In terms of design quality, my favorite website is The Players’ Tribune. This media platform was created by former Yankee short-stop Derek Jeter when he retired from the game in 2014. Jeter’s goal for the site was to be a platform for professional athletes to share their voices to directly to their fans without any manipulation from the media.
As much as I enjoy the content of the site, I am in love with its overall design. It is image based, so each preview has an photograph of the athlete who wrote the story. Each story also begins with a large picture behind the headline. I appreciate this as someone who is very visual and design oriented.
I also like how their menu is organized. It comes up as a sidebar with the ability to select articles organized by sport or by categories of stories. If you want to see what song an athlete is tired of hearing in stadiums, you can select “What the (Blank)?” which is a collection of fill-in-the-blank questions aimed at getting to know athletes better. You can click on “Letter to My Younger Self” where athletes give their 18-year-old self life advice.
Another plus for the website, in my humble opinion, is that Blake Griffin is one of the chief correspondents.
So if you’re a sports fan that is interested in hearing from your favorite athletes on a well-design social platform, check out The Players’ Tribune. I’ve been in love with Derek Jeter (and Blake Griffin) for many years, so I have really enjoyed watching the site blossom from only having two stories from Derek and Blake to a place where athletes from every sport can express their opinions and share their experiences.
I took a look at the Players Tribune after noticing your post and really like the way that the page displays photography. It is such an important aspect when discussing sports.