For the past few years we've been watching the web evolve around mobile and have been planning for NG's ultimate evolution as well.
In addition to a layout that can function well on mobile, we have received very well-informed feedback about the importance of slimming down the NG header for maximum content visibility in traditional browsers. The current layout may compete too much with the content, which is the most important part of NG.
Check out this rough slim header concept.
Artists, UI designers and NG fans, I'd love any feedback and mockups you want to make in response to this. Please read the notes below:
1) The top left has a menu button, increasingly common in modern design for both mobile and web. This would be how our menu is accessed via mobile but is it going too far for web browsers? Are we hiding our awesome content categories and requiring too many clicks? There are trade-offs we could make; for example, users could have the option to PIN a persistent nav under the header. We could also include the nav on any page that is "owned" by NG, such as the front page and individual hubs, whereas content pages and user pages are owned by the individual user and we wouldn't compete with them for attention.
2) The search bar would expand based on screen width, becoming a search button on mobile. We would go back to a unified search, this time powered by Google since our search will never be as good as a Google search of NG.
3) The Upload button is a BIG ONE. In the current design, the header has buttons for Dumping Grounds and the Project System; most people don't have a clue what those buttons are. The upload button would open this menu, providing users with more clear options as well as educating them about the files we accept (many animators and devs still think we are SWF-exclusive). Note: This could be prettier looking.
4) The notifications (exclamation point vs star) is to the right of uploads. This will let you know when you have new interactions and will also be your link to your feed.
5) Next is your PM notifications.
6) Far right is your profile, which could show your user icon like we currently do. The big question here is whether we have one-click profile access like we do now, or if we have this button open a mini menu, like many sites do. The options on this menu would be PROFILE, SETTINGS, EARNINGS and LOG OUT. There are people that don't know they can click the gear to check their earnings, so this might be more clear.
7) Would we still have a 728x90 banner ad under the site header? In a perfect world, not on content and user pages. This could happen if the balance of everything else covers costs and it would be pretty exciting.
For further reference material here is the layout Luis was working on and an example of how it would collapse on mobile.
Here's a new mock-up by test-object that has the menu button anchored to the bottom left, with a fun pop-out menu. We do have other categories that would need to be addressed and the anchoring is non-traditional but looking at it gets the gears turning.
Soak it in and let us know what you think! Mock-ups are fun to look at and even weird ones can inspire great ideas. This is also a good opportunity to pitch your color preferences and other aspects of NG's future visual identity.