Keeping up with the latest of digital marketing doesn’t end with search engine optimization, creating content, and building links. Another factor that impacts the ranking is the web design. It may not directly create a negative effect if your web layout is bad but it affects the user engagement and their dwell time. Curating your website is not just about design. Your web designer should have a basic understanding of the design principles and trends, your target market, SEO, Google Analytics, and more. It’s more expansive than you think.
Web designers are naturally fueled with creativity, but having inspirations is still necessary. Here is a showcase of some websites that were applauded because of its amazing, and strategic, designs. Feast your eyes and refuel your creative juices.
Apple
Apple is known to be the epitome of minimalism. Classy and interactive are two of the best words to describe their website. It is straightforward and it shows you what you would want to see. Because they have a diverse group of products, Apple makes it easier for the users to view them. Once you click on the Main Category, it will show you the products list right away.
Sony
From the moment you land on Sony’s website, you’ll already know that focuses on entertainment. They maximise the use of grids and photos to showcase different features and games. The products and services are strategically placed on the top bar for the users’ convenience. As you scroll down, the transition of grids are also animated, making it look more interactive.
Spotify
Hip and trendy. Spotify uses different colors and a distinct font type to attract the millennial target market. They also took advantage of the white spaces, making it easier to browse and read through the entire page. The web player is also similar to the app. The features are well-categorised and the playlists are well-organised. It’s basically a relaxing way to enjoy music.
Emperador Brandy
Classy and thematic. This website from the Philippines uses a standard layout and uses it effectively. Aside from keeping with the brand’s color palette, they also use elegant photos to showcase their products. Their blog list is already pretty straightforward, and it’s easy to navigate. The use of gold and black contribute in maintaining the sophistication of the website.
intelligentHOME
Browsing through intelligentHOME’s website is like flipping through an interactive magazine. Instead of just using photos, they used videos to give a better experience. To say that they preferred minimalism is an understatement. intelligentHOME strategically used basic design principles – balance, proximity, alignment, repetition, contrast and space – to highlight their products and services. Not to mention the tasteful use of animation for the transitions.
AirBnB
Known to have housed various travelers from many cultures, AirBnb kept their design sleek and simple. Putting a search bar in the middle of the landing page made it easier for users to utilise the website. There’s no need to click on many links to browse for a place to crash for your vacation. Moreover, on the results page, AirBnb also chose to keep a minimalist design, showing the results in a grid with all the information that the user would want to see – location, price, and availability.
Kasra Design
Graphics and illustrations are two of the many factors that made Kasra Design’s site unique. Combining upbeat colors with classic, readable font types gives character to the entire web design. The icons linked to their portfolio are also well-crafted and are carefully chosen. True to their commitment of creating visually enticing contents, these curators have carried it out on their website.
The Wilderness Downtown
The Wilderness Downtown is an interactive website that creates a film to showcase the town you grew up in. It may look like a website of a horror movie because of the font types that they used on the homepage but this website is far from a creepy Halloween show. There’s a space to input your hometown (anywhere in the world) then it will generate a short film. Once the video is created, it will show you some clips of your hometown – a sudden gush of nostalgia will creep in you. Also, the pop-up windows are strategically popping up on the screen on the right time and the right place, making you more glued in to the video. Lastly, the music adds beauty to the design, a lot. Oh, you can also shoo away the flying birds by hovering your mouse on it. Creative and interactive.
Visual Mass
Black text, white background, blank spaces. Nothing new, right? Well, keep scrolling. What separates Visual Mass amongst other websites is their choice of pictures. Instead of just showcasing plain eye glasses, they use edgy models and graphically imposed their products on them. They also have photo showcase of models posing like magazine covers. Despite the flashy and stylish photos, it doesn’t overpower the product. It actually highlights it more. A witty concept, yeah?
Danish Design
Another classic web design that stands out is from Danish Design. Their eye-catching selections of photos would make you want to live in their showroom. Combined with the elegant combination of black and white, the web layout puts the spotlight on their furniture designs. What’s more enticing is that you don’t need to wait for too long for the entire page to load, even if it’s loaded with high-resolution photographs. It’s a smart way of designing, isn’t it?
The White Rabbit
The sound of chirping birds with a picture of the sunlight under a tree welcomes the homepage of The White Rabbit website. The play on typography and freehand-style illustrations made this website standout. It’s simple but it has a character. It gives you a feeling of dining in your garden on a Sunday morning with your family, featuring grandma’s trademark dishes. A whimsical and homey feeling, indeed.
Key Takeaways
Let’s have a quick review on how these brands were introduced online.
Strategic Minimalism. Less is more, as the common saying goes. But keeping it in style may be tricky. What Apple and AirBnB did is strategically crafted in terms of alignment and proximity. Too much white space can ruin your web design. Keep the design clean but not to a point where it looks like something is missing on the page. Keeping the design clean and focused make it easy to accomplish any task, without getting in the way of the user experience.
Smart Use of Colors. Too many bright colors can be annoying, but choosing the right combination of colors can help entice your users. Choosing colors coincide with understanding your target market. Spotify uses hip and trendy colors which attracts their millennial target market. Emperador Brandy, on the other hand, kept it classy and elegant by keeping the brand’s color which fits the taste of brandy connoisseurs.
Balanced Grids. Boxes may look too much of a template and may lessen the quality of your web design. But if you used it in a dynamic way by using animated transition like what Sony did, it will not look like a template. Another option is to use colorful grids like Kasra Design to separate each category.
Words and Letters. Using a distinct font type for your brand is a strong element in web design, and using it on all platforms makes it stronger. Just like what Spotify did where their fonts are uniform from the website to the app. Also, playing with typography is a smart strategy. It gives life and character to your brand. Same as The White Rabbit where there is a variety of typography used.
Photos and Videos. The biggest element that affects the web design is the visual components. If the photos aren’t right, the design is futile. Choose the photos that will draw the user’s attention. You can also play around with videos, gifs, and illustrations. These things uplift the design and composition of your website, just like on intelligentHOME’s homepage.
Dynamic and Interactive. To keep the users engaged, you have to give them something to dwell on your website. It’s not just promoting your brand; it’s giving your audience a chance to enjoy what you can offer through your website.
User experience. Above anything else, what matters is how the users feel about your website. Regardless if you have the most balanced design or the most interactive concept, if the users find it hard to navigate your website, it’s useless. Make sure that while you are guided by the basic principles of design, you are also considering how the audience. Serve your website’s purpose: to provide information, products, and services.
Make it happen!
Would you like to have a website just for the sake of having an online platform? Or would you like to have a website that people will actually visit and browse? Your online presence is the extension of your brand’s image. It’s important to keep your web design in line with your company’s vision to increase your conversions. Take your first step on innovating your web design with the help of a team of professionals. Let creativity helps you drive online traffic!
