot faster than the previous site and I enjoy the new design of it. I don't know, maybe like I said, it's too early to tell if I'll still like this design tomorrow or a few weeks from now.

But what about you? What do you think of the redesign? Do you like it? Do you hate it? What do you think are some things that they did right or wrong? Don't be shy, leave your comments below. I want to hear from you!