I like the home page. It has the right content, and the layout seems to emerge from a more careful consideration of its content and the reader's eye than do homogenous designs.
Content that loads as you scroll is, I absolutely believe, a trend that will be either overhauled or reviled within five years. And reaching the end of the page actually makes me respect the publication more: they have the respect to tell you nothing more is worth your time, rather than a desperation to milk every possible page view out of you with content of lower and lower quality. I don't want "content until you're sick of it", I want just what's a good use of my time.
The font communicates sophistication to me. It's carefully designed and doesn't impede usability. It's branding, at a higher effort level than the more common approach (a color palette). Typography is increasingly a staple of high-quality web design and they do it well. (I wouldn't use it, but only because they've made it theirs.)
Content that loads as you scroll is, I absolutely believe, a trend that will be either overhauled or reviled within five years. And reaching the end of the page actually makes me respect the publication more: they have the respect to tell you nothing more is worth your time, rather than a desperation to milk every possible page view out of you with content of lower and lower quality. I don't want "content until you're sick of it", I want just what's a good use of my time.
The font communicates sophistication to me. It's carefully designed and doesn't impede usability. It's branding, at a higher effort level than the more common approach (a color palette). Typography is increasingly a staple of high-quality web design and they do it well. (I wouldn't use it, but only because they've made it theirs.)
Your other criticisms I agree with.