Our homepage had a habit. The same story could turn up three or four times on one page: in the slider, in a carousel, in a category shelf, and again in a list at the bottom. You scrolled, and it kept handing you things you had already seen.
So we rebuilt it. The new homepage follows one rule: every story appears once. And because seventeen years of Moss & Fog is a lot of archive to sit on, we used the space we got back to open new doors into it.
Here is what changed, and how to get the most out of it.
One story up top
The slider is gone. In its place is a single lead story, chosen by us, running the full width of the page. It is the piece we would hand you first if you walked in the door. Two more sit just beneath it. When something new earns the spot, it moves up and the rest shift down.
The latest, without the repeats
Below the lead are our newest stories. Tap More stories and the next set loads right there, skipping anything already on the page. No reloading, no losing your place.
Browse by color
This is the one we are most excited about! We looked at the lead image of every story in the archive, thousands of them going back to 2009, and noted the color that fills each frame. Now you can pick a color and see what comes up.
Choose Orange this time of year and you get autumn leaves, vintage movie posters and a tiny frog clinging to a pink stem. Blue turns up the Pale Blue Dot, mirrored salt flats and a hotel carved out of ice. Tap More in for a fresh set in the same color, as many times as you like.
Next to it is a button we have wanted for years: Show me something. Press it and it opens one of our all-time favorite stories at random. It is the closest thing we have to pulling a book off the shelf with your eyes closed.
Try it right here! Every color below pulls straight from the archive, and the button next to them works just like the one on the homepage.
Three more ways in
Color is one way through the archive. There are three more, and they now have a proper home on the front page instead of hiding in the menu.
The Atlas: by subject
The Atlas splits everything we have published into eight worlds: Architecture, the Natural World, Art, Design, Photography, Craft and Making, Culture and Travel, and the Future. Start with the one you already love, then wander into the one you never click on. That second one is usually where the surprises are.
The Atlas, in miniature
Pick a world
The Senses: by feel
The Senses sorts the archive by how things feel rather than what they are. Five shelves: Taste, Smell, Touch, Sound and Sight. On the Taste shelf, a restaurant where you eat inside your own igloo sits next to chocolate cut like a gem. It is a strange and lovely way to read, and we wrote about why we built it.
The Senses, in miniature
Pull one from any shelf
Tap a shelf. Tap it again for another.
The Guides: in depth
The Guides are our long reads. Each one gathers years of stories on a single subject into one place, from extraordinary buildings to natural wonders to retrofuturism. If you have a quiet hour, start here.
Three more to start with
Around now, years ago
Further down, a small row we are fond of. It pulls favorites we published at this time of year in earlier years, one per year, with the year printed large above each. Today it might be a stop-motion short from last autumn next to an electric car from 2019. Come back next week and the row will have moved on with the calendar.
Made for your phone, too
We designed the homepage for phones first. Stories stack into a clean list with small pictures. The seasonal picks, the archive row and the guides become rows you can swipe sideways. Buttons are big enough for a thumb, and everything still works if you would rather use a keyboard or a screen reader.
A quick tour
Every world, rebuilt
The new look did not stop at the front door. Our five worlds, Nature, Architecture, Design, Travel and Science, each open on a full-width cover now, with the name set large over a story we love.
Below the cover, small buttons narrow a world down without leaving the page: Animals or Underwater in Nature, Furniture or Skyscrapers in Architecture. Further down, a ranked list shows the stories readers keep coming back to, and the color explorer works inside each world too.
Sharing is easier, too. Every story card on the site now has a small share button on its picture. On a phone it opens your usual share sheet, and on a computer it offers a copied link, Pinterest, Facebook, Bluesky or email. If something here makes you think of someone, send it their way!
From the Moss & Fog Shop
Friday and Saturday onlyOn nowThe Halloween shelf
The Witching HoursThe October shelf
For forty-eight hours, eleven of our favorite October things are 25% off: candles that burn down to reveal a hidden skeleton, a Death card candle that smells of tobacco and leather, a luna moth pin that glows in the dark, and the Geometric Tray, printed in our own studio. It starts Friday at midnight Pacific and ends when Saturday does. No code needed!Eleven of our favorite October things are 25% off until Saturday at midnight Pacific: candles that burn down to reveal a hidden skeleton, a Death card candle that smells of tobacco and leather, a luna moth pin that glows in the dark, and the Geometric Tray, printed in our own studio. The discount comes off at checkout, no code needed!Not costumes, and not cobwebs on a string. A small run of objects that make more sense in October, and that we would happily keep on a shelf in any month.
25% off Fri & Sat25% offPyroPet Kisa, Black Cat Candle$40
25% off Fri & Sat25% offPyroPet Blaka, Black Bat Candle$40
25% off Fri & Sat25% offTarot Candle, Death$39
25% off Fri & Sat25% offGeometric Tray$48
25% off Fri & Sat25% offPinwheel Tray$48
25% off Fri & Sat25% offLuna Moth Pin$13
25% off Fri & Sat25% offDeath Moth Pin$12
25% off Fri & Sat25% offVampire Bat Pin$12
25% off Fri & Sat25% offBelladonna Pin$12
25% off Fri & Sat25% offEir Norse Magic Incense Sticks$13
25% off Fri & Sat25% offCandle Care Set, Snuffer and Wick Trimmer$29Free US shipping on orders over $50. Packed by hand in Portland.
The Reading Room
The Reading Room has grown
When we opened the Reading Room in September, it held eight titles. It now holds thirty things to read, play and give, from Rare Trees and Killer Plants to The UFO Book, a field guide to staying alive in the woods, and brass bookmarks shaped like serpents.
The Moss & Fog Shop is ours, and every product in it is chosen the way we choose stories.
The Witching Hours. Forty-eight hours, 25% off our favorite October things in the shop, starting Friday at midnight Pacific. No code needed!
The Reading Room has grown. Eight titles in September, thirty things to read, play and give today.
Five ways to wander
- Start with the lead. It is the story we would hand you first.
- Pick a color. Then tap More in until something stops you.
- Open a world in the Atlas. Try the one you would normally skip.
- Browse a shelf in the Senses. Taste is a good place to begin.
- Press Show me something. Trust the shelf.
We would love to hear what you find, and what you think of the new front page. And if you want the best of it in your inbox, Fog Signals arrives once a week. Happy wandering!
