Off the Shelf

Some of my recent favorites are:

http://www.sachagreif.com/ - I really appreciate the subtle colors that allow the header to pop and the black text seems soothing against the pale brown background. The page is also divided into upper and lower levels, with the lower level having a design relationship with the top nav bar. The font choices are perfect and the section headers are clearly distinguishable from the body content.

http://www.webdesignerwall.com/ - This one is busy done properly. That is, the busyness does not detract from the navigation or layout of the page. The paper textures throughout the design give the page a three dimensional quality. The date tabs before each entry make it very easy to navigate and quickly see where each new entry begins. The body text is not my favorite use of a serif as I prefer a cleaner san-serif for body text. However it does fit in well with the overall design.

http://www.blogwhatdesign.com/index.php - This Blog employs a retro feel and I am always a sucker for this particular color palette. If you are a design firm you better hope that your website is also well designed. The site is a bit too busy for my taste. I would aim to thin it down, however I do feel it does mirror its predecessor the busy vintage ad that it is trying to immolate. The content is a bit cluttered; just take a look at the “services” page. In light of this setback the other main pages, “FAQ”, “Blog” and “Portfolio” are much more in tune with clean design. The main navigation bar is straightforward and easy to use.

http://www.sauromotel.com/ - This one is just plain cute! It’s little low on front page content, giving the user nothing to really cling onto until they click one of the links. However in doing so, the site is clean and nicely laid out, easy to navigate and simple to explore.

I’ve also found that Real Estate and Fashion/clothing websites tend to be the most experimental. Yes, some of these employ my abhorred “splash screen” but they are very graphic heavy and justify the use of the element. Here are a few and some other odds and ends I’ve picked up along the way:

http://www.prospectdenim.com/ - Denim company that shows what flash can do. This page allows for users to customize the music which adds to the overall experience.

http://www.history-of-aviation.com/ - Nice ecommerce store, clean layout and very interesting product navigation.

http://www.learnlakenona.com/ - Oh man, I love this one. It is so user responsive, that I could just spend hours moving my mouse back and forth over each section. The map is suburb and the color combinations lovely. Navigation is somewhat easy once the user gets used to how responsive the webpage is to mouse movements.

http://www.meomi.com/ - This site is the epitome of cute, asian inspired design. This site employs the use of sound for feedback as the user explores the main page.

http://www.prahba.com/en/home.htm - Ahh the beauty of Flash! However, the site is tough to navigate and probably not the best usability site ever, but it sure does look great!

Personally, in my opinion, the best design for a town website ever:

http://citizenwausau.com/ - Why did Wisconsin get it so right and so many others get it so wrong? With the runner up being: http://www.visitcascadia.com/ - too bad, it’s not a real town!