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Each to their own, of course, but I find the design pretty good on the whole. The app icon was designed by Pacific Helm, so he did hire a designer (and a pretty well-respected one); I'm not sure what the argument against it is. (Other than the subjective one, obviously.) And most of the interior is just typography, in a style that, at least to my eye, is pretty reminiscent of the UI for The Magazine. (Surprise.)

I suppose if you hate orange, you're going to find the whole thing pretty hideous. (But if you hate orange how can you bear Hacker News?)

I just bought the in-app upgrade. Overall I really like the app, and how easy the search for shows is. It deserves to be on my homepage and replace Swell (the current app I use). Having said that, I do wanted to make the same comment (at the expense of sounding superficial too): the icon needs a facelift, it's plain ugly, and i want to have a 'good looking' homepage.

I suspect the app design is the way it is because Marco wanted it this way, and not because he lacked access to a designer

Huh, I like the icon.