I completely agree. One of the main things I like about HN's simplistic style, is that within a few seconds I can scan a dozen or so entries and filter out what I'm going to look through.
On HackerNews main page, I can see the top 24 links without scrolling. On MakerNews I see 8.
The drawings on the side are nice, but it's the first thing I see when coming on the page. I need to self consciously blind the side of the page to focus on the content.
- Color. Make it dark. Light blue on a white background is very hard to read.
- Font size: Too big. Look at HN.
Layout:
- Reduce the padding in between entries. HN is easy to scan because everything is neatly packed. You only need to scroll a little to see the rest.
- The header is too big. Kept it simple with a little logo. The focus here is the content, not branding. The tweet button should go in the bottom of the page.
- The footer is nice, but a bit too big.
- The subscription form is in the way of the "More News" link. Also, a lot of people in your target market refrain from giving their name along with their email.