Closed Bug 650106 Opened 13 years ago Closed 13 years ago

Redesign about:mozilla newsletter template

Categories

(Marketing :: Design, task)

Product:
Marketing
Component:
Design
Platform:
x86
macOS
Type:
task
Priority:
Not set
Severity:
normal

Tracking

(Not tracked)

Status:
RESOLVED FIXED

People

(Reporter: davidwboswell, Assigned: tyronflanagan)

Details

Attachments

(8 files)

Newsletter template screenshot
160.55 KB, image/png
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About:Mozilla Newsletter - Option 1
395.15 KB, image/jpeg
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About:Mozilla Newsletter - Option 2
384.69 KB, image/jpeg
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About:Mozilla Newsletter - Option 3
415.56 KB, image/jpeg
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About:Mozilla Newsletter - Option 1b
435.64 KB, image/jpeg
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About:Mozilla Newsletter - Option 1b (w/ In This Issue...)
460.12 KB, image/jpeg
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About:Mozilla Newsletter - Option 1b - Image widths
441.69 KB, image/png
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About:Mozilla Newsletter - CTA options
99.09 KB, image/jpeg
Details 
We would like to redesign the about:mozilla newsletter template.  Our goals are to integrate this with the look of the mozilla.org/contribute pages and to feature additional types of content (for instance, create a regular Contributor Spotlight section).

This isn't a top priority project, but ideally we'd have a chance to work on this in Q2.
Thanks Boswell.  Lets sync up on this a little later to figure out a plan.  Would be great to follow the general template of the other newsletters, but skinned to echo the contributor pages on moz.org (as you noted).  We can definitely start this in Q2, and possibly finish it, too.
Tara, sounds good.  Feel free to let me know when you'd like to talk more.  Thanks.
** scheduled to chat further, Monday May 9th **
Chatted with Boswell.  

Next steps:

* I'm attaching mockups of current newsletters for reference.
* David to meet with Mary and Winston (et al) to discuss performance of current newsletter (what's working, what's not) and content direction for the new one.
* Initial thoughts:

- Use the same template as our other newsletters + skin to echo about:mozilla
- De-emphasize the Dino head (put it in the footer)
- make better use of the right navigation space
- highlight the community somehow - designs and photos
- perhaps move the "in this issue" to the right nav and open up some space, move the key content higher up.

Shouldn't be a problem to get this done with our in-house resources (or freelancers).  So, it's just a matter of figuring out what content changes we want to make.
PS.  I think Ty would be great for this :)  cc-ing Ty (the new member to the creative team)
This is the most current version of our newsletter, as reference and inspiration.
Tara, thanks for the screenshot.  As we had talked about, I think we'll want a design that requires fewer graphics so that it's easier to update, but moving to a standard newsletter template makes a lot of sense.

For next steps, I'll have some more content notes later this week.
Mary and I just met with Winston and got some really useful feedback.  I've added some notes from that meeting as well as some notes comparing the existing about:mozilla template with the Mozilla & You template at:

https://wiki.mozilla.org/About:mozilla/newsletter_redesign

For next steps, Tara, does it make sense to meet you with to talk through those notes or do you want to look them over and let us know if you have questions?
Thanks David!  can I choose both options as part of next steps?  I'm reviewing these now... and will put any questions I have in the bug, but would also like to have a quick in-person follow up before moving forward.
Tara, sure, that sounds great.  Feel free to let me know when works well for you to talk.

BTW, I just added a new section to the wiki that has rough sample text for a newsletter mockup (not fully filled out but I think it gives the idea of how we might apply the ideas in the notes).
Following up on this -- is there a time this week that works to talk more about next steps for redesigning the about:mozilla email template?
Sure.  Sorry for the delay here.  Lets catch up tomorrow when you're in the office.  How is that?
No problem.  I Zimbra'd something up for 2:30.
Assigning to Ty.  Ty, will follow up with some details soon.

Timing:  we'd like to start (and finish) in Q2.
Assignee: tshahian → tyronflanagan
Hey Ty, let me know if you have time to connect on this.  Not sure if you had already started or not, but we need to get cracking asap :)
Just wanted to give a heads up, Ill have something to share with you all this week.
Ty, thanks for the update.  Looking forward to seeing it.
I think im on the right track with this, but if not, a hearty yell will work to get things changed. :)

I prepped 3 color directions. Let me know which works best.
Option 2
Option 3
Attachment #540144 - Attachment description: About:Mozilla Newsletter - Option 1 → About:Mozilla Newsletter - Option 2
Ty, these are looking good -- thanks for posting.

Would it be possible to make some changes to the templates to match the content of the latest newsletter?  Maybe even mock up the latest newsletter in the new template?

Back in comment #8 when we posted some notes about what we were looking for in the new template, we weren't sure how we wanted the content to evolve.  We've been experimenting with things over the last several newsletters though and I think the current content we have is very close to what we want to have in the new template.

For reference you can find the most recent newsletter at:

https://awesomeness.mozilla.org/pub/sf/FormLink?_ri_=X0Gzc2X%3DUQpglLjHJlTQTtQyTQAXQj3QiNDQGQaQ8zgLVXMtX%3DUQpglLjHJlTQTtQyTQAXQjEQiNDQzgQaQDN&_ei_=.

Some differences that I noticed:

* The images we have been using are much wider than the one in this template.  We've been going with images with a 400px width (although we can discuss if that's the right size or not).

* The events section doesn't have any intro text, has fewer items than the mockup and they aren't divided up by day of the week.

* We have more content sections than are in the mockup.  I'm not sure if having more content means that you would approach the design any differently.

* The newsletter comes out weekly, so the date should reflect that.  I also want to make sure we design the date so it can be done in HTML instead of in an image.

Other thoughts:

* I'm not sure if we need any sidebar or not.  Could we see versions with and without a sidebar?  We have one now in the template, but I don't think it adds anything.

* I've gone back and forth over having a 'popular links' section and am thinking now that we don't really need it.  I'd prefer to focus the attention at the bottom to the CTA for Get Involved.

Thanks and please let me know if you have any questions about anything or would like to talk through things.
Thanks Ty.  I definitely prefer the first option (way better contrast) than the other two.  Thoughts on next steps based on David's comments ?  Would be great to keep the template relatively the same, but adjust for these content factors.
Ty, here's today's newsletter content if you want the very latest for reference:

https://awesomeness.mozilla.org/pub/sf/FormLink?_ri_=X0Gzc2X%3DUQpglLjHJlTQTtQyTQC9QkaQ7ryhQGQaQ7I7VXMtX%3DUQpglLjHJlTQTtQyTQC9QkGQ7ryhQzgQaQyAK&_ei_=.

The main difference between this one and the previous one is the placement of the image.  We want to do one story with an image or photo each week, but we haven't settled on placement -- last week it was the first story, this week it is the second and before it has been the story above the Calendar section.  Thoughts about the best placement is certainly welcome.

    
    

    
  
Ty, these look great.  Let me talk things over with Tara, Mary and Winston and I'll get back to you soon.

    
    

    
  
Great work. love the grey/white/red palette. A bold looking newsletter!

I'm a fan of the 540px images.

+1!

    
    

    
  
FYI, I just blogged about this to get feedback.  We'll also mention the designs in this week's newsletter.  Feel free to follow along on any comments at

http://davidwboswell.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/a-new-look-for-the-about-mozilla-newsletter/

    
    

    
  
These are looking great :) 

* Torn between the two versions: "in this issue" vs. not.  The latter feels cleaner.. but the former adds a quick list of articles that would come in handy if we have a lot of content (which sometimes we do, from what I've seen).  
* Are we okay not having a "promo" section?  Again, I think it's cleaner without a side nav, but wanted to make sure we have allocated space for everything that you needed David.
* Agree that the 540px images are stronger.
* overall, +1

    
    

    
  
David, thanks for blogging this as well.  Seems like the response has been pretty positive so far.

    
    

    
  
(In reply to comment #30)
> * Torn between the two versions: "in this issue" vs. not.  The latter feels
> cleaner.. but the former adds a quick list of articles that would come in
> handy if we have a lot of content (which sometimes we do, from what I've
> seen).  
>
> * Are we okay not having a "promo" section?  Again, I think it's cleaner
> without a side nav, but wanted to make sure we have allocated space for
> everything that you needed David.

To summarize what we discussed at the meeting, there's less content these days in the newsletter so I don't think the sidebar adds much, especially if we'll use the Get Involved box at the bottom as the promo section.

    
    

    
  
Sounds great.

Ty:  The only thing we'd like to tweak... is the "get involved" promo / button area at the bottom.  Is there a way we can make the CTA stand out more, without going against existing button styling we've established here?  The white on white doesn't offer enough contrast to make the button CTA pop.

Thoughts?

    
    

    
  


  
The bottom button design mimics what is used on the Mozilla.org site, however i think the top button design has more color strength and feels a little more natural within the design.

    
    

    
  
Agree, the top one is stronger.  That works for me as long as this doesn't go against any button style rule we've recently established with the toolkit.  would be great if Sean can confirm.

    
    

    
  
Either looks good to me.

    
    

    
  
Hey Ty.  Weird, I swear I commented on this bug yesterday.  Anyway, can you please go ahead and post the PSDs?  Lets go with the red button, and we can easily change that if needed.  But want to make sure Boswell has what he needs to get this rolling. 

Thanks!

    
    

    
  
No worries. I have been having email problems all day strangely. I only received notification of your comment 5mins ago. Anyhoo, here is the PSD file:

http://mozilla.tyflanagan.com/artwork/newsletter/AboutMozilla_Newsletter_Final.zip

    
    

    
  
Thanks Ty! 

Closing this bug.  

David, please ping us if you need anything else.
For what it's worth, you can even try testing the two different button colors to see which one performs better.  Just a thought.
Status: NEW → RESOLVED
Closed: 13 years ago
Resolution: --- → FIXED

    
    

    
  
Ty, thanks for the files and the great design.

Tara, good point about testing the button colors.

I'll open a coding bug now and will let you know if any questions come up there about the design.

    
    

    
  
The new email design just went out in this week's newsletter.  Thanks again to Ty for the design.  

If you aren't subscribed, you can see a screenshot of this week's email at

http://davidwboswell.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/a-new-looking-newsletter/

    
    

    
  
WOHOO !

    
    

    
  
w00t!

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