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Web design is often stagnant because designers look at the same work and follow the same trends. Unfortunately, algorithms promote work that is liked, and designers produce content to get likes, which leads to a self-feeding cycle.

We’ve been talking about the dribbblization of design for years, but Behance is just as guilty of promoting and encouraging homogenous design.

It’s not that Dribbble and Behance don’t have value; they are both excellent resources for designers. But they’re victims of their own success, and it’s healthier for them, designers, and the industry if we broaden our sources of design inspiration.

And so, today, we’re presenting this list of the best places to find design inspiration for web designers that aren’t Dribbble or Behance. (OK, you can check them out too, if you really want to!)

Awwwards

Awwwards is the top site for web design inspiration. The best agencies in the world post here, and a ‘Site of the Day’ award is a coveted accolade. So if you’re looking for design inspiration, this should be your first stop.

Admire The Web

Admire The Web is an excellent collection of curated sites. It’s more selective than sites like Awwwards, so you don’t have to dig through so much to find the best web design.

One Page Love

One Page Love is one of the best resources for designers seeking inspiring new ideas. It’s devoted to one-pagers, which means it leans towards apps, tech start-ups, and smaller independent projects.

Godly

Godly is another excellent collection of web design inspiration. Godley uses animated thumbnails, so you can get a sense of a site before you look at it in detail. As such, it’s perfect for animated landing pages.

Hoverstat.es

Hoverstat.es is a collection of curated websites that often finds little gems other sites miss. Unlike most roundups, it doesn’t go into much detail on each site, and new sites are infrequent, but it’s always worth a browse.

Siteinspire

Siteinspire is one of the most established design inspiration sites. The collection is carefully divided into different styles; if you find your own site listed, you can add your contact details.

Land-book

Land-book is a curated collection of the best sites on the web. The site does a great job of presenting screenshots clearly, and the similar sites feature is great for browsing a particular mood.

Savee

Savee is a fantastic site for browsing all kinds of design inspiration. It’s like Pinterest for designers as it leans towards art direction and photography. It’s easy to scan for mood boards.

UIJar

UIJar is a nicely designed collection of hand-picked websites. Unlike most other sites on this list, UIJar also features a collection of branding that’s great for identity designers.

Brutalist Websites

Brutalist Websites is the perfect inspiration site if you’re a fan of the Brutalist design trend. There are plenty of designs that show why Brutalism is so popular right now, but the site itself is probably short-lived.

Minimal Gallery

Minimal Gallery is a collection of sites that embrace minimalism. Like Brutalist Websites, the quality of the collection is very high, but the site’s lifespan is probably short-lived thanks to being tied to one trend.

Ello

Ello is a platform for showcasing excellent design work. It’s solid on illustration and artwork. There’s also a great deal of photography on show. You’ll also find regular opportunities tied to creative briefs.

DeviantArt

DeviantArt is still the largest, and arguably the best, showcase for illustration, with dozens of styles from Anime to classicism. It’s easy to lose a few hours browsing DeviantArt.

Figma Community

Figma Community is a collection of the best work from the Figma community. But you don’t need to be a Figma user to grab some inspiration from the UI work on show.

Lapa

Lapa is a collection of 5000+ landing pages. The collection is headhunted from around the web, so if you only have time to check out one site, Lapa could be a good choice.

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Welcome to our guide to the best new websites this month. If subtle, minimal sites are your thing, either look away now or prepare to have your preconceptions challenged because this month, we are going maximalist.

Lots of elements fill up the screen, lots of color, lots of big fonts, lots of illustration, and plenty of in-your-face personality. This is a tricky style to get right: if elements are not chosen and placed well, the result is simply annoying clutter. If done well, the result can be impactful and memorable.

[And Happy Independence Day to all of our American readers!]

screenagers & the incredible machine

screenagers & the incredible machine’s site puts illustration front and center, creating a look that evokes various mystic ideas. It sounds strange, but it works.

Anna Jóna

This prelaunch teaser site for Anna Jóna café and cinema has an elegant yet modern feel.

Hardpops

This site for Hardpops (alcoholic) ice pops takes its cue from the product flavors, and the bright, fruity colors give it a real zing.

Daniel Spatzek

Daniel Spatzek’s portfolio site takes the rules-are-made-to-be-broken approach. The result has attitude and a nice touch of humor.

Ander Agency

Plenty of color, large type, and illustration make a bold statement for Ander Agency’s single-page site.

Pretty Damn Quick

Colorful illustration on this site for Pretty Damn Quick’s Shopify app creates an impression of friendliness about the company and ease of use of the product itself.

Know Your Beetle

Know Your Beetle is a showcase page for Kaploom creative studio. Color and type combinations make a big impact.

WTFFF

While many of the sites featured here have a sense of fun about them, WTFFF tackles a somber subject: online sexual abuse and harassment. Artwork and audio create an immersive experience in which five young people share their experiences with the aim of helping others.

BelArosa Chalet

Full-screen illustrations with a hint of vintage style create an ideal impression of what future guests can expect from the currently under construction BelArosa Chalet.

Paradam

The color scheme on the Paradam site is on the pastel end of the scale, but there is still lots going on to entrance the eye.

Tilton Group

The scrolling color panels on the Tilton Group site are a thing to behold.

Fresco

Fresco uses a standard layout design, but the colors and quarter-circles instantly lift it.

Museum of Pink Art

Museum of Pink Art is an immersive experience celebrating the color pink. Undoubtedly worth a virtual wander around.

Icons by Menu

OK, this somewhat more minimalist site slipped through the net, but Icons by Menu is so pleasing to look at and use that we had to include it.

GlareDB

With an illustration that could be ideally at home on an Arthur C. Clarke book jacket and that rich, deep red background, this site for Glare DB is a world away from what might be expected.

Alex Beige

While the overall style and accent illustrations are pleasing on Alex Beige’s site, the Our Team section is guaranteed to raise a smile and stick in the user’s mind.

Snickerdoodle

Careful spacing means busy elements (like on scroll animated illustrations) don’t become overwhelming on the Snickerdoodle site.

Grisly’s Cosmic Black

The site for Grisly’s Cosmic Black is fun, bright, and joyful. Plus, it’s nice to see an alcohol site going a bit further than the usual ‘drink responsibly’ and actually providing helpful links.

The Perennial

Not just floorplans and (lots of) images, but virtual walkthroughs too. The Perennial doesn’t feel like a standard office building.

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There are a lot of dark, retro vibes trending in website design right now. Although there are still some light projects popping up – including a pastel trend below – a lot of what we are seeing has a quite moody feel.

Here’s what’s trending in design this month.

Pastel Color Palettes

Let’s start with the trend with a lighter feel – pastel color palettes. While much of the web is trending toward dark aesthetics, there’s a segment that’s going in the exact opposite direction. Those sites feature soft, pastel color palettes that serve as a balance to all the super dark websites out there.

One thing about this website design trend is that it jumps out because of the stark contrast with all of the dark color palettes out there.

Each of these designs seems to use a pastel color palette as the basis for a background. A blur effect is paired with the colors to use pastels in a way that has a natural feel without appearing too feminine or light.

Robust uses blue and earth tones for a pastel background that feels modern and strong when paired with the hard-edged headline font.

Atmos uses a light pastel theme that takes you through the clouds with blues, and pinks, and purples. The pastel color scheme works well with the content which is airline-themed and makes you feel like you are flying through the sky. The colors are also soft enough to provide an easy reading experience.

Klezma is another design with the same pastel background with graduated color. The peach tones are fairly neutral and give plenty of room to the content.

Fonts with a Distinct Retro Look

Every one of these websites uses a typeface with a similar look and feel. This retro headline style is trending in a major way.

The best way to use this design element is for short words. This typeface design isn’t meant for a lot of words or when readability is a high priority.

This style is all about creating a specific kind of vibe for your website. The typefaces in this trend have a quite retro look and feel with an almost 1960s or ’70s feel to them. The rest of the design mimics this feel as well with colors and surrounding elements that contribute to the overall look.

A couple of common elements here include the use of all capitals font sets and letterforms that include odd shapes and lines.

Sretks not only uses a retro typeface but bends and twists it a bit too to add to the old-school feel. The background color helps add to the groovy vibe.

Barge 166 uses a retro typeface with the same design feel as the other examples but with a sharper, more serif-style edge. It’s easier to read but still carries a retro look and feel. Use a typeface similar to this if you want to capture that retro font style for a trending look while maintaining as much readability as possible. This option works best for multiple lines of words in a large size.

Picky Joe uses a retro typeface with rounded letters and a bit of a tilt to the characters to create a distinct feel. This is definitely a style that has to be used sparingly but can be a fun option, depending on the content of your website design.

Dark “Product” Sites

Dark mode design is probably the biggest design trend of 2022. Everywhere you look, websites are using dark color palettes and styles. Designers are creating more projects with a dark/light toggle so users can control their experience.

This visual concept is carried over to website designs that feature products as well. This is one of the last places the dark aesthetic had not touched. It’s been a bit of an unwritten rule that product images should be on white or light backgrounds to help make them easy to see and inspect digitally.

This design trend bucks that idea and features products on dark backgrounds – some with so little contrast that you almost have a hard time seeing the products. (Maybe these brands are banking on the idea that you already know them or are selling a lifestyle product.)

HQBC sells bike accessories such as glasses and helmets and the site has a sleek look and feel. You know it is cool from the second you land on it. The question though – is there enough visual information with the dark background to help you make a purchase? This design probably works because it only encourages you to find a physical location to make a purchase rather than buy online.

Doggystyle Shop also banks on the idea of you knowing the shopping experience or brand when you arrive. What the design does do though is put products on white backgrounds after you have clicked through far enough to make a commitment to buy. This helps you see the product well one final time before making a purchase. (The challenge is that it is three to four clicks in for the most part.)

FirstFit uses the design trend in a way that’s similar to the first example. They are showing a product, but not actually trying to convert sales on the website. Other links take you to more product information and content – using a lighter background and color scheme – and the dark background with the product serves mostly as a highly visual landing page that will help entice users to learn more. When it comes to dark mode and products, this seems to be the best option for most website designs.

Conclusion

The state of the world around us and our emotions can play hard into websites and other design projects. Some of the darker elements that are popular now may be a reflection of that or it could be more of a lean into dark mode schemes.

Either way, the web has a pretty dark feel right now.

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Sometimes it’s easy to feel like the world is going to pieces all around us, especially when we’re doom scrolling Twitter between news alerts every few minutes. But if we step back a little, things may not seem so bad.

On the web, we see companies and individuals taking a positive stand, making changes, and carrying on despite challenging circumstances. So in this month’s collection, we celebrate confidence and accentuate the positive, as the song says. Enjoy!

Plastic Bionic

The ‘change view’ option is well used in this portfolio site for Plasticbionic design studio. The grid view is especially pleasing.

Fabricca

Creative agency Fabricca has gone for a simple look, with some appealing illustrations and custom icons.

Normand

The color scheme and display font choice (Knockout) make a strong statement here for law firm Normand.

Dumpling Delivery

We all need some bored-on-a-slow-friday-afternoon distraction from time to time, and Mailchimp delivers the goods here.

OTR

OTR is a mental health service for young people aged 11-25. The site does a great job of feeling approachable and friendly to younger users while not being condescending, cutesy, or childish.

neueMeta

Good use of block color adds extra depth to this otherwise brutalist portfolio site for neueMeta design studio.

Vitra Chair Finder

This interactive questionnaire helps the customer identify the best chair for their needs. The animation is done well here, and a page of swirling Vitra chairs is a lovely thing to see.

Chia Studios

A good balance here of serious and fun in Chia Studio’s portfolio site, professional but friendly.

Sagmeister 123

The concept behind this limited clothing range designed by Stefan Sagmeister is that, taking the long-term view, the world is actually getting better. As such, the Sagmeister 123 site has an overall feeling of quiet positivity. And a koala.

RecPak

RecPak is a meal replacement shake designed for taking during outdoor activities. The site has an active, dynamic feel that works well to convey a sense of rugged outdoor adventure.

Alicia Moore

This site for Alicia Moore clothing brand oozes style and sophistication with soft colors and beautiful fashion photography.

Think Packaging

Think Packaging’s website has a bright, bold, fun feel. Case studies are well presented visually but keep text to a minimum.

BP&O

Brand design and packaging blog BP&O has added extended content for subscribers, and their new site is a pleasure to browse.

The Future Factory

The Future Factory is a business lead generation agency, which doesn’t sound, well, a bit dull. But, some funky animation and slightly quirky type certainly do not convey dullness.

Polybion

Polybion’s new website has a spacious feel with a rich color scheme adding a sense of confidence and brand maturity.

The Empathy Experiment

The Empathy Experiment is an interactive ‘game’ from digital agency media.monks that examines empathy and inclusivity in the workplace while at the same time showcasing some technical skills.

Belle Epoque

The opening scroll on Belle Epoque’s site is really pleasing, and the random floating shapes are intriguing.

Richard Ekwonye

Richard Ekwonye’s portfolio site is clean and straightforward. Skills are on display, but without intruding on the content.

SND

SND has created UI sound kits. The site is as simple as it could possibly be, and yet it is impossible not to investigate all the sounds and start imagining where you could use them.

KMZ Industries

Regular readers will know how much we like technical/industrial-made-interesting sites, and this one for KMZ grain storage systems is a perfect example.

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This month’s collection of the best new sites released in the previous four weeks might seem like a mixed bag, but if you look carefully you’ll see distinct themes emerging. Full-page images and videos are back with a vengeance, and designers are embracing large-scale 20th century-inspired typography from Art Nouveau to ’80s corporate.

Here are the sites that grabbed us this month. Enjoy!

I Killed a Cactus

I Killed a Cactus is a beautifully rendered 3D site that guides the less-horticulturally inclined of us in the best ways to care for our houseplants.

Aris Hotel

After a couple of years in which travel has been restricted, we’re itching to get moving again, and this elegant site for Aris Hotel is steering us in the direction of Crete.

Emergence Magazine

With excellent writing and great photography, Emergence Magazine is dedicated to stories that intertwine ecology and spirituality. Its bold typography epitomizes its ethos.

Milton Textiles

Milton is a textiles manufacturer with an eye for design. Its site showcases its art-inspired collection with big, bold, colorful photography.

Brutally Human

Brutally Human is the one-page portfolio/pitch of designer Stanley Vaganov. He has an impressive client list, and his site exudes the confidence that comes with that.

MAAP

MAAP uses a billowing flag to grab your attention as soon as you land on the site. The whole site is clean, efficient, and cool; exactly what you’d expect from a cycling apparel company.

Diabla

Outdoor furniture is typically presented as minimal and sophisticated. Diabla throws surrealism into the mix by introducing brand colors to its large-scale photography.

Steffie de Leeuw

The site for designer and artist Steffie de Leeuw features large typography that appears to be woven through layers of intricate illustration.

Garden Eight

What could be better than Garden Eight’s gaggle of 3D-rendered cartoon creatures floating around a page, twisting and transforming into new shapes?

Circus Shanghai

The site for Circus Shanghai uses a rich mid-century illustration to reference both the solar system and the Chinese flag; it’s an arresting combination.

Moooi

Ever inventive, the new micro-site for Moooi asks you to defy gravity with an engaging scroll through collages based on its product range.

Josephmark

More full-page motion, this time for design studio Josephmark. The site blends rich colors with a brutalist layout and minimalist typography to create its own identity.

Tony G

We love the infinite scroll on the homepage for creative agency Tony G. It’s a great way to add a slideshow to your homepage without the flaws of slideshows.

Estudio Piedras

This site for furniture design studio Estudio Piedras uses bold lettering mixed with product shots. The straightforward site is punchy and mimics the solidity of the materials used.

The Fleur

The Fleur is a botanical encyclopedia of fictional flowers that Ondre Jzunka has created as NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain.

Gloutir

Gloutir is the site for a “subscription-based workhorse design and development studio” that breaks all the rules of typography, and yet somehow it works.

Sophias

The rich blue and bright cream of the site for Sophias urban bistro and city garden echoes the welcoming real-world interiors and ties the brand together.

Lucalem

Lucalem is the portfolio site of designer and developer Lucas De Melo. A little more fun than the typical freelancer’s site, it features a disturbingly phallic character.

Soft Power

Soft Power is a creative design studio with an eye-popping list of international clients. Its advertising-style site uses a trendy glitch effect expertly.

Aather

Pastel colors and subtle textures evoke a calm mood, ideal for candle company Aather. It’s challenging to visually present smell, but this site does it well.

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Welcome to the latest edition of our top 20 sites of the month. In this February’s collection, the overall feel is lighthearted and optimistic, as we are seeing the positivity of a new year persisting across the web.

There is a continued inclination towards warmth and personableness and away from a more corporate, impersonal feel. We see this most in the color palettes used and in the use of illustrations as accents to add character and charm. Of course, as always, type plays a big part too. Enjoy!

Woset

Woset has a simple aesthetic and features a charming illustration style on this site for its creative toys. The interactive ‘play’ section is a nice touch.

Graza

This site for Graza olive oil has a fun feel, with comic style illustration and bright splashes of color while making a serious sales pitch.

KeepGrading 

KeepGrading is a post-production color studio. Their portfolio site showcases a lot of work but keeps it well organized and pleasing to navigate.

Englobe

By using soft colors and slightly rounded type, Englobe has managed to portray a warm, friendly, and human aspect with this website, despite being a huge company.

Filtro

Filtro’s design is about as basic as it gets, and yet it has a certain charm to it.

Behold

Behold is a wildlife camera that is currently in development. This landing page does an excellent job of creating interest with just enough information.

Akua

Some rather sweet illustration work creates a good balance with technical information on this site for Akua kelp burgers.

National Museum of Mexican Art

A color scheme of warm, earthy tones and a carefully thought-out type pairing create an inviting presence for the National Museum of Mexican Art.

Ubac

This site for Ubac trainers feels clean and modern with some nice and mostly functional, scroll-activated animation.

Funny Water

The background gradient is really nicely done on Funny Water’s otherwise very minimal site.

DA

DA is a strategic branding, design, and advertising studio, and this site is a good, polished example of a site for such an agency. What stands out is the clever menu text.

Phil’s Finest

Phil’s Finest makes good use of color, oversized type, and occasional illustration mixed in among the well-styled photography.

Vaayu 

Grey and black are enlivened by neon yellow in Vaayu’s minimalist, single-page presentation.

Emi Ozaki

Artist and illustrator Emi Ozaki has created a stylized phone interface for her portfolio site, which showcases her illustration aesthetic.

Engineered Floors 

The home page scrolling is the centerpiece of Engineered Floors’ site, and it works especially well on mobile.

Hartzler Dairy

Hartzler Dairy goes for a nostalgic feel to match the company’s classic mid-20th century style branding.

Chubby Snacks

Chubby Snacks is PB&J in your pocket; it sells itself! Having said that, the site is pretty appealing in its own right.

Branded

Market research company Branded goes down the flat design road for this site, which could feel a little dated but actually works quite nicely here.

SOS Foods 

SOS Foods is an excellent example of a responsible/sustainable goods site, with a design aesthetic aimed at the ethical consumer.

Crystal Construction Engineering

Some nice use of masonry-style layout and overlapping elements create space, but also a pleasing flow in this site for Crystal Construction Engineering.

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This month we have several examples of brutalism used to good effect as a foil to showcase products and/or work. By contrast, at the other end of the scale, we have brands who have chosen to go more of an immersive experience route, using full-screen images, sound, animation, and even VR.

Both are valid approaches, depending on the content. The former tends to work better as a backdrop for artwork, photography, and artisanal craft goods — acting as a virtual gallery space — while the latter is better for consumer goods and experiences, particularly food, drink, and accommodation.

There is, of course, a whole range in between these extremes, and we’ve got that covered too. Enjoy!

Grainne Morton

A simple layout, soft pastel colors, and clear navigation provide an excellent backdrop for Grainne Morton’s handmade jewelry creations.

Gage Hotel

Good photography and a heritage-inspired color scheme give the Gage Hotel’s site a luxury feel.

Tejidos Roca

Tejidos Roca is a fabric manufacturer, and the design of their site uses a circle motif to bring rolls of fabric to mind.

La Passation Synerghetic 2021

Synerghetic is part of the Junior Enterprises Europe scheme – a network of businesses run by students. This year they are not holding the usual handover ceremony, so Synerghetic created this rather fun little digital celebration instead.

Redwood Empire

For Earth Month, Redwood Empire Whiskey has created a microsite promoting a competition styled to match their bottle labels.

Gabriel Cuallado

This site focusing on Spanish photographer Gabriel Cullado’s life and work features some great transitions and good use of horizontal scrolling.

Ombia Studio

In Ombia Studio’s site, atmospheric photographs stand out in a minimal layout. There is a sense of almost gallery curation here.

Headup

Headup uses a pleasing color scheme and geometric graphics to create a welcoming but businesslike approach.

the Figo

Spherical curves and line animations create interest in this site for boutique hotel, the Figo.

Boon Market

Boon Market is about promoting a toxin-free and waste-free lifestyle, and their site reflects this with its use of simple type and soft colors.

Unspoken Agreement

Unspoken Agreement’s website has a quietly confident feel, with clean lines and some pleasing type.

hnst

Another brutalist-inspired design here, but the use of bright red makes it fresh in hnst’s take on the style.

InteriorLAB

Part minimalist, part glossy magazine, InteriorLAB have succeeded in making the simple feel luxurious.

Bowmore Experience

Bowmore has opted for immersive video and visually beautiful images to present their limited-edition Timeless whisky range.

Oly Sheet

There is a slightly old-school start-up feel to Oly Sheet’s website, but it is still appealing with fresh, spring colors and well-organized content.

Aalto University

Aalto University has provided a pretty in-depth tour of its campus here. The navigation is clear, and the information is presented in ideal-sized chunks — enough detail, but not too much at once.

Wisr

Wisr features a Heath Robinson style machine that ‘runs’ as the user scrolls down the page. It provides a bit of interest (no pun intended) to the not very exciting subject of personal loans.

Rudl und Schwarm

Bright colors, cute, but not too cutesy, illustration, some nice scrolling, and transition effects are used really well on Rudl und Schwarm. And it’s got bees; bees are good.

Dr. Maul

This site for Dr. T. Maul manages to take orthodontistry past the usual image of uncomfortable wiring, elastic bands, and ‘train tracks and make it seem just a little more glamorous.

My Drink

There is a slightly vintage feel to this site for My Drink with its cocktail illustration. The blue text on grey is soothing without being bland.

Bonus Site: Imperial Style Guide

And finally not new, but a bonus in honor of May 4th, the Imperial style guide. Well, the Web would get boring if it was serious all the time.

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