Crucify = Print
Personally, I don't believe that there is such a thing as great web design. Dood, the thing is fuckin virtual, multi-layered, too trasparent, unstable, light, and dynamic. I think the only possible way you can consider a website for greatness is if you printed it out and faxed it. Yeah, nail it to reality. Crucify it on paper. Then you can say... "hey, that is a great fax."
There was a survey on examples of "great web design". Below are some responses from collegues...
37signals.com - check out any of their resource links
http://www.37signals.com/
http://www.37signals.com/resources.php
web applications designers (authors and general web design do-gooders) who
show usable is cool
dunstan's blog
http://www.1976design.com/blog/
Brilliant one-man show, standards-compliant design, humorous, beautiful.
CHeck out his weather and Comments module.
Coudal partners
http://coudal.com/
People who put design in web design - really understand and use the
fundamentals of traditional design while leveraging the unique qualities of
online design.
http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/
This site is very cool - inspires exploration, well designed - palette,
font, use of technology for the exploratory areas - i.e. the Atlas.
This site was designed by Second Story Interactive -
http://www.secondstory.com/ - and I have found a lot of their work
engaging and beautiful. They do very immersive stuff and use flash and
dhtml a lot.
On this note many of the sites developed by the team at WGBH
interactive as companions to the PBS shows produced there are also
quite wonderful and rich. These are richmedia, video and text heavy,
immersive and engaging.
http://www.adobe.com/
Always well done. Designed for designers. This iteration is light, very
clearly using a grid and very on Brand. The palette is simple and the
typography is consistent.
http://www.bbc.com - and
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
BBC site is very well done. Module consistency, use of pictures in a
repeating size and color bars really help separate information.
Snippets are chewable in terms of content size.
The main BBC site uses color blocks and transparency of overlapping
color to create a visible grid to divide and separate information. The
grid/design starts to break down as you go into vertical areas - these
used to adhere to a tighter grid and style than they do now - sort of
messy but some levels are very nicely done.
http://www.newyorktimes.com
Despite the fact that is ti chock full of content, I find the NYTimes
easy to read and navigate. They have tried to maintain familiarity to
the printed paper, yet manage to get 10x the amount of content on the
homepage. The use of white background and the grey rules - in a visible
grid - helps maintain organization and information hierarchy. One thing
I don't like is how it is crammed up against the left edge.
http://www.stopdesign.com/
Stop Design - designers, webloggers
Very nice use of photography and layered color. Even 3 column design is
creatively used throughout and sometimes turns into a 2/3 1/3
relationship as seen in the blog. Nice use of a visible grid.
http://www.zeldman.com/
Zeldman's personal blog is very nice - well designed, easy to read and
standards compliant. He keeps things simple yet occasionally redesigns
to shake things up in terms of colors and navigation.
http://www.adaptivepath.com
Adaptive Path is a nicely done web site. It contains the usual
brochureware about the company but also has articles and other stuff.
Well done navigation - which isn't surprising since it is mostly IAs in
the firm. Simplified color palette keeps things tight.
http://www.heathceramics.com
>From a pure visual point of view, this site is clean and easy to navigate
but still rich with detail. Its simple design showcases Heath's products
while not competing for attention.
http://www.bluetooth.com/
Clean but packed with details, Bluetooth's site is both informative as well
as visually appealing. There's a good use of photography, flash, and solid
visual design hierarchies. Typography and design motifs are carried out
effectively both as content and as navigation.
http://www.briarpress.org/briarpress/
What else would you expect from a bunch of typo fanatics? The Briar Press
site has clean, clear communication with beautifully functional typography.
Round corners? Who needs 'em! The Briar Press site incorporates a diagonal
design motif (arguably equally code/design intrusive) to give it that
certain style...
http://www.tofteproject.org/
Color, photo, typography, and global responsibility come together at the
tofteproject.org. The site incorporates strong visual elements and a
seemingly complicated UI into an experience that urges exploration.
http://dunun.com/
This one is fun, great use of sound and visuals as you navigate deeper
through the site and closer to the "people" the music gets louder. He's
also localized the site to 9 countries 10 if you include brail.
One of my personal favorite music websites
http://www.musicplasma.com
It's so simple and yet conveys so much in a simple visual map: genre/type of
music, how one artist relates to another, popularity of an artist.
I discovered Rachel Yamagata through music plasma. :)
There was a survey on examples of "great web design". Below are some responses from collegues...
37signals.com - check out any of their resource links
http://www.37signals.com/
http://www.37signals.com/resources.php
web applications designers (authors and general web design do-gooders) who
show usable is cool
dunstan's blog
http://www.1976design.com/blog/
Brilliant one-man show, standards-compliant design, humorous, beautiful.
CHeck out his weather and Comments module.
Coudal partners
http://coudal.com/
People who put design in web design - really understand and use the
fundamentals of traditional design while leveraging the unique qualities of
online design.
http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/
This site is very cool - inspires exploration, well designed - palette,
font, use of technology for the exploratory areas - i.e. the Atlas.
This site was designed by Second Story Interactive -
http://www.secondstory.com/ - and I have found a lot of their work
engaging and beautiful. They do very immersive stuff and use flash and
dhtml a lot.
On this note many of the sites developed by the team at WGBH
interactive as companions to the PBS shows produced there are also
quite wonderful and rich. These are richmedia, video and text heavy,
immersive and engaging.
http://www.adobe.com/
Always well done. Designed for designers. This iteration is light, very
clearly using a grid and very on Brand. The palette is simple and the
typography is consistent.
http://www.bbc.com - and
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
BBC site is very well done. Module consistency, use of pictures in a
repeating size and color bars really help separate information.
Snippets are chewable in terms of content size.
The main BBC site uses color blocks and transparency of overlapping
color to create a visible grid to divide and separate information. The
grid/design starts to break down as you go into vertical areas - these
used to adhere to a tighter grid and style than they do now - sort of
messy but some levels are very nicely done.
http://www.newyorktimes.com
Despite the fact that is ti chock full of content, I find the NYTimes
easy to read and navigate. They have tried to maintain familiarity to
the printed paper, yet manage to get 10x the amount of content on the
homepage. The use of white background and the grey rules - in a visible
grid - helps maintain organization and information hierarchy. One thing
I don't like is how it is crammed up against the left edge.
http://www.stopdesign.com/
Stop Design - designers, webloggers
Very nice use of photography and layered color. Even 3 column design is
creatively used throughout and sometimes turns into a 2/3 1/3
relationship as seen in the blog. Nice use of a visible grid.
http://www.zeldman.com/
Zeldman's personal blog is very nice - well designed, easy to read and
standards compliant. He keeps things simple yet occasionally redesigns
to shake things up in terms of colors and navigation.
http://www.adaptivepath.com
Adaptive Path is a nicely done web site. It contains the usual
brochureware about the company but also has articles and other stuff.
Well done navigation - which isn't surprising since it is mostly IAs in
the firm. Simplified color palette keeps things tight.
http://www.heathceramics.com
>From a pure visual point of view, this site is clean and easy to navigate
but still rich with detail. Its simple design showcases Heath's products
while not competing for attention.
http://www.bluetooth.com/
Clean but packed with details, Bluetooth's site is both informative as well
as visually appealing. There's a good use of photography, flash, and solid
visual design hierarchies. Typography and design motifs are carried out
effectively both as content and as navigation.
http://www.briarpress.org/briarpress/
What else would you expect from a bunch of typo fanatics? The Briar Press
site has clean, clear communication with beautifully functional typography.
Round corners? Who needs 'em! The Briar Press site incorporates a diagonal
design motif (arguably equally code/design intrusive) to give it that
certain style...
http://www.tofteproject.org/
Color, photo, typography, and global responsibility come together at the
tofteproject.org. The site incorporates strong visual elements and a
seemingly complicated UI into an experience that urges exploration.
http://dunun.com/
This one is fun, great use of sound and visuals as you navigate deeper
through the site and closer to the "people" the music gets louder. He's
also localized the site to 9 countries 10 if you include brail.
One of my personal favorite music websites
http://www.musicplasma.com
It's so simple and yet conveys so much in a simple visual map: genre/type of
music, how one artist relates to another, popularity of an artist.
I discovered Rachel Yamagata through music plasma. :)
