A friend alerted me to Ozy, a daily curation web site, backed by Laurene Powell Jobs. What I like about this site is that they – albeit a bit pompous – describe in an inspiring way how you should read their site.
First: they call their daily briefing ‘The Presidential Brief‘. It’s their ’take on what the most powerful person in the world gets with their morning coffee’. This is exactly the sentiment most readers have in the back of their mind when reading a daily brief, the idea that they’re hitting the streets well-prepared. Just like the president.
Second: the distinction within the brief between ‘Important’ and ‘Intriguing’. At my former job as digital editor of NRC Handelsblad, we tried to do something on nrc.nl with the labels ‘The most important news’ and ‘The best of the web’, but I think Ozy came up with more powerful labels.
I do think their site is a bit overwhelming when it comes to the visuals. I’d prefer a more sparse look, to reaffirm the idea behind a presidential brief. But still, Ozy it’s a good example of how to prep your visitors for reading your site.