To editors, most news Web sites are kind of like vending machines: No matter what button you press, everything comes out the same slot. On CNN’s home page, you always get one story with a picture on the left, then about 15 other stories in a list on the right. And every article, once you click on it, looks the same.
It’s efficient but bland. So A Brief Message, which is basically a blog about design, is refreshing:
Each article is not only 200 words or fewer, but hand-coded, so that text flows around the images. It makes the piece more fun, and the design itself usually says something interesting.
It’s not the future for constantly updated news — A Brief Message updates less than weekly. But it’s pretty neat.
[Link from the ever-inspiring I Love Typography.]