When Virb was launched, people acclaimed it as a sort of new Myspace. Actually, time has proved it’s much more: Virb is a very smart and elegant multi-media collective purpose-built for creative people who want to share online their arts, photography, music… Since the main audience is likely to be composed by enthusiastic and, let’s [...]
in
Icons
We’re definitely happy when our brave colleagues dare to use non-standard fonts on their websites. In fact, compared to graphic designers, our lives are gloomy and sad, having to deal with a so narrow typographic range and we all rejoice when, instead of feeling deprived and miserable, some of us has the guts to break [...]
in
Typography
Expopedia is basically a search engine for tradefairs that: facilitates and enhances international cooperation between buyers and service suppliers on different levels and lets all of them save money, time and energy When it comes to build such a website, which essentially is a search related service, being able to design a good form is [...]
in
Forms
When you’re in charge of designing a website, the first and foremost thing to do is understanding what kind of audience is expected, who are your readers and which level of web or digital awareness they have. According to the results of this first and fundamental enquiry, you can decide which style is the best. When I [...]
in
Menu & Navigation
I loved this huge, multi-layered, partially glossy, partially transparent, play button for video players, the second I saw it.
in
Buttons, Bullets & Badges
Inspired by Josef Müller-Brockmann‘s work, Stéphane Curzi endeavoured to implement a css framework system based on type baseline, where every major page element would align correctly. Creating that shouldn’t have been a cakewalk and sure there are some big limitations (the biggest one is that Baseline’s css works fully only on latest generation browsers): nonetheless, [...]
in
Grids & Listings
Nestingmode is the first-time parents’ guide for ultimate baby products. For most of us: so far, so boring. But what really sets this site apart from the heap of children’s related blogs and websites, is the quality of its illustrations and icons which are neatly drawn and pleasantly colourful. The navigation menu also with its [...]
in
Icons,
Menu & Navigation
I think this website’s grid, made of right ragged thumbs, gives us the same chaotic and urban feeling as the one inspired by illustrations themselves. Subtotal is an artist collective’s website, formed by illustrators Grega and Jaro: Their work finds its origins in the conjoining of various body parts, whether real or fantastic, through which numerous [...]
in
Grids & Listings
While I was surfing, I’ve been positively struck by the way “We are the fiction” website re-creates the book’s cover. One small step backwards. We Are The Friction is a book of illustration and short fiction created by 12 pairs of international writers and illustrators. It’s the second book edited, designed and published by Sing Statistics, the collaborative [...]
in
Grids & Listings,
Typography
Roughly from French: We’re sorry but the page you’ve been looking for it’s not been found. We suggest you to go back to the web site, because here there’s not a shadow of any bright idea. The metaphor is unusual and the good copy matches perfectly the illustration: this error page is simply…brilliant!
in
Copywriting,
Error pages
Since here (in Italy) it’s lunch-time, we’ve been quite suspiciously inspired by Sesame footer: an urban deli shop, located in Leeds (unfortunately for us), with a nice website. Sesame grey footer includes an intricate floreal pattern with tiny magenta birds that seem to warble and trill “eat…eat…”: I think it’s definitely time for me to get out [...]
in
Footers
ViXML is a supposedly simple platform for interactive designers who want to create dynamic contents for Iphone apps with first-class graphics and complex scenes. That’s really great but before I knew it, I was attired by its huge website illustration, extremely rich in details, with a sort of surreal touch and a rather Gondry-ish imaginary. [...]
in
Backgrounds
Evanto‘s guys are super cool designer with a taste for clean and well-organized pages, with tight leading and big body texts. When I first saw these extra sleek folded tabs hanging on the left, I instantly loved them: they’re not only a pleasant graphic element but they also really help you scanning through the page. In fact, the [...]
in
Comments & Call-out
I was quite fed up with charts I’ve been drawing for the web site I’m working at, finding boring and pitiful that I had to deal with simple and non-creative forms (such as bars or pie-charts) while other designers, with less restrictions, are able to design beautiful and inspired infographics. I’ve started dreaming about using complex [...]
in
Tables & Infographics
Had I time, I’d sure join Letter Playground, a typographic inspirational community where users are dared to find out new ways to draw glyphs. According to web site stats, the letter people are currently playing the most with is A: if you want to know why or simply keep up-to-date with this lively community you [...]
in
Typography
I’ve found this interesting example of iconic breadcrumbs on Web designer Depot, reading an interview with Web Usability guru Jacob Nielsen. Nielsen, asked about breadcrumbs effectiveness in easing user navigation, answers: “So breadcrumbs are definitely useful. Just as important, they don’t harm those users who don’t use them. Some studies have found that many users [...]
in
Breadcrumbs
Daily Drop Cap is an interesting project by typographer and illustrator Jessica Hische. Each day Jessica is going to post a beautiful graphical drop cap to embellish your paragraphs, dear bloggers! Jessica’s glyphs are very delicately traced and richly embroidered with smooth vectorial curves: it seems to me they’re inspired by some fancy old-fashioned fairy tale book. [...]
in
Typography
After a long vacation (?) break, we’re back to work with our thorough review of best inspirational components on the Web. For the first post after having switched to English, we’d like to show you Broadersheet logo, which basically consists in a thick slab serif ”b” levitating over a heap of newspapers. Broadersheet is a supposedly useful [...]
in
Logos
Area17 web site, an interactive agency that takes its name after the cerebral cortex area, where images are processed, is entirely based on typographic variations.
in
Typography
Miro is an open source video player and podcast client: the red sheep in background reinforces the meaning of the claim Miro is different.
in
Backgrounds
The paging fills a block of the grid, otherwise blank.
in
Paginations
A List Apart has a nice illustration and detailed text for its 404 page.
in
Error pages
Cssarts has well formatted standard commands (forward, fast forward…): love the way the circle buttons match the rounded corners.
in
Paginations
Funny and well contextualised comments in Kinder-aktuell, a German portal dedicated to children.
in
Comments & Call-out
Helveticons is a set of royalty-free icons based Helvetica Bold typeface. There is also a sample set of folder icons available for free.
in
Icons
Kontain is a service for sharing multimedia content online and an endless source of good ideas and inspiration. The sing-up page for example contradicts with its bright colors and unusual distribution of fields to be filled, all the standards that usually guide the design of such pages, producing an effect that is not of confusion [...]
in
Sign In & Sign Up
Welcome to nothing is the perfect title for a 404 error page. Congratulations to the designer Ole Martin Kristiansen for being the first to use it.
in
Copywriting,
Error pages
Odopod is a extremely creative digital agency and its site certainly is characterized by the choice of a strong and unusual color. The menu has a hover effect with an outside expansion of the block that I find very pleasant for its fluency; a similar movement, but downwards, is activated when you expand a link.
in
Ajax & Effects,
Menu & Navigation
Nameourababy è un servizio che permette di proporre e votare i nomi per bambini: il sistema di rating (in questo caso delle bambine) è ben fatto e anche il form per aggiungere nomi (in questo caso dei bambini) è pulito e chiaro. Una referenza indispensabile per tutte le mumbloggers.
in
Forms,
Ratings
There’s a fun detail in Feedrinse price plan, a service that allows to filter unwanted Syndicate contents. Can you tell which? By the way, packages’ names are great.
in
Copywriting,
Tables & Infographics