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Comment by sysadm1n | Hacker News Reader

I find most of these sites follow the brutalist web design trend[0]. Nothing wrong with that. In the end, if the site is user-friendly and does what its supposed to, and is otherwise easy to navigate and is readable, then why not?

So much of the web are these copycat 'zines' which are jam-packed with all sorts of bells and whistles and have a sidebar packed with ADs and the content is laced with affiliate links so they can 'monetize' their web presence.

I enjoy other people's little 'corner of the web' which isn't housed in a walled garden social media platform, like the bulk of content these days.

[0] https://designlab.com/blog/examples-brutalism-in-web-design/

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Lol, a blog about the brutalist design on an excesssivist site.

Wow, you weren't kidding.

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I immediately turned on Safari reader mode on my phone. It's a life saver to battle these nuisances.

Ya I love finding sites that are uniquely someone's, not SEO optimized knock-offs. I personally might not find the design appealing, but I appreciate when someone makes their site theirs. Likewise, most will not enjoy my site's design, but it's mine.

So it's really called brutalist web design? Someone mentioned it to me on IRC but I thought it was just the adjective he used to describe the https://motherfuckingwebsite.com. Had no idea this had turned into an entire design trend.

I'd call it a spin off of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brutalist_architecture

People conflate brutalist design with user hostile UI. If a site doesn't wrap properly one a decent phone, it's user hostile. The brutalist moniker mostly means low-JS and less formulaic sites that aren't SEO optimized to the bones.

I wanted to note that homebrew websites and SEO optimized websites aren't necessarily opponents here, or in opposite corners. They are often the same tech under the hood.

Case in point: SvelteJS. It's absolutely great for a homebrew website. It's also maintained by the NYTimes, which I subscribe to and like myself, but which also has a large chunk of its business in the SEO optimized website category (see: Wirecutter).

It does it in a classy way which doesn't feel so much like ads are being stuffed down your throat - but that business is SEO optimized down to its bones.

Just skimming the front page of Wirecutter now, a NYTimes owned property, shows articles like "The Best Sunscreens for Your Face", "The best beard trimmers we tested side by side surrounded by their attachments", "The Best Women’s Razors (for Every Body)" - these are all so textbook and by the SEO playbook they could be taught in a course.

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