Daily Web Design Inspiration & Ideas
This is a final part of a 3 part entry. I’ve been talking about the three of my favorite web design elements on BitsAndPix.de website. I want to file them here for future inspiration.
Look at these clean looking images. The grays, greens and oranges are working great in this design. Notice the 3D look of the reflection or glossiness of each image. Very nicely done.
This is a part 2 of a 3 part entry. BitsAndPix.de has many excellent elements on the site and I want to file three of the best ones here for future inspiration.
The second great element is the way text and the header area is treated. Strong white text with a 1 pixel black or maybe just a darker color outline makes the text pop from the page. I like the background graphic, it’s not just green but the illustration of a city, the sun, birds and the gently faded pattern ballances out the header. I also want to mention the small detail - birds outside of the header border flying in. Adds to the uniqueness fo the site.
This is going to be a 3 part entry. This website, http://www.bitsandpix.de/, has many excellent elements and I wanted to file three of the best ones here for future inspiration.
The first one if the logo. It is creative and uniques, looks like the logo was printed out on a piece of paper, then crumpled up and scanned in or photographed. The reason I think that it was not done digitally is because the crumple effects on the letters look to real. I may be wrong and if I am I have to give cudos to whoever designed it. Looks good and real. In my opinion the logo does not really go with the design of the site but still is a nice unique ides.
I stumbled across this site while looking for good resources for three dimensional design. 3DTotal is an impressive site. They have tutorials, design tips and techniques, forums and some impressive galleries. They also have a good collection of interviews with leading CG artists and designers. If you are looking for inspiration in the 3D department…go visit their site. You’ll be impressed, inspired, and probably educated at the same time. Lots of good stuff there…
It’s important for websites to look good…really good. The picture of the tanker may be misleading to some people (photo courtesy of ziptrivia at SXC). However, I put it there because it is representative of a really good polishing job. It wouldn’t look good if it wasn’t polished. Websites should be treated to that same type of dedication. The polish is one of the most crucial final steps to the production and completion of any website. This is definitely a step that cannot be overlooked! If your skills are a little rusty, or if you are new to web design, I would recommend reading through this article at PSDTuts.com. Here in the blog, we have referenced and recommended the use of their site several different times. Why? Because they have great information! So, check out their tutorial on the extremely important step of polishing a website here.
photo courtesy of Volvo
Rollover buttons or rollover images are simple ways to add emphasis to a particular image. In web design, they are a popular tool for attracting users to particular information, links or images. Here is a tutorial that I found focused on how to use Dreamweaver and Fireworks to create rollover buttons. Check them out here. Again, this is just another useful tool to keep in your web design toolkit!
Need a quick image for a blog post or an article? If you’re cheap (like me, haha), check out Stock Xchng (www.sxc.hu). SXC has over 355,000 images in their database. Best of all…they are all completely free. Free is a great price. The only stipulation is that you must make sure that the image owner has not placed special restrictions on a particular images usage. There are lots of great photos available…you’re sure to find what you need!
This is not my top 10 list. I came across this today and it compelled me to think about what sites I would include if I were to make a top ten list. I don’t think it would be very easy to create this kind of list. However, I’m going to give it a shot at some point here in the blog. But, for now, check out this guy’s list and his reasons behind why he picked them. I alway enjoy reading these kind of posts. It gives me just a little more insight into what comprises a great site. Do you have a top ten list of what you think are the best designed websites? If you do, please feel free to share them here. I would enjoy taking a look at your list too!
I like websites that have seasonal appeal. I know Silvia Bukovac and her passion for photography, web design and graphic design. Her company website, dgDESIGN is an awesome website to visit. From their mainpage, you have the ability to select your ’season’ (spring, summer, fall, winter) and the rest of the site’s navigation fits the theme you have selected. Pretty cool. Her site also features some great photography as well. Take a moment to check out the website. They have a very talented design team and also offer some great insight and tips on web design and graphic design. Hope you don’t mind the referral Silvia!
I came across this article today at Smashing Magazine that contained some links to a host of useful, creative icons. Here’s what Wikipedia had to say about icons and their usage. I know it’s not new information for anyone who is familiar with web design, but sometimes it’s a good idea to ‘refresh’ the brain.
“Icons may represent a file, folder, application or device on a computer operating system. In modern usage today, the icon can represent anything that the users want it to: any macro command or process, mood-signaling, or any other indicator. User friendliness also demands error-free operation, where the icons are distinct from each other, self explanatory, and easily visible under all possible user setups.
Icons may also be found on the desktop, toolbars and in the menus of computer application software such as Microsoft Word. Icons are made more use-friendly by being very distinct from every other icon. Each Icon-set may also have unifying features that show that similar icons are related to each other. Icons show this by:
- Contrasting Sizes
- Composition (large or small area, top/bottom, left/right, centered/perimeter)
- Pattern-contrast (Horizontal-striped, vertical-striped, slanted-stripes, circles, oblongs, …)
- Light-On-Dark, or Dark-On-Light
- Framed/Shadowed
- Color contrasts
- Fine-detail (with thin lined drawings)
- Animation
Virtually every major computer operating system has the ability to use an icon-based graphical user interface (GUI) to display information to end users; this is evident in the usage of the term “icon” in the WIMP computing paradigm (for Windows, Icons, Menu, Pointers).”
In addition to the usages listed in Wikipedia’s definition, some of these icons are probably useful in site designs as well. Many of the icons listed in the article are restriction free for your use. Some of them have Creative Commons licensing attached to them, so please double check their usage abilities and requirements. If you find other good collections of icons, please let us know and we’ll be happy to feature them here.
