Hello and welcome to Rocket and Squash v.2.0.
The site is now 2 years old. The original design has served it well – loads of people have commented positively on the look, and that has always been very pleasing.
However, there’s rather a lot of content now, so we (me and my brother – the one behind the website design) decided that an update was due. We wanted to make posts more useful for you; to ensure that archive material is more navigable; and to have a fiddle with the aesthetics generally, with a particular focus on legibility.
We are really pleased. Hopefully you will like it too.
I believe websites are only successful if they are intuitive, so I won’t point out everything. But key changes include:
- the geographical categorisation of posts, so that you can browse for restaurant ideas depending on where you live or want to go out;
- location maps at the end of each restaurant post (including all old posts) to save you the Google map search;
- the ability to browse recipes depending on what meals or courses you’re thinking of cooking;
- a site ‘footer’, featuring my most recent instagram shots (85% food related) and recommendations for things to read and do – we hope this will make the site more interesting on a day-to-day basis; and
- a general in-site search function (top right) so you can search for, well, anything, really.
Thanks to my eldest brother for the new illustrations you see on the Eating Out, In and Noted pages, as well as the snazzy knife, fork, spoon things dotted around the place.
However, as with v.1.0, 99% of thanks, credit and praise should really go to another brother, @OliverSmith, for doing all the creative and techie work, and for complying with my irritating requests. Publishers, you should commission him to design your books; companies and creatives use him for your websites; and everyone else should keep an eye out for his exhibitions and buy his work. He wanted me to stress that his next focus is on making the site more mobile and tablet friendly, but I’ll let him get some sleep first.
Sounds good! Sometimes a change is necessary and if it’s a good one, all the better.
Genius – love your site and everything about it. Think in time I need to speak to your brother – only just started this blogging lark in a fit of motherly frustration (having sold catering business – first love of my life) need a a vent for terminal cooking / creative passion. Always recommending your blog to young chefs – think it should be essential reading. Keep blogging -and finally, when are you knocking AAGill off his perch?
“…and thanks to my youngest brother for the moral support and occassional badgering.”
You’re welcome. (Well done boys, looks great.)
This is really good work.
Nice to see another site which isn’t plastered with wretched share buttons and doing the maps thing! You’ve clearly thought long and hard about the architecture of stuff too.
*doffs cap*
SD.
It was lovely before but this is better; must do the same at some point…perhaps borrowing your family webmaster!
Easily the most attractive and well organised food blog ever (in my short expanse of awareness) (that doesn’t detract from the compliment….). And one of the best written (might as well go all out on the suck up….).
A ruddy pleasure sir.
Chris – Always good to keep thinking about how to improve, I reckon
Joanna – Glad you like the site. Your question is, I think, one of the great questions of modern times … 😉
Henry – Haha. You can run the foraging courses.
Simon – Cheers. We were keen for a map feature and there’s a similarly doff of the cap owed to the Burger Anarchy example.
Louise – Very pleased you think it’s better. Thanks.
Alex – Blushes all round. Thank you.
I like the new version…=)