On Sunday, March 16th, a new era for Criticker will begin. On this day, we'll be launching a site-wide revamp, with an updated color scheme, style & layout elements, a re-imagined header and navigation, and a brand new logo.

We couldn't be more excited! In the coming weeks, we'll be introducing you to the new logo, the ideas which went into its creation, and what it represents. And we'll be bidding a fond farewell to our current logo, which has served the site faithfully for many, many years.

Limited-Time Merchandise

I tend to get attached to inanimate things. Old shoes, toys, books... tossing them in the trash has always been an emotional struggle for me. It's just the way I'm wired. So as excited as I am to announce the coming of a new logo for Criticker, I have to admit to some pangs of heartache for the old. 

For that reason, we've decided to commemorate the old logo with some merchandise: the first Criticker-branded merchandise to ever exist! If you've been a fan, or even grown up with the site (which will be turning 20 years old later this year), then you might be interested in checking out our limited-time shop, which we're opening right now.

There is a small selection of products on offer, and the shop will only stay open until the new version of Criticker has launched. Once the new logo is in place, the old one will be gone forever, so if you'd like to own a little piece of Criticker history, now is the time to act. 

Check out the Criticker Shop now!

More About the Relaunch

I know that you might see the word "relaunch" and shudder, so we want to clarify what will be happening on March 16th. We'll be introducing new style elements, including colors, containers, and other visual enhancements, to bring a greater consistency to the experience of using Criticker. We'll be rolling out a new header and navigation. And we'll be unveiling an awesome splash page for the site, designed to introduce Criticker to new users and convince them to sign up. (This new "welcome" page is not something that already-registered users will normally see.) 

Just as important is what this relaunch is not doing. For now, we are not touching the functionality of Criticker at all. For example, the Collections page you know and (maybe) love is going to be exactly the same in the new version; just formatted a little differently. And this holds true for Title Information pages, Starred Reviews, User Profiles, and every other page on the site. Nothing's changing in terms of the way Criticker operates, how it recommends titles to you, or how it matches you to other users.

That's not to say that changes and updates won't be coming in the future, but first we wanted to get the full site in a good spot to accommodate new features. 

We hope you're excited! Stay tuned for more information about the relaunch... and we hope you're excited to see Criticker's new look!