A Touch of Elegance

The Christian Science Monitor’s site is an excellent example of the successful marriage of color, simple lines and thoughtful reporting. It’s a pleasure to access a site that’s intelligent and thought-provoking. A quick scroll reveals the links to the Web columns and blogs, which vary in length and subject matter.

The site’s navigation is well-organized and fairly consistent throughout, giving the user a sense of streamlined order. Although the use of photography is minimal in some of the posts; the color palette and design elements make up for the lack of visual story anchors. When photography is incorporated into stories, the images are rich and graphically size appropriate. Although the print edition of The Christian Science Monitor is smaller than most newspapers, the paper has a brilliant sense of how to use photography. The online version could certainly benefit from this approach.

Posts or stories are well written; however, some of the stories are quite long and require the user to do quite a bit of scrolling. But the subject matter and quality of writing – in some cases - make up for a reporter’s lengthy story. A variety of links provide supplemental information, yet video and audio links could enhance the stories and the site in invaluable ways.

Of particular note is a beautifully executed collection of images taken by a photo-
journalist of the most ordinary things, including romaine lettuce. Beauty and exquisite moments are certainly in the eye of the beholder.