The Scholarly Kitchen has been around for nearly four years now (3.5, so I’m rounding up). During that time, the initial design proved useful and quite durable. We created a brand with the lovely graphics, and featured blogging, micro-blogging (via Twitter), and robust discussions. But having so many great posts, many published a day after each other, showed us there was room for improvement.

So, a few months ago, we asked you for nice examples of blog design, incorporated your advice with our own observations as the authors and editors, and took the problem to the site’s original designer, Nicole Colovos.

The new design debuts today. Here’s what I think and hope we’ve accomplished:

1. It’s easier to see recent and featured posts. Since we publish almost daily, publishing the full post each time pushed recent posts down too far and too fast. Now, an abbreviated entry for each post means you can see more if you visit the home page. We can feature posts we think deserve a longer shelf life.
2. It’s easier to explore the archive.
3. It’s easier to follow Stewart Wills’ Twitter feed.
4. The blog looks more lively and inviting.
5. The new look shows our commitment to improvement.

The next week or two may be a little shaky as we “learn the look” — understand how to make this new design work best, learn the behind-the-scenes tools, and optimize the experience.

Thanks for reading the Scholarly Kitchen for this long. I hope these changes reinvigorate an already great blog and help us grow and thrive for a long time to come.