Site Redesign

Site redesign

Site redesign We are proud to announce a new website design for ImprovEverywhere.com. With all of the traffic and press we have been getting lately, it was time to spice things up around here. We’d like to personally thank our designer Ken Newell for his hard work on this new site. Ken charged us only $4,000 for his design (which is half of his normal rate.)

Things are going to be “under construction” around here for the next couple of days as we work out the kinks and give the tires a kick or two. Bear with us. In the meantime, we’d love to hear your feedback on our new look. Leave us a comment below.

UPDATE – As of April 2, 2008 we are no longer using this new design. It ended up only working for us on April 1. If you missed it, here’s a screen shot of the redesign. And below you can see some of the super cool animated gifs and icons our redesign featured.


we cause scenes!

WEB RING
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Improv Everywhere

HOT COMEDY

Site redesign

JUST FOR FUN

Comments

  2. First you steal my favorite Jazz ensemble’s name and now you blatantly rip off their web design. What’s next, HIPP?

  7. Love it! Thank goodness you guys got over that whole snafu regarding the old jazz ensemble whose name you stole from last year!

  8. $4k is not bad at all. Look forward to seeing how it all ends up.

    -Jenny
    BTW, am I still supposed to be standing here frozen at Grand Central or can I move now?…

  11. I HAVE SOM BAD NEWS FOR YOU YOU GOT RIPED OFF BIG TIME!!!!!!!!! THIS DESIGN SUXXXXXX! TEHE! UNDERCONSTRUCTION BANNERS ARE LIKE 1990 OR SOMETHING! WHAT ARE YOU MYSPACE SIKE I LIKE YOU GUYS SIKE YOU SUX!!!!!!!!!

  12. The Comic Sans in #FF0000 is sublime. But how did you achieve that striking “embossed” look in the background image?

  14. Oh my god. I am so gullible. Just like last year, I forwarded the message to someone else before clicking on the link.

    Do it again! Next year!

  18. I am SHOCKED and DISMAYED by the complete lack of blinking text. What were you thinking?! If it’s not blinking, it’s not 1996.

  22. I believed you at first, and then thought, no way. This design is awful, so 1996. Great April Fool’s joke!

  23. NEED MORE CONTRAST btw black background and grey?? text. Have laptop on highest setting and still hard to read.

    Also, menu tabs get lost in business of photo background at top. Crop photo above the menu, so tabs easy to read.

    Thanks! Can’t wait for the next NYC Mission!

  28. I think if you made the background an animated gif it would look a LOT better. It’ll probably cost an extra $1000 but it’d be worth it. Also I really think your logo should use your new name- “Humor In Public Places” or the shorthand Humor PP

    BTW, you totally had me for a second there. I haven’t been to bed yet so in my mind it’s still 3/31 ^_^

  29. You need more blink tags. I mean, how are you supposed to really “catch the eye” without blink tags? Sigh.

  30. if there had been ten flashing YOU’VE WON banners around it would have been like a time warp back to the nineties. I appreciate the cheap .gifs though. The internet needs more .gifs.

  32. I heard this company called Futurewave is coming out with some vector animation tools for the web called “Splash”. You should look into that. I saw it on CNET TV.

  36. I can’t believe you’d blatantly steal my gobbling mailbox graphic without asking Charlie. Its bad enough to not ask for my help, but to steal is so not cool.

  38. Nice scheme! I’d like to apply it to my Gmail Custom Time feature when it finally shows up.

  39. I saw this post all bare and out of context in Google Reader, then thought “Oh, cool, I should check out what the new design looks like.”

    This has to be the hardest I’ve ever laughed while Hazy Shade of Winter has been playing.

  41. the flashing rainbow bar under ‘food court musical’ is a nice touch i think. it really brings the design together.

  42. I guess full price would have gotten a scrolling text marquee, blinking text and maybe one of those “cat tearing through the page” images.

    Thanks for the Under Construction notices, but i think it looks fine already.

    I do hope you plan on adding a guest book, though.

    Wait! I just saw the scrolling text.

    How about adding a Comic Chat chatroom?

    I guess the only other thing missing is one of those cool mouse cursors with fireworks, or a clock. Yes, a clock. Totally!

    Primo Bitchin’ Dudes!

  44. For $4000 I am amazed that you didn’t get a hit counter. How are you ever going to be able to do any detailed analysis of the viability of the site without being able to see how visitors you have gotten?

    O
    M
    (wait for it)
    G
    !

  45. I really think this has to be an April Fool’s joke…if not…well, better luck next time.

  46. Am sending you some nice harp and strings music I recorded today in our elevator. It will really complete the sophisticated feel of this effart.

  47. GOLD!!

    Improv on your web site, living up to the “We create scenes” motto even online!

    Brilliant! A+. I love it =)

    …too bad its just a cheezy April Fools joke =(

  48. Yeah, its pretty good. I think that the site needed an update! Can’t wait to see the finished product.

  49. Thanks for all of the advice so far guys– I’ve been forwarding it to my designer and more than a few of your suggestions have ALREADY been incorporated into the new design (though I’m having to pay up for these new features.)

  52. Pretty hilarious. It toom me a little while to name the song, which was embarrassing, but I liked it none the less.

    I got a kick out of reading the comments of the people who thought it serious.

  54. This design is pathetic. Where are the animated GIFs in the background? Where is blinking text? A real disappointment if I’ve ever seen one.

  56. Wow, it looks really great! The new design definitely reflects how far IE has come in recent years!! I really like the music too.

    Just a suggestion: earth rotates counter-clockwise with respect to the North pole, so you might want to fix the spin on the planet just to be accurate.

  57. This site really looks awesome after the revamping.

    I think you need more “under construction” banners though just so we know. Hope that helps.

  58. Where are the animated flames? although I understand you want to make site load reasonably fast for us still using 28.8 modems. Props to the designer.

  59. Wow, this is fantastic! My favorite is the Ugachaka baby – an eternal classic!!

    Just noticed the new smiley face cursor. Love it!!!

  62. LOLOL! I saw it and I thought “are you kidding” and then I was like, “oh..yeah they are!” Good job guys!

  64. My work at deobnoxification of the net in FireFox is pretty bulletproof so when I first came here, I sez WTF. Just another ugly site. Then it dawned on me what today is.

    With great trepidation, I knocked the dust off of Exploser and fired it up.

    Oh
    My
    Gawd!

    This is a veritable catalog of web.obnoxiousness. I’m having flashbacks to Y2K.

    BTW, did you know that this page takes over 400 seconds to load at 56k?

  65. Please change the background back to lighter one. It’s very difficult to read white lettering on black background.
    Thanks in advance, and keep up the good work

  66. You replaced the mouse cursor. That’s so awesome! I didn’t even know it was still possible to do that. Oh, Cometcursors—I don’t miss you at all…

  67. Haha, nice! Too bad you didn’t get a screen-wipe transition feature included for the $4,000 — those really set a website apart!

    Rock on, IE… Rock on.

  69. Nice, I remember last year you guys claimed that the name improve everywhere was already taken and you had to change your name, but this is a very amusing website, I love the music choice!!!

  71. OMG!!!?!! you guyz r da BOMB!! that dancing baby is soooooooo cute!!!!!!!!

    i have NO suggestions the cite is PRRRFICT as is!

    DONT EVER CHANGE!!!

    k-bye,
    xoxoxoxox
    spacedani (LOL)

    :)

    p.s. u guyz r sooo funny!

  72. oh my god! you scared the hell out of me…

    Please say it is indeed an april fools joke >.<

    BTW what was last years joke?

    I Love the one you had like 3 days ago.. don’t go changing it… ever O_o

  77. I think it displays a certain simplistic charm, with a clearly pro-environment stance yet at the same time is still a damning indictment of the gulf between rich and poor…

  78. Love the cursor! Happy April Fool’s Day, y’all! Thanks for making the world a great place to laugh. XOXOXO

  80. What a blast from the past! Man, these are the websites I saw when I first started going online!

    But, god, I fell for this so hard! Man… great, now I feelz teh stupid.

    Oh, and just to prove how stupid I am, I wouldn’t have gotten it unless I read the comments. (I wasn’t around for last year’s, so I wasn’t prepared! T__T)

  81. Love the tune….I didn’t read a thing though….That dancing baby on the right, had me too distracted.

    Mama M

  84. I am ok with the change (I liked it the way it was)… but the music doesn’t go away when you watch a video.

  87. All I can say is that the site new feels like MySpace vomited on it.
    The only solution to this is to change the font color to #000000.
    I know that Ken will probably charge you another $200 just for that – you let him know that you deserve the “retuning customer” discount – tell him I said so.
    Enjoy your Tuesday.

  89. heh .. I’ve got a bridge I’ll sell ya for only $1000 … that’s half it’s normal price

  91. i turned on the computer this morning just to see what april fool’s trick u guys would do this year , lol, how sad oh well, i quite like the uh dancing baby down there, nice touch!

  95. Dude, this is really lovely, but you know what would really make it POP? A “Rick Roll” pop-up series. It might be worth the extra cost…

  99. The smiley cursor is genius – do you think the designer would give me the same deal? I know a 10 yr old budding designer who could do some nice sparkle effects for cheap.

  111. I can’t load all the advanced graphics on this site upgrade with my 64K 120Mhz IBM AT, even WITH my Hayes 300K Baud Modem and 80286 co-processor… do you have a low-res or a text-only version so I can see what things you groovy improv dudes have planned for pranks today????

  115. You’re missing the little animated under construction guy! And how about an animated gif for a background image, too? That would be sooo high-tech!

  116. Nice April Fools joke. The comic sans is a great touch. It’s like garnish–a tall sprig of rosemary poking out of a garishly plated meal circa 1997.

    Brilliant.

  118. Darn it. You got me! My first reaction was it’s bad, but not that bad! I guess Myspace has lowered everyone’s standards.

  120. The mailbox is eating my letters!!!

    Awesome new design. Not enough websites use alternating cursor graphics these days!

  121. Haha WOW. I just scrolled down and saw the dancing baby.
    This design should stay for that one feature alone.

  122. I was going to say that the redesign was only worth $3500 max. But then I saw the comet cursor. That just brings it all together. The fire gif is also pretty phat.

    LOL! It’s like the 90’s threw up all over the site. Loves it!

  123. Right. Fool me once, shame on you – fool me twice..oh, wait! I caught this one!!

    nice job guys!

  124. The Pentium 2 Packard Bell system that the website is running on can barely keep up with the traffic today.

  128. I actually liked the simplistic design of the previous version… and this black color is depressing.. go back to white!

  129. The red font at the top is hard to read in terms of the color and the font itself is sort of amateur looking, like a science fair project or something. Not trying to be mean, just think that Improv Everywhere could have something sleeker to represent itself.

  136. the only thing worth watching in you 4$ website is your small photo on the left hand corner of the page.. ;)

  141. good God…i just had a seizure…

    i’m sending you a bill for my chipped tooth, and the helmet and mouthguard i’ll have to buy just to log in now…

  142. Hey, all this porn site banners are supposed to appear non-stop? What about the hard drive formatting? Hmmm…

  146. Wao! I travel in time! 90s are back! I think my first webpage at high school was like this one.

  148. I am really glad that this is on april fools day. If you really used this new layout I might go insane.

  151. Thanks for all these comments guys! My designer is really excited to get the feedback. Some of the best feedback has come via email, and I’d like to share some.

    From Marilyn:

    “I hope this is one of your missions because this ‘design’ is a joke, or if
    it just a pracice it is not ready for viewing. Just a couple of pointers:
    Grey writng on a black background is not legible; The repettitive ‘musac’
    is annoying is annoying is annoying…..; too many people who are technical
    whizzes call themseves designers when they have no design training or talent
    whatsoever and finally Ken should have done this for nothing in return for
    all the free publicity you are giving him. Sorry Ken, but friends tell
    friends the truth…..”

    From Tom:

    “Please turn off that awful music on your website…..sooooo anhoying”

  153. What’s this site best viewed in? Netscape Communicator 4 or Microsoft Internet Explorer 2? I don’t see the usual recommendation buttons.

    Ken really should’ve added some “Best viewed with X” or “Site optimized for” browser graphics. Anyone who doesn’t have the recommended browsers need visual reminders that they need to upgrade so that they can get the full experience of your new site.

  158. The typos in the announcement email were a nice touch as well. (Those *were* intentional, right?) Kudos!
    Speaking of which, I’m hungry. Ciao!

  161. Any designer worth his salt knows to put the dancing baby at the top. One shouldn’t have to scroll to see the mark of a serious website.

    I guess you get what you pay for. If you’re going to cheap out and only pay $4,000 for a re-design, you’ll have to deal with such amateurism.

    If you want a professional design, save up the $20,000 that I’d charge and I’ll really do it up.

  163. I find the colour of the font too light; could you please change it into a dark grey or something, so that it does not contrast to much with the black background? Geez, you guys are so long on the internet, yet you do not know the basics of webdesign…..

  164. I used to like the other one more, but this one looks really fun! and I like the music as well!
    Congrats, and keep on working.
    Here in Argentina we don´t have such things as you do, but I´d love to participate!
    You are all GREAT GUYS!!!

  165. After I finally stopped vomiting, I realized that today is April Fool’s Day, and now I absolutely cannot stop LAUGHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    YOU GOT ME!!!!!! Love it! Love it! Love it!

    Happy April Fool’s Day, you crazy, crazy nuts!

  167. Another nice email from a visitor:

    “I love what the group does, but I have grave doubts about your new site. I appreciate it’s under construction, but animated gifs and that midi song
    are a mistake- at least make the music player more prominent if you do leave it there, so visitors with a lot of tabs open can spot what’s playing. I
    don’t know what stage the rework is at, but can I recommend the designer of the website for my improv group,”

  171. When will thy greatest site be completed? My Lord, we shall wait upon your gracious designs and heavenly creations of our inhumaity justly towards our eyes and ears!
    For at least my mouse makes me smile while it does such a joyous dance upon my silver screen, and the dance! Oh the dance, the cutest of babies brings me back to the yore, my youth running wild… Blessed 90’s!

    You know guys, it’s actually April Fools MONTH, so feel free to, you know…

  174. I was frightened, at first. I got “it” after a while though (I ALWAYS forget today).

    Quite an intriguing design, I have to admit. Very interesting to behold. There’s one flaw, though: not a single ROFL cat. I think another improvement would be to have the background flashing some sort of psychedelic pattern (type “psychedelic” in a google image search, and you’ll get lots of pretty options).

    Overall, not a bad waste of money.

  175. Oh goodness! I had completely forgotten it was April Fool’s day, and I about died when I saw the new layout. I was like ‘uh…they paid $4000 for this? A second grader could do better…!’

    Great job, guys!

  176. I don’t know what’s sadder, the fact that I fell for it, or the fact I know the song is A Hazy Shade of Winter from Simon and Garfunkel. (I’m guessing Garfunkel.)

  177. Outstanding. I love the Bangles. If you could, maybe a ticker going by. I love those.

  178. this is possibly the worst april fools joke ever, to be frank. its not funny and its possibly the ugliest thing ive ever seen.

  179. can you keep this permanently? i’ve been looking for the midi version of hazy shade of winter for so long, but they don’t sell it on itunes. i guess it just wasn’t popular enough.

    personal favorite… the visitor counter.

  180. Thanks Isabella!

    Here’s another great review from an email:

    “I can’t read this light gray on black – it’s ugly, mean-spirited and seems counter to your whole energy and purpose.

    JUST HORRIBLE – and c’mon the blinking graphics – what are you in the 7th grade. Move on into the 21st century and get a better, easier to use design.”

  182. Another fun email:

    “the old website was way better. perhaps this new one is not finished, but it looks really bad, sorry to say but it does. you need to get your money back. you know what, im sure that this is a joke. i mean 4000 dollars. and that music. i bet i am one of a thousand people that is telling you this same thing. honestly man, change the website!!!”

  183. Hahaha….I fell for it. :) I was thinking, “Huh? This is weird…if they’re under THIS much construction they shouldn’t have sent the email out yet…” and then I read the comments. :) Great job! And I keep reading comments about “last year’s joke.” What was it?

  184. hmmm i dont like all the blinky stuff. its kinda annoying & makes things hard to read. Also, I’m not loving the black color scheme. I like the programming and ability to post comments, etc. (the interactivity.) I think the website is programmed nicely, but the design could be tweaked a bit to make it cleaner…

  186. Ah, the nostalgia! Great job. Not a lot of people these days can still code for this look. This guy is cheating, though. If you look at the source, he’s using CSS. He’s not truly old school.

    I got the RSS feed first, so sadly, I knew what you were doing before I even got here (thinking back to last year), but was pleasantly surprised by the results.

    Reminded me of the good old days when even E!Online would do a fake homepage full of fake items. And then when you clicked on any of them, you got a blank black screen with a Mac Bomb icon in the middle of it for a few seconds before it went to the real site.

  187. The second your email hit my inbox I knew I was in for an April’s Fool treat. New web design? Ha! I knew what was coming. And you did not disappoint! It’s as awful as I expected it to be! Great job!

    And by the great smaggin’ spaghetti monster, I hope those complainer emails where jokes too… I can’t imagine anyone being so thick…

  191. Oh, God! For just one moment I nearly cried, wondering how y’all got convinced to do… /this/. Then I remembered the date. *shudders* Oh, the horrid, horrid memories of learning web design…

  198. ONLY $4000 for those sweet animated gifs? Awesome!
    I’d say Improv Everywhere totally pulled a fast one on the designer!

  199. HAHA YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING.

    The smiley cursor and the awful midi music are definitely the best parts.

  201. I unfortunately did not get to see the new website but I was reading the article about it and I looked at the screen shot and could not help but wonder why you guys would pay $4000 for something like that. Now that I have read the comments I get… nice one.

  202. there should be a filter for the word’s april and fools and those posts should be IMMEDIATELY purged from the system. tis a shame, why do people always have to point out the obvious? so they figured it out, great, don’t spoil the fun for the rest of the world who, like myself, got caught up in it ;) ts ts.

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