Welcome to the New Gear Patrol
A note from executive editor Jack Seemer.
·
Welcome to the new Gear Patrol.
You might notice things look a little different today. Our team has spent the last year and a half working on this redesign, however, I’m not here to announce some simple paint job. We stripped down the old Gear Patrol to parts and rebuilt the site with one goal in mind: to make it easier than ever for users to discover news, insights and authentic expert recommendations.
Gear Patrol is faster, sleeker and more intuitive than it’s been in our 17 years of operation.
With today’s launch, Gear Patrol is faster, sleeker and more intuitive than it’s been in our 17 years of operation. It’s also set up for the long haul. Big changes under the hood mean our team can quickly ship improvements and adapt to your needs over time. Today is just day one.
For now, here’s a rundown of some of the most exciting changes you can experience today.
A reader-first home page that prioritizes news and seasonally relevant content
The Latest News feed is back! We know from feedback that many loyal and longtime readers want something new every time they visit. I want that, too.
With our revised home page layout, you can quickly discover the latest trends, rumors and drops from the product world right below the day’s top stories.
Premium visual experiences for heightened product discovery
At times, the best way to learn about a product or find inspiration is to see it up close. That’s why we’ve added bigger, higher-resolution embeds, videos and galleries to better evaluate key details on products and experience our original, hands-on photography.
New typography for improved legibility and mobile reading
There’s a temptation with any redesign to make changes for the hell of it. Our improved typography isn’t one of them. Across Gear Patrol, you’ll now experience an assembly of fonts from the Ringside family.
Not only do they look fantastic, they’re ultra-legible at the smallest of sizes — a sensibility we carried over from print. That makes them optimal for reading on mobile, where many of you enjoy the site on a daily basis.
Robust menus, improved site search and intuitive collections to dive deeper into topics you care about
We’ve retooled our menus and collection pages to be easier to find and navigate across all of our coverage. Looking for a particular brand or product? Try out our new search bar, which automatically updates with popular searches from other enthusiasts in the Gear Patrol community.
Finally, keep an eye out for something we’re rolling out called Collection Cards, which gather topically related content into story clusters. We’ll be dropping these around the site to foster deeper discovery around key topics and maybe even inspire you with some new ideas.
Streamlined article features that highlight key information and takeaways
Maybe you don’t have time to read every word of an article or you just want a quick answer to questions like, “What are the best headphones under $150?”
Article features like headers, pull-quotes, captions, product cards and summary boxes have been remastered with higher contrast to clearly highlight the most essential information upfront — such as prices, specs, pros and cons, and our unbiased thoughts about a product or brand.
We’ve also launched a new suite of layout options for our editors to tell stories as they deserve to be told across experiences that work as well on your desktop as they do on your phone.
There’s more on the way …
We’re still working on a few ideas that aren’t quite ready to leave the shop — features that will fundamentally change not just the types of stories we tell but how we tell them. But it’s better to be ready than rushed, and we have an exciting roadmap of even more reader-experience improvements that I can’t wait to unveil soon.
For now, I hope every story you find from here on out inspires as much as it informs. And on behalf of our entire team, thank you for reading Gear Patrol.
If you have feedback about the new site, ideas for future updates or just want to share a story about your favorite piece of gear, drop me a line at jseemer@gearpatrol.com.
I’m always down for a good recommendation.
Jack Seemer
Executive Editor
