In case you missed it: Vimeo Announces New Design

Open Your Eyes to the New Vimeo from Vimeo Staff on Vimeo.

I have long found that Vimeo is the best video hosting site out there. Unlike YouTube, the focus has always been on great, user-generated content, and creating a supportive community of like-minded filmmakers. This has meant better content to consume and more constructive talkback on pages – not to mention real world connections and collaborations made. And in recent months, Vimeo has really made strides to engage the community with education (and I have lent a hand – you can check out my appearance in their Video School series: Behind The Glass). And Tuesday, Vimeo announced on their blog that they are going to be implementing a new design on their site soon.

It’s always nice to see things change up a bit, as it been years since Vimeo did any upgrade to their site design, and according to their post it seems they are making changes in all of the right places, placing more emphasis on the things that have already set them apart from other Video sharing sites. According to the post, the biggest change to be coming to the site is a greater emphasis on the videos. This includes a resign of the video page that includes a larger video player, less distractions within the page, and more a more streamlined toolset for finding and browsing videos. This is great, as the video player has room to grow, and the scrolling bar to the right of the player has never been the easiest to navigate. And the second big change? A revamp of the social side of the site, with your inbox now a feed (as it is on most social media sites), as well as following features and browsing feature, all geared to better help you connect with content and filmmakers you like. For me this is perhaps the most exciting, because Vimeo’s video quality has always been great – but what has really set it apart is its community. The opportunity to better connect with that community is a definite plus. I’ve met quite a few good friend thru Vimeo and gotten to know their and other’s work… it can truly be a good marketing vehicle if you will.Of course there are a whole host of other small features being updated that you can read about HERE.

If you are interested in checking out the new design, head over to their site and sign up to be one of the beta testers.