It's been a mere two days since we flipped the switch and pulled up the grate on this innovative new site of ours, and we could not be more gratified by your enthusiasm. We're particularly pleased with the reaction we've already received in the media and online. We don't want to get too braggy just yet, but it does seem like a little round-up of early opinion is in order.
• Vanity Fair: "There have been some unkind words about the design"
• The Blog Herald: "A not so pretty blog"
• The New York Observer: "A bare-bones site"
• Unhealthy Obsession: "Inherent dullness"
• Silicon Alley Insider: "A 1995-vintage design"
• Guest of a Guest: "Looks like Gawker might have in '02"
• Continuous Line: "Damn that's ugly."
• Joel Johnson: "It has Choire and Balk. And ugly."
• Nick Denton: "Confusing and amateurish."
• MWOD: "Frightful, dire, offensive to the sight"
Thanks, folks! We're happy to have you along for the ride. And don't forget to GET YOUR BUZZ ON!
But what did Perez think?
He drew some semen on a Snickers bar, which means he likes the design.
I actually had to google to make sure those ads were real. keep up the good work!
I'm buzzin like Magellan.
The Awl...an anagram for WEALTH with a dearth of design.
I don't have enough teeth to say "Awl" without slobbering.
I'm confused about what's confusing about the name of this site.
I actually like the "no headlines" thing. As for design, that's awl geek to me.
Whoops! That wasn't meant as a reply directly to Mathnet.
Although it gives me an excuse to say: Hey, Mathnet! Lovely to see you!
I left my office yesterday and subsequently saw a man walking down the street with a bottle of Nuvo sticking out of his back pocket. I wouldn't have even noticed if it weren't for The Awl. Because of you I followed a random man down Broadway for a few blocks just to see if it actually sparkled. It does.
Oh, I frequently follow men down the street to see if it sparkles.
HEY-O!
ARE CHELSEA HANDLERS BOOBS REAL
"Awl is a more addictive pleasure than fresh Burmese heroin -- or so I'm told!"
Mmmm, That's good buzz!
You actually got a nice little sort-of shout-out from Ken Silverstein's "Washington Babylon" blog:
http://www.harpers.org/subjects/WashingtonBabylon
Chris Lehmann's piece was pretty fucking awesome.
That's almost as much buzz as I got from that candy bar I just ate. In a related item, my liver and kidneys have ceased function.
No better endorsement, those. Like everyone else here, I came for the talent. I also came for the talent maybe not so much like everyone else...
But really, who the hell cares what it looks like? I want beauty, I look at art. It's nice to have something interesting and truly funny to read again, right?
But it is what is inside that counts, boys.
I have to agree that it is a little confusing you don't have headlines. Especially as you include them in the RSS feed.
This is some ill communication, yo. Check your head and all.
It's pronounces "The All" right?
PERFECT
It's Awl good.
Ugly duckling >>>>>>>> swan.
Don't hate me 'cause you ain't me. [I'll show YOU vintage.]
I think my new buzz cut emblazoned with the word "BUZZ" says all it needs to say about how I feel.
How are you getting through my adblocker, btw?
Just wait till they see version 2.0, they will eat those words!
I love the design because it downloads really fast on a corporate network, plus it's green kind've which is my favorite color. Finally, it draws your attention to the articles. Yes, the sophistication of Gawker's layout is overwhelming - try convincing a networked circa 1995 Dell PC sharing bandwidth with 200,000 other drones of that.
Correction: it used to be green before the turbo-cocoa made an appearance.
Nick Denton: "I wanted Whoppers, and these idiots bring me Slim Jims instead."
Which is actually how most of us feel about Gawker now.
this is like the burger king whopper freak-out viral ad.
I think the website looks great. The less of it, the better.
You know what would help? Pretty commenter avatars!
Just give us the ability to upload some avatars and we'll pretty this place up in no time!
WHOA. We already can?
Problem solved!!
I tried to figure this out. And failed.
I can't figure it out either. Some people know the "avatar secret." We are not among them, I guess.
I discovered the secret. I have an avatar!!
I feel like Sweeney Todd in that scene where he's reunited with his old razors ...
Oh, yes, please tell us what the cunts of media say. The opinion of media people is so fucking relevant. Seriously? I didn't have an opinion of your site until I was told what to think.
Also? If media didn't talk about media would media really exist? (Somewhere an Assistant Editor at Star just had her head explode. Granted she go here innocently enough, searching vigorously for the truth of Chelsea Handler's silicon-sacs.)
... she got here ...
I'm not sure how to feel about this.
Ladies Home Journal says you're thrilled.
I'm giving it my Awl.
Nothin' wrong with being the ugly duckling
Wait, this is the finished design?
Here's what some of the critics have to say about THE AWL:
“A pretty ... blog!"
“A vintage ... design!"
"It has Choire and Balk!"
"Damn!!!"
I can feel the electrolytes kicking in!
You guys are my new best friends.
Now shut up and give me your lunch money or I'll beat the shit out of you.
Hey - at least no one used the term "fameball."
No, but if they decide to have a columnist write a regualr feature bitching about internet microcelebrities, they should definitely call it "Famebawl"
All I can think of when I see the site is Brawndo from Idiocracy, it's got electrolytes! What plants craavveeee.
I was going to wear my electrolytes joke and wouldn't that have been embarrassing...
It's as if you expect us to focus on the words, or something.
Awl is pretty on the inside.
We are in a damn depression! It would be tasteless bragadiccio to display a myriad of banner ads.
Much better to have a single tasty ad.
Further evidence that Gawker has become one of those animals it once so deliciously roasted on a spit.
So was it really the Wildorf "large face" crack?
Even though reading Gawker these days feels like getting lukewarm coffee with an ex who recently had a labotomy and now hands out AM NY papers in time square, I have to admit that it is how I learned that Choire/Balk have this new site.
Please don't change the design. Please.
Well, there's no such thing as bad publicity...
Like everyone else, I'm here for the content. (That said, um, I would like the content even more if it were presented in the context of better design. For whatever that's worth, which is probably nothing.)
Nothing wrong with the design except for the forced justification, which makes it kinda painful to read anything longer than two short grafs.
Justify right, please! Otherwise, don't change a thing!
Does anyone know of a good chocolate bar for me to try?
Charleston Chewbacca.
The design of this site is the blog equivalent of the old Siberia bar.
Better: A Zero bar.
"in the media and online" - hee hee.
y'awl got a good thing goin' so far.
BUT IT'S ABOUT POKING HOLES, RIGHT????
On the topic of 3-letter words for sharp tools - is your advertising department to be known as The Adz?
BUT WHAT DOES TUMBLR SAY????
(Actually, you're kind of killing it over there if the people I follow are any indication.)
Like you guys going back a long ways, so I automatically will give you the benefit of the doubt on design. Content is getting there. I'm sure by day 5 you'll have this all sowed up.
Guess this makes us Awlies?
Fuck 'em! Site's okay by me, but I'd like a Butterfinger for some reason.