5 ms·

Mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, it's pretty. Aesthetically it's nice, simple, and I generally love stark monochromatic designs. On the other hand,

Mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, it's pretty. Aesthetically it's nice, simple, and I generally love stark monochromatic designs. On the other hand, this feels very unofficial and off-brand. It doesn't feel like it's a part of the U.S. government. Was that intentional? If so, why? Why does it feel more like the site of a small (and potentially underfunded) start-up than the world's biggest and baddest intelligence agency?

derision 6y ago
The US Gov has struggled to hire millennials for some time. My guess is this is to try to appeal to the younger generations
- fit2rule 6y ago
  It'll take more than a vacuous web site to bring millennials to heal for the CIA. They'd have to actually prosecute their war criminals and demonstrate that they are willing to allow free societies to live free, without interference... this is what the kids want.
- thatguyagain 6y ago
  I think you hit the nail on the head. Once you think of it that way it makes a lot of sense.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- nickelcitymario 6y ago
  I think you're right about the motivation. But I also think it's wrong-headed. They should lean into who they are: The biggest, baddest, most secretive government organization on the planet. THAT's their brand. That appeals to some and turns away others. But trying to pretend they're anything else will fail to persuade anyone. Those who are attracted to the truth about the CIA are likely to be turned off by this mass-appeal approach. And those who hate them are unlikely to feel differently based on this. It's like the Freemasons: What makes them attractive to those who are interested is the secret nature of the organization. Trying to make the organization more friendly and open is counter-productive. Lean into the mystique, gosh darn it. Very few "brands" genuinely and organically have that kind of mystery about them. The CIA, like them or not, definitely have it.
  - apendleton 6y ago
    My guess is that the set of people attracted to that mystique is demographically skewed, and the demographics it favors are probably already well-represented. The copy in this new redesign seems specifically oriented towards doing better on that score. I would imagine the CIA has a particular interest in diversity -- on the operations side, they probably need people who can plausibly pass as locals in a wide variety of countries, and on the analyst side, they probably need native speakers of lots of languages, people familiar with lots of cultural contexts, etc.
- stanrivers 6y ago
  Do you think it’s basically a pay gap and career track gap? Or more systemic than that for young people not being interested?
  - derision 6y ago
    Pay gap for sure, last time I looked I would be taking a 20-50% pay cut on similar roles
    - the_only_law 6y ago
      There are plenty other reasons I wouldn’t work at the CIA, but the pay is insulting for some positions. I saw a job there that sounded interesting, but demanded some relatively specific skills and the lower end of the salary range was less than I made starting out doing bullshit enterprise type work. On top of that I hear qualifications for higher level pay grades are bureaucratic and generally non-negotiable.
BossingAround 6y ago
> It doesn't feel like it's a part of the U.S. government From my perspective, this feels very much on brand. It's a strong design playing on the "cybersecurity" feel. My 2c, as with anything related to design, YMMV.
tidepod12 6y ago
I totally agree. This website looks a free Wix template that someone set up over the weekend for some amateur placeholder website, not like a website I would expect from a huge and important organization, and especially not from a government organization. Click on the "Motivational Speaker" template here and compare them: https://www.wix.com/website/templates https://www.wix.com/website/templates
- nickelcitymario 6y ago
  Yes! That's absolutely what it feels like.
- A4ET8a8uTh0 6y ago
  It is odd. I can't find it right now, but the spending bill that there was so much drama about had budgets for some websites ( including 1MM budget for a public facing website about local offenders something or other ). I am tempted to scour the bill now to see if CIA got budget upgrade for that purpose as well.
- Apofis 6y ago
  Clicking on Motivational Speaker while at that URL gave my ARM iMac a kernel panic. I guess the CIA doesn't like being poked fun of.
itronitron 6y ago
Looks like it was redesigned for job seekers. Having said that, the layout feels a bit off in places (odd placement for 'Our Agency, etc.) Also, the etching style applied to the main portrait is visually distracting and it looks like a fingerprint over the person's face.
simooooo 6y ago
Looks exactly like Dropbox
dingdingdang 6y ago
My particular feelings are particularly mixed when it comes to the logo in the upper left. The text is blurry. Get someone who's proficient with Photoshop to export this correctly from the source. As it is now it reminds me of exports produced with Paint Shop Pro back in the early 00s, they were ok but just not sharp/on-point. Plus, I get we're catering to progressives here but in a 73% white nation would it not be cool to at least aim one non-historical FP image at that demographic?
rumblestrut 6y ago
From my experience working in (municipal) government, every agency/department wants their own look and feel. Everybody wants to be special instead of having a unified look. I'm not saying one is more right over the other, but it's a reason why it happens.

derision 6y ago

The US Gov has struggled to hire millennials for some time. My guess is this is to try to appeal to the younger generations

fit2rule 6y ago
It'll take more than a vacuous web site to bring millennials to heal for the CIA. They'd have to actually prosecute their war criminals and demonstrate that they are willing to allow free societies to live free, without interference... this is what the kids want.
thatguyagain 6y ago
I think you hit the nail on the head. Once you think of it that way it makes a lot of sense.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
nickelcitymario 6y ago
I think you're right about the motivation. But I also think it's wrong-headed. They should lean into who they are: The biggest, baddest, most secretive government organization on the planet. THAT's their brand. That appeals to some and turns away others. But trying to pretend they're anything else will fail to persuade anyone. Those who are attracted to the truth about the CIA are likely to be turned off by this mass-appeal approach. And those who hate them are unlikely to feel differently based on this. It's like the Freemasons: What makes them attractive to those who are interested is the secret nature of the organization. Trying to make the organization more friendly and open is counter-productive. Lean into the mystique, gosh darn it. Very few "brands" genuinely and organically have that kind of mystery about them. The CIA, like them or not, definitely have it.
- apendleton 6y ago
  My guess is that the set of people attracted to that mystique is demographically skewed, and the demographics it favors are probably already well-represented. The copy in this new redesign seems specifically oriented towards doing better on that score. I would imagine the CIA has a particular interest in diversity -- on the operations side, they probably need people who can plausibly pass as locals in a wide variety of countries, and on the analyst side, they probably need native speakers of lots of languages, people familiar with lots of cultural contexts, etc.
stanrivers 6y ago
Do you think it’s basically a pay gap and career track gap? Or more systemic than that for young people not being interested?
- derision 6y ago
  Pay gap for sure, last time I looked I would be taking a 20-50% pay cut on similar roles
  - the_only_law 6y ago
    There are plenty other reasons I wouldn’t work at the CIA, but the pay is insulting for some positions. I saw a job there that sounded interesting, but demanded some relatively specific skills and the lower end of the salary range was less than I made starting out doing bullshit enterprise type work. On top of that I hear qualifications for higher level pay grades are bureaucratic and generally non-negotiable.

BossingAround 6y ago

> It doesn't feel like it's a part of the U.S. government From my perspective, this feels very much on brand. It's a strong design playing on the "cybersecurity" feel. My 2c, as with anything related to design, YMMV.

tidepod12 6y ago

I totally agree. This website looks a free Wix template that someone set up over the weekend for some amateur placeholder website, not like a website I would expect from a huge and important organization, and especially not from a government organization. Click on the "Motivational Speaker" template here and compare them: https://www.wix.com/website/templates https://www.wix.com/website/templates

nickelcitymario 6y ago
Yes! That's absolutely what it feels like.
A4ET8a8uTh0 6y ago
It is odd. I can't find it right now, but the spending bill that there was so much drama about had budgets for some websites ( including 1MM budget for a public facing website about local offenders something or other ). I am tempted to scour the bill now to see if CIA got budget upgrade for that purpose as well.
Apofis 6y ago
Clicking on Motivational Speaker while at that URL gave my ARM iMac a kernel panic. I guess the CIA doesn't like being poked fun of.

itronitron 6y ago

Looks like it was redesigned for job seekers. Having said that, the layout feels a bit off in places (odd placement for 'Our Agency, etc.) Also, the etching style applied to the main portrait is visually distracting and it looks like a fingerprint over the person's face.

simooooo 6y ago

Looks exactly like Dropbox

dingdingdang 6y ago

My particular feelings are particularly mixed when it comes to the logo in the upper left. The text is blurry. Get someone who's proficient with Photoshop to export this correctly from the source. As it is now it reminds me of exports produced with Paint Shop Pro back in the early 00s, they were ok but just not sharp/on-point. Plus, I get we're catering to progressives here but in a 73% white nation would it not be cool to at least aim one non-historical FP image at that demographic?

rumblestrut 6y ago

From my experience working in (municipal) government, every agency/department wants their own look and feel. Everybody wants to be special instead of having a unified look. I'm not saying one is more right over the other, but it's a reason why it happens.