The Descent of Stylegala
StyleGala is one of the internet's leading web design and CSS publications. In just 20 months since first launch it has grown from nothing more than a hobby of David Hellsing's into a hugely popular and admired source of inspiration and communication for web developers the world over. It averages an impressive 4.2 million page views a month and pulls in a monthly revenue of 2,500 USD.
Off the Market
If you do read Stylegala then it's almost certain you will have heard the news by now; Stylegala has been sold. For me Stylegala's "For Sale" sign came as no suprise. In recent months the number of entries into it's gallery has plummeted from an average of approximately 10 a month during 2005 to just 1 a month in 2006. I recently spoke to David Blanchet who like me felt that Stylegala had lost something of what it previously had.
"I yearn for the stylegala of a year or so ago, seemed older more mature people where on here. or at the very least the younger folk acted more mature."
No longer it seems can fair, honest comments be made about gallery entries if they are critical in nature, without the threat of being ridiculed by other readers. Obviously this may come as quite a deterrant for some people who have genuine opinions that happen to go against the grain. Another personal concern I've had for some time is my suspicion that entry decisions into the gallery are influenced by the identity of the designer and how popular he/she is, not the quality or exceptionality of the work itself. Ive no proof, it's just a hunch. Does anyone feel the same about this or is it just me?
A New Start
Stylegala has entered into a new era. With its sale to a UK design studio by the name of GDLtd things may be looking up. There are certainly areas which need to be looked at, such as the submission response system and the moderation of visitor comments. I just hope the new moderators can handle the no doubt large and difficult task of running such an iconic website of standards and design, and I hope in the non-too-distant future to see the Stylegala we knew and loved a year ago.
Article Envelope
- Dated: 09 June 2006
- Comments: 4
- Spam Blocked: 330
About the Author
Steve Tucker is a 23 year old web developer living and working in Huddersfield, England
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02/04/2007 
8 Comment(s)
On 09/06/2006 David Blanchet said:
Hopefully with the new blood so to speak we can change StyleGala back to the a place highly reveerd among the design community at large.
I have actually been invited to being a forum moderator and site reviewer, with the rest of the new team members we will begin to address most of the concerns brought forth over the past months and try our best to improve the site.
On 10/06/2006 BigA said:
I too long for the days of Stylegala when it was something great. I think the new owners have a great opportunity here but they really are going to need to keep their eye on things (News section ezpecially which is often abused) and do their best to keep people like Cameron Moll and Jason Santa Maria sweet on posting items.
On 11/06/2006 P.J. Onori said:
One of the obvious problems is that there are a plethora of CSS Gallery sites nowadays. Why they decide to show <i>only</i> CSS-centric designs is another question for another day. All of these sites have diluted the audience pool. While diversity is great, this sort of result is its drawback.
Best of luck to the next chapter of Stylegala. I wish them the best.
On 15/03/2007 tworzenie stron www said:
Fantastic article covering some points I really needed some good usability info for.