Oh Gosh 2.0
Regular readers will notice things look a bit different to how they did before today. I’ve been planning a redesign since the beginning of the year, and originally hoped to launch the new site in time for the first anniversary of Oh Gosh! back in May. Unfortunately several factors made that impossible, but two months later it is finally ready.
I’ve always been pretty pleased with the original design for Oh Gosh!, but as I’ve written more and more about cocktails it has become a little difficult to find content around the site. The new look front page and category pages should make it a lot easier (and faster) to browse around the archives, and the brand new cocktail recipe index means you can jump straight to the cocktails if you don’t want to wade through my witterings.
Oh Gosh! also joins the Web 2.0 world now with twitter updates that appear on the right hand column which will contain shorter updates from me which don’t warrant a full post. This will really come in to play during my forthcoming trip the the US, but I’ll talk more about that soon. There are also various other small tweaks which will hopefully make the site clearer to navigate and easier to use.
A big round of applause goes out to Dr. Bamboo who created the brilliant new header graphic, cheers Craig! I hope everyone likes the new design, and be sure to let me know what you think (good or bad) in the comments section below. Can’t be bothered to make a comment? Maybe I can persuade you otherwise…
To celebrate the newly redesigned Oh Gosh! I’m giving one lucky reader the chance to win four highly sought-after items – Hermes Orange bitters, Hermes Aromatic bitters, The Bitter Truth Celery bitters and The Bitter Truth Jerry Thomas’ Own Decanter bitters. The Hermes bitters are only available from Japan and have a distinct flavour which makes them a welcome addition to any cocktailians booze stash. The Jerry Thomas bitters are a limited edition run from The Bitter Truth which aims to recreate the bitters Jerry Thomas himself used. Finally, the Celery bitters are a unique ingredient and the first Celery bitters to be made available in many decades.
All four bottles can be yours by simply making a comment on any post here at Oh Gosh! between now and Sunday, 27th July. Whether you are a regular reader or someone who just arrived, you are all eligible to enter. It’s as easy as finding a post you enjoyed on the site and adding your opinions or insight on the subject. If you don’t feel you’ve anything to add to any of the topics, just make a comment here introducing yourself and letting us know how you found the site. You’ve nothing to lose, and some very tasty bitters to gain!
The winner will be chosen at random from everyone who has commented between now and July 27th. The competition is open to all, but it must be legal for you to receive the bitters in the post where you live. Please be sure to include an email address when entering a comment so I can contact you if you win – rest assured email addresses will not be used for any other means.
Update: The competition winner has now been announced.
Posted in General
July 5th, 2008 at 5:25 am
The barman graphic, and its being incorporated into other parts of the site is cool. But I have to say I liked the old graphic too. The old one had more of a 30s, Art Deco type look which I really liked. The new look kind of moves away from that.
July 5th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Well you have dona a lot of work. The new design looks great and it looks like your going to break things down into categories. How about categories such as; brand comparisons of the same item, new spirits on the market, video demonstrations, featured recipe in each spirit type. Your going to need guest writers. Maybe a group cocktail site running on scoop is the direction Oh Gosh! 3.0 will go in.
July 5th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
The site looks fantastic – please keep up the great work!
July 5th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
The site look great. I know how time-consuming putting together all of this can be, so many congrats on your personal blog victory – or at least that is what it feels like. Anyway, just wanted to give you some much deserved compliments on the new look.
July 5th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
The site looks great! Love the header graphic as well. I always enjoy reading your posts.
July 5th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
This is one of my favorite cocktail blogs, and I like the new design, but I’m not going to pretend I’m not just posting for the bitters!
July 5th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Jay, the new design is fantastic! I’ve been a big fan of yours for a while, I love the amount of detail and work you put into this site. The Orange Liquer showdown and the bitters comparison have been fun and educational. I’ve tried some of your recommendations and loved all of them. Keep up the good work and I look forward to the next awesome post!
Oh yeah, and I hope I win some bitters.
July 5th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
I’ve come looking for ways to use my fresh, local blackberries in a gin drink. Yay for entering a contest while I’m at it!
July 6th, 2008 at 12:27 am
Well,the new graphic is great,but the previous was pretty much better in my opinion;whatever,the contents are the very important thing..
Good job,this is my favourite mixology blog!
July 6th, 2008 at 2:20 am
Looks great, Jay!
The home page gives a very nice overview. Good work!
A few opinions now about the prodigious right sidebar:
I’d do a little tuning there to bring attention to the appropriate things.
I’d move “Receive free updates by email” closer to the bottom since it’s only used once by a given person. Below the archives dropdown, at least.
Search should always be top right for having the best chance of it being where the user’s already looking for it.
Unless FoodBuzz is paying for their prominent position, I would de-emphasize those components. They shouldn’t be a bigger part of the story than your own content.
The Twitter feed is great. I’d put that up top, on the right, just under the search box.
You might want a little more visual distinction between your content and your blogroll & resources links. Maybe a border around your stuff (which would help set it off from the post text)?
Or so sayeth this web & cocktail geek.
Looking forward to seeing you in New Orleans!
Dinah
July 6th, 2008 at 2:26 am
I am glad I found this site – Stumbled on it to be exact – my husband and I are building a bar and we are slowly adding to it as budget allows.
I enjoyed the article on orange liqueurs, very informative. I can’t wait to read your future posts and your archives!
I’m not sure what your page looked like before, but let me say I love the look of it now.
July 6th, 2008 at 3:07 am
Who knew so many Matthews read my blog?!
Thanks for the comments guys. I’ve seen this design so much over the past few weeks I’ve lost all perspective on it, so I’m glad everyone seems to like it. I agree the old header was great, however it didn’t adapt well to the wider design, and I felt like it was time for a change.
Reggie – at the moment this is very much my little project, so no guest writers in the foreseeable future. A few more categories might be an idea though, yeah.
Sally – if you want to use gin and blackberries check out the Country Bumpkin.
Dinah – the sidebar is always in a state of flux, even on the old site I was constantly tinkering with it. Some great ideas though, I agree about the distinction between the sidebar and content, I just haven’t found a way that looks right yet. I’ve just moved the twitter feed as you suggest.
I didn’t realise until today you ran a cocktail related blog, I’d only ever seen your main Metagrrrl blog. See you in New Orleans!
July 6th, 2008 at 3:13 am
I’ve been a fan of yours for a year now… I liked the old site design, but this is better. Congratulations! Now, if would only take a serious stab at some Tiki drinks!
July 6th, 2008 at 4:07 am
Those gorgeous bottles would look best in the wild heartland of middle earth, new zealand. Go on, you know they would !!
July 6th, 2008 at 4:40 am
Whee! I just found you but I’ll be back. I’d love to win the bitters and send them to my brother who knows lovely things to do with them.
July 6th, 2008 at 5:16 am
Oh what fun! Jay, the site looks great and distinctly different – congrats on the thoughtful update.
July 6th, 2008 at 8:05 am
Just subscribed to the rss feed. Love the site!
July 6th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
I just found you through Liqurious, so I don’t know what the “old” site looked like, but I love the look of the site – I’ll definitely be stopping by more often now
July 6th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Stumbled upon the site today – like Rachel, no idea what the old site looked like but I’m already a huge fan! Keep up the good work…
July 6th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Love the new design, very snazzy. I’ve been impressed with the look of your site since week 1, but this is a huge improvement.
Also, your photos are completely drool-worthy and make me want to suck your brain dry to possess some of that camera talent. Just thought I’d throw that out there.
July 6th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
I think the new site is great. I stumbled on it a few months back using the suggestions from Google Reader for new RSS subscriptions.
July 6th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Very nice Jay! A great Blog whit a great design! The header is fantastic (And dont forgot the excellent pictures on this site)
Thanks for writting this creat blog!!!!
July 6th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Yummy! I can’t wait to try these.
July 6th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Nice looking site!
July 6th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
I already sent you an email congratulating you on the new design, good stuff.
So, in short, I want the damned bitters.
Look forward to meeting you in NOLA and I like the conceptualization of you behind the bar in the graphic. Curly People Power (CPP) my curly-headed friends and I used to call it. And thanks for the Twitter nod, man.
After taking June off and in preparation for TotC I’m doing a series of posts on drinks which have inspired blogs and/or are closely related to a blog’s fame and fortune. First up will be the Oh Gosh!.
July 6th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
Love the labels!
July 7th, 2008 at 12:08 am
Just found your blog via Liquerious.com, I’m love to read about the art of the drink! Hoping for some bitters to further my own explorations. ^_~
July 7th, 2008 at 12:27 am
I found your site via Liqurious.com. Looks pretty cool!
July 7th, 2008 at 2:20 am
Darryl – that’s a little scary.
Gabriel – I’m glad someone caught on that the bartender was based on me. CPP indeed! Great idea for a series of posts, I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the Oh Gosh!. FYI, these days I skip the extra water and the sugar syrup as the Cointreau brings enough sweetness on its own.
Keep those entries coming everyone…
July 7th, 2008 at 4:46 am
Love the new look and how the graphics are repeated throughout the posts. Very friendly. See you soon at Tales!
July 7th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Great stuff man! I love the new look! Cheers!
July 7th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
I think the re-design looks great. I’ve always been a big fan of Dr. Bamboo’s illustrations – great choice there.
Have fun in the US – if you ever come as far as LA I’ll by you a drink.
July 8th, 2008 at 6:51 am
I followed a link from a cocktail page on Flickr; they were recommending your site.
The design is fantastic!!!
I cannot find orange bitters in my town. One store had a spot on the shelf where they used to carry them, but they had just stopped stocking them right before I started looking for them.
July 8th, 2008 at 8:34 am
Hehe, two thumbs up to Dr Bamboo—as a dark overlord of vector images, I really appreciate a first-class illustration like this one (although I have to admit that I miss those girls in the cocktail glasses…).
July 8th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Great redesign – love those smiling customers on the right!
July 8th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
I like it, Jay. The new graphic makes me smile (and given the past day or so, that’s a Very Good Thing).
I also know how much work these redesigns can be – we’re almost just this close to finished (would be closer if I wasn’t posting on here, clearly desiring bitters) ourselves.
Hopefully by the end of the day today, assuming mass stupidity ends (and if you knew which gummint agency I worked for, you’d know that’s a false hope).
Congratulations on the new design!
July 8th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Love the new look, Jay! The nav sections are a nice touch.
July 8th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Looks really, really nice, and a belated thank you for the mega-roundup of orange liqueurs. Replacing a bottle of triple sec/curacao/orange-y stuff always makes me feel overwhelmed with choices. Anyway, thanks for the great blog.
July 8th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Love the new look. The header is great!
July 8th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Found your site through Liqurious – the site looks great!
July 8th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Also found via Liqurious. Funny, I was just trying to convince my husband to make some bitters! These look delicious.. as does your new site! Nice job!!
July 9th, 2008 at 12:47 am
Great improvement to the site. The new front page really makes a difference in distinguishing different articles. Nice job Dr Bamboo!
How I found this site:
A building interest in refined alcoholic beverages made me curious to learn more. A quick trip to Google and I found the OG! website. I think I was looking at the Orange Liquor article from not too long ago. Further browsing of the site and it quickly found itself into my bookmarks!
Thank you, Mr. Hepburn! The OG! site has really helped me express and experiment with my (fairly) new-found hobby.
July 9th, 2008 at 4:18 am
Hey there! I just found your website through Liquorius.com, and I’ll definitely be checking you out again. Good work!
July 10th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Nice redesign, and a pretty sweet 2.0 kickoff, especially for the winner.
July 10th, 2008 at 2:10 am
I really like the redesign and new logo. My only suggestion would be to put just a bit of a gradient to the top of the page. Just like you have a slight gradient for your menu bar. I think it would give the page just a bit more texture/depth/whatever.
July 10th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Just came across your site via liqurious.com and I’m enjoying your post on the bitters
Love the labels on the bottles! I’ll be checking out your blog again. Cheers!
July 11th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
hello jay… love your site (although it’s strangely blocked at my work as “pornography” – must be the sexy drinks you make). got here somehow via the eGullet spirits and cocktails board and return regularly. keep up the good work!
July 11th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Jay- great job on the re-design! I’m obviously biased, but it’s nice to see the whole site in place and looking spiffy. It was a lot of fun working with you on the header.
And thanks to all the above commenters who had kind things to say about my artwork. As long as I have an ample supply of pencils and booze I’ll keep at it!
July 11th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
Hey Dr Bamboo: wha?! Pencils?! No Adobe Illustrator?!
July 11th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
“An ample supply of pencils and booze” may be one of the best taglines for a website or a business I’ve heard.
Dr. Bamboo, please let us know when the t-shirt becomes available.
July 12th, 2008 at 12:10 am
It’s funny- a lot of people assume I use Illustrator, but I don’t. I draw the line art on paper, scan it, and use Photoshop to add color. But Illustrator is one of those programs I’ve been meaning to learn!
And I guess I’d better trademark “an ample supply of booze and pencils” soon. T-shirts to come!
July 12th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Great redesign! Since I’m starting my own blog(it’s still an infant, reaching now 4 months, and a summer redesign), it’s a good inspiraction. I most say that i’ve been folowing your blog for some time, I don’t remenber were I first come to know it.
July 13th, 2008 at 2:43 am
Love the new design. Great drawings! They fit perfectly.
But, I’m sure someday I’ll miss the old design. Please post the old header, somewhere, as a souvenir.
Cheers to both of you, Jay and Dr.Bamboo
July 13th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
I think your site is just great and the redesign too! Nice that you also added twitter updates! I have just recently started my own blog and i`m not even designing, just using the simplest possible way and it still is time consuming! I hope one day to be able to design a real nice header for my blog too. Hats off to you for this nice blog and to Dr Bamboo for his brilliant header graphic!
July 14th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Liking the retro look of it all.
July 16th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
The site looks great. Unfortunately I can’t say if it looks better as this is the first time I’ve been here. One thing I don’t care for is the access to older posts. When I come across a new cocktail blog I like to start at the most recent post and work my way backwards to the older post. Is the “featured posts from the archive” section chronological or does it grab random posts? If it’s chronological than it’s all good. That minor quibble aside I like this blog very much. Thanks for all the work.
July 21st, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Great site! Looks awesome!!!
:D
July 21st, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Aloha,
Just found your site. Was at the taste of the cocktail and was surprised by how many bloggers where everywhere. Great information and insights, thanks for your work.
Steve Zucker
Corporate Chef
Aloha Hospitality
July 24th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Love the new site – Looks great!!!
:D:D
July 27th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
Wow! This is my first time visiting a cocktail blog, and I can tell I’m going to be hooked! There’s so much to learn. Thanks!
July 28th, 2008 at 4:46 am
I was looking up Stirrings Blood Orange Bitters and stumbled across this site. I must say, I’m just posting for a shot at the bitters, a tremendous incentive.
Cheers,
Aaron