I found myself on the MTV website a couple times in the past few weeks (doing research) (NOT watching episodes of The Hills! No…definetly not that.*) Anyway, I couldn’t help but notice the seemingly random, beautifully designed backgrounds, which all seamlessly incorporated the MTV logo into the upper left hand corner, each in its own unique style. I assumed it was the work of some clever ad agency, but then I upon further investigation, I found this blog!
MTV Hats (Header Art Treatments) is a really cool project that allows anyone to design a header treatment for the website by downloading their PSD template and submitting it to the MTV design team. If your design is chosen, it’s thrown into rotation and featured on the website. What a great idea! Each page now has it’s own look and feel, but yet the MTV brand seems only elevanted and enhanced by the designs. I’m sure it doesn’t hurt that the designs are reviewed and selected by the design team, but even still, it’s a great way to get users involved, keep the website fresh, and avoid doing a lot of work in the process.
To me, what works about this experience is the combination of constantly changing background art with a very consistent, minimal interface on top. I find it similar to the redesigns going on within the Yahoo! Media Group - TV, Sports, Food, etc. Each site has a unique look and feel, but their layouts, element placements, and interaction patterns are all very similar. I think this speaks to a broader trend toward integrated personalization which designers will increasingly need to address. To me, this challenge is about being clean and consistent whenever possible, but coming up with interesting ways to integrate the audience voice without affecing overall usability. And I think MTV has nailed it.
*My name is Sarah Cooper, and I’m addicted to The Hills