Articles

We’ve seen some incredible websites in 2022. There have been more than the usual number of sites with a political mission, and plenty that made us want to travel. The big design trends were brutalism, huge typography, and bold positive color. We’re looking forward to what the web will bring in 2023, but in the meantime, take a look back at the best 50 websites of 2022. Enjoy!

Justice Reskill

Justice Reskill used bright colors and positive, uplifting artwork to create a supportive platform for people who’ve been through the justice system.

Pienso

Bold type and plenty of on-scroll animation made this site for Pienso stand out back in January.

Gazelle No.1

The promotional site for Gazelle No.1 used innovative scroll-activated video to sell the electric bike.

Mekanism

Mekanism’s site was the first agency redesign to impress us in 2022. Super-polished then, super-polished now.

Redbrick

Redbrick was well ahead of the trend for brutalism with a twist when it released this site promoting its coffee.

SOS Foods

Ethical and sustainable goods were top of the sales charts in 2022, and SOS Foods did a great job capitalizing on the style.

Hartzler Dairy

Hartzler Dairy embraced its mid-20th-century branding with a nostalgia-infused site.

Engineered Floors

Even in 2022, designers are still paying mobile short shrift, but this site for Engineered Floors is excellent on mobile.

Emi Ozaki

We loved the quirkiness of Emi Ozaki’s phone-style interface for her portfolio back in February.

I Killed A Cactus

I Killed A Cactus is a beautiful 3D site designed to help people care for houseplants.

Aris Hotel

We were tempted in the direction of Crete by this stunning luxury site for Aris Hotel on the island.

Milton Textiles

Milton Textiles is a big, bold site for a product that is usually an afterthought in the interior design world.

MAAP

The site for MAAP is predictably excellent, modern, and efficient. It encapsulated the apparel brand’s values perfectly.

Garden Eight

The promotional site for Garden Eight, a digital design studio in Tokyo and Copenhagen, was suitably standout eccentric.

Circus Shanghai

Circus Shanghai used a mid-century illustration style to reference the solar system and the Chinese flag.

Normand

Normand took the bold decision to step away from the typical law firm design strategy.

SND

Designing a site for UI sound kits is challenging, but SND pulled it off perfectly with this minimal site.

Polybion

We saw lots of brutalism in 2022, and Polybion’s site was a standout example of how to make the trend work.

neueMeta

Bold block coloring added depth and interest to this portfolio site for design studio neueMeta.

Dumpling Delivery

OK, we confess we spent waaay too much time playing this dumpling delivery game from Mailchimp back in May.

Nowhere Bakery

Nowhere Bakery succeeded in making vegan, paleo, gluten-free cookies seem appealing.

Triniti

We were mesmerized by the perpetual motion video for the pan-Baltic law firm Triniti.

Kim Kniepp

Kim Kniepp’s site impressed us with interconnected navigation and a superbly coded masonry grid.

Feed The 300

Feed The 300 is one of dozens of great sites to combat Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In this case, it was aimed at feeding zoo animals.

Icons By Menu

Icons By Menu is a stunning minimalist site that is a pleasure to browse.

Museum Of Pink Art

The Museum of Pink Art is an immersive experience celebrating the color pink. It was easy to lose hours wandering around.

BelArosa Chalet

2022 was the year of illustrations, and BelArosa Chalet’s site used them to significant effect to sell a venue still under construction.

WTFFF

Online sexual abuse and harassment are particularly appalling when directed at young people. WTFFF tackled the issue sensitively.

Pretty Damn Quick

Logistics aren’t the most engaging topic, but this friendly, illustrated site for Pretty Damn Quick grabbed us immediately.

Norwegian Soda Co.

This site for the Norwegian Soda Co. uses beautiful photography to create an engaging one-page site.

Fornasetti Profumi

Fornasetti Profumi wowed us with its long-form videos used to emphasize stillness and calm.

Laesk Kombucha

We were convinced this site for Laesk Kombucha had been produced by Wes Anderson.

Cased In Time

Single-product sites are often underwhelming, but this excellent ecommerce site bucks that trend.

DS & Durga

Eschewing the well-trod approach of flowers and pretty models, this perfume site for DS & Durga fully embraces the brutalist trend.

Daniel Spatzek

We loved the way Daniel Spatzek’s portfolio site broke all the rules and still managed to be informative and engaging.

Aro

Aro kept minimalism alive with a simple site that exudes luxury while selling a simple concept.

Think Packaging

Think Packaging took a case study approach to present its products, and it worked really well.

Steffie de Leeuw

Giant typography intertwined with botanical illustrations created a memorable site for Steffie de Leeuw.

Anna Jóna

The prelaunch teaser site for the Ana Jóna café and cinema was elegant and modern and had us eyeing a long weekend in Reykjavik.

Das Salz

More wanderlust courtesy of the fresh, enticing site for the Das Salz hotel and café.

Jono Pandolfi

This simple-to-use site for US tableware and cookware brand Jono Pandolfi sold us on hand-made ceramics.

LolaVie

We still can’t get over the fact that it took until 2022 for Jennifer Aniston to produce a haircare range.

Nathan Riley

Another big trend in 2022 was masonry-style sites, and this portfolio for Nathan Riley was one of our favorites.

Capsul’in Pro

With the excellent application of animation and careful use of color, this site for Capsul’in Pro transformed coffee pods into luxury items.

Seen

Seen is an essential site that explores themes of prejudice and racism in creative fields. It’s a strong approach to a difficult subject.

Glasfurd & Walker

Glasfurd and Walker’s superb portfolio site sets itself apart by over-extending the viewport. It’s a highly original idea.

The Other Side Of Truth

The Other Side of Truth is the standout site of 2022. It used the web expertly to present two interpretations of the facts surrounding the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Bannach

Back in October, we fell in love with the pixel-block animation loading for the Bannach furniture brand.

Karina Sirqueira

Karina Sirqueira’s portfolio was a joy to browse through. The morphing shapes imposed simplicity on a series of beautifully presented case studies.

Joshua’s World

We were amazed by Joshua’s World, a little island that can be titled and rotated to power the little cyclist along his career.

Source

The post 50 Best Websites of 2022 first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.

Source de l’article sur Webdesignerdepot

Color and depth are key themes this month as we look at what design trends are happening across websites. Red is the primary color of choice, and you can see it almost everywhere; the new thing is that it’s being used in backgrounds and as more than an accent color. Additionally, 3D elements and depth of field are making significant impressions.

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

1. Red Backgrounds

Red is the color of power, passion, and attention, but until recently, it wasn’t the go-to choice for website backgrounds. Now trending is red as a background color.

These designs are bold and in-your-face with bright color, an almost brash feel in some cases, and a lot of impact.

But it works.

In the projects below, red is a powerful tool to help convey the message of the website design. The color demands that you engage with the design to see what’s happening and the content therein, and in the case of Pentel, it’s part of the brand color.

Arze uses a bold red background with a smaller inset of contrasting color to show items on the site. It’s an interesting and quite bold choice. The red background carries through the scroll as well. This is a use of color that verges on off-putting but still gets the point across and helps show products thanks to a lot of contrast.

Russia Invaded Ukraine is a perfect use of red as a color that invokes feelings of passion with content to explain the conflict. Red can be a charged color; here, that’s precisely the intent.

Pentel uses a red background that’s a little softer than the previous examples. Here, red is a brand color, and they use the background to help draw attention to items and elements on the site. The red carries below the scroll as well to keep the theme moving.

 

 

2. 3D Icons and Graphics

Three-dimensional elements seem to keep ebbing and flowing with designers. We see a lot of 3D in projects, and then it seems to vanish again. It’s like we haven’t really figured out how to use it well or in a way that works with the content of various designs.

Admittedly, 3D icons, graphics, and illustrations can be difficult to create and use. Often they look a bit light and don’t go with all kinds of content. Therefore, they don’t get used that often.

Each of these projects takes a different approach:
Admilk goes all in with a series of 3D animations featuring the brand name. They are fun, light, and a bit unexpected. The graphics include objects that look like balloons, milk and cereal, and grass with flowers. (Click through to see each one.)

Refokus uses three-dimensional objects that move on a scroll to create directional flow and visual interest in a space where there’s not much else in terms of art. The objects stick with the aesthetic on the scroll and create an interesting element that carries you through the design without overwhelming you with tricks.

Junni is one of those website designs that goes all in with 3D. This illustrated bubble style of graphics is beginning to be a 3D trend in itself as a style that’s being used more and more with icons and even emojis. It has a light feel, and the animation almost makes it seem silly and somewhat childish.

 

 

3. Long Focal Depth

It’s been a while since a true photography or videography trend made this roundup, but there are so many instance of this image/video style in projects it can’t be ignored. Long focal depth is almost everywhere, from travel sites to architecture to e-commerce.

Long focal depth or depth of field allows the image to show a lot of space in an image in a way that’s sharp and viewable. Depth of field, in photography terms, is the distance between the closest and farthest objects in an image that are acceptably sharp.

In this trend, each website features a strong image with plenty of depth of field. The image can be still or moving, and the image is the thing that really draws you into the design.

What’s great about this trend is that you can see a lot of a scene and even feel like you are part of it. It’s an engaging visual concept that can work for a variety of purposes.

Interest Media uses a video reel that slowly zooms even further out. The image is lovely, and with the text overlay is easy to read and understand. It almost feels like you are walking backward on the bridge in the video.

Bloomingdales uses an immersive video with plenty of depth and virtual reality elements to create an immersive shopping experience. It makes you feel like you are in the store via the website and encourages shopping. It’s a fun way for the retailer to showcase its 150th anniversary.

 

Arredamento Design uses a photo with a wide focal area to provide interior design inspiration. Note the crisp lines and ease of which you find yourself engaging with the image, or even imagining a room like the one pictured. The effect used in the design, with a zoom on scroll, pulls the user into the image even more. Depth here keeps the motion and zoom from being too much and almost allows you to see more and feel even closer to objects that are further away in the image.

 

 

Conclusion

There are two trends here that tend to cross over into one another: The color red is everywhere and having a major emergence this fall as a dominant hue and depth, and three-dimensional focus is everywhere.

Both are highly usable design elements that can be incorporated easily, making them even more likely to continue to gain prominence in projects.

Source

The post 3 Essential Design Trends, November 2022 first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.

Source de l’article sur Webdesignerdepot

Jakob Nielsen’s How Users Read on the Web is 25 years old this week, and one glance at an eye-tracking study will tell you its key observations are still relevant today.

Simply put, users don’t read a web page; they scan it for individual words and sentences.

A typical pattern shown in eye-tracking reports is that users will rapidly scan a page, scrolling down to do so. Then either hit the back button and pump your bounce rate, or scroll to the top and re-engage with the content.

Even when content, volume, and quality tick all the user’s boxes, and they choose to stay on your site, they still don’t read; they scan; a slightly deeper scan, but still a scan.

As a result, it’s vital to design websites to be easily scannable, both in a split-second scan to decide if your page is worth the reader’s time and on a second or third pass.

Clarify the Page’s Purpose Immediately

Every page should have a primary goal. The majority of the time, that goal is embodied in a CTA (Call to Action).

The good news is, if your SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) has gone to plan, your goal (i.e., to sell something) and your user’s goal (i.e., to buy something) will align. By clarifying the page’s purpose, you can show the user that your goals align.

You can be experimental if you’re an established company and the user knows what to expect. But if you’re new to the market or have a lower profile, you need to conform to established design patterns. This means that a SaaS should look like a SaaS, a store should look like a store, and a blog should look like a blog.

Including your CTA above the fold — which in the context of the web, means the user doesn’t have to interact to see it. Doing so makes it easier for the user to progress and clearly tells the user what you are offering.

The landing page for next month’s Webflow Conf 2022 clarifies the page’s content, with a clear CTA above the fold.

Employ a Visual Hierarchy

The Von Restorff effect states that the more something stands out, the more likely we are to notice and remember it.

Visual hierarchies are excellent for guiding a user through content. HTML has the h1–h7 heading levels — although, in reality, only h1–h4 are much use — which gives you several levels of heading that can be scanned by different readers scanning at different rates.

For example, we know that subheadings have little impact if a user diligently reads the page from top to bottom, but they are excellent for catching the eye of skim readers.

Amnesty uses very a very simple hierarchy, the only change for its subheading being increased weight. But it is enough to catch the user’s eye.

You can also create visual hierarchies with other forms of contrast; weight and color are often employed in addition to size. For accessibility and inclusive design, it’s wise to combine visual indicators when creating a hierarchy; for example, headings are usually larger, bolder, and colored.

Use Negative Space

Imagine a person standing in a crowd. Let’s say they’re wearing a red and white striped jumper and a red and white bobble hat — pretty distinctive. But if there are hundreds of other characters around them, they might be hard to spot.

Now imagine the same person dressed the same, standing on their own. How long will it take you to spot them? Even without the stripy outfit, it’s not much of a challenge.

Elements in isolation are not only easier to spot, but they pull the eye because the negative space (sometimes referred to as white space) around them creates contrast.

When using negative space, the key is to give elements enough room to breathe and attract the eye without giving them so much room that they are disassociated from the rest of your content.

Across its site, Moheim uses negative space to highlight UI elements while grouping associated content.

Use F Patterns

Users scan a page using either an F-pattern or a Z-pattern.

Because users scan your page in predictable ways, we can employ layouts that cater to this tendency.

Designers have been aware of F and Z patterns for some time, and because they’ve been used for so long, they may be self-fulfilling, with users being trained to scan a page in this fashion. However, both patterns are similar to how eyes travel from line to line in horizontal writing systems.

Whatever the cause, by placing key content along these paths, you increase the chance of capturing a user’s attention.

Kamil Barczentewicz uses a beautiful, natural layout that also conforms to a classic F pattern.

Include Images with Faces

Images are a great way of conveying brand values and making a site engaging. But when it comes to catching the eye of a user scanning your design, the best images include faces.

For example, a testimonial with an image of the customer will catch the eye more than a text-only testimonial.

The Awwwards Conference uses an animated computer with a face to capture attention. And large images of speakers making eye contact.

This is almost certainly due to social conditioning; we see a face, and we engage with it to see if it is a threat or not. Most of us naturally look to expressions of emotion to understand situations, and the distinction between a real-life person and an image hasn’t made its way into our mental programming yet.

You don’t need to use photos. Illustrations are fine. The key is to ensure there is a face in the image. That’s why illustrations of characters perform so well.

Copy Print Design

Print design is centuries older than the web, and many print applications, from newspapers to advertising, developed design elements to catch the eye of readers scanning the design.

Subheadings, lists, blockquotes, and pull quotes all catch the eye. Introductory paragraphs in a larger size or even italics draw users into the text. Shorter paragraphs encourage users to keep reading.

Horizontal rules used to delineate sections of text act as a break on eyes traveling over content with momentum. They are a good way of catching a scan-reader who is losing interest.

You can use a horizontal rule or break up your layout with bands of color that divide content sections.

Omono uses horizontal bands to highlight different sections of content.

Mass, Not Weight

We often discuss design elements as having weight; font-weight is the thickness of strokes.

But it is more helpful to think of design elements as having mass; mass creates gravity, pulling a user’s eye towards them.

The trick is to design elements with enough mass to attract the user‘s eye when scanning at speed without forcing the user to change how they engage with your content.

 

Featured image via Pexels.

Source

The post How To Make Your Designs Scannable (And Why You Should) first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.

Source de l’article sur Webdesignerdepot

Typefaces give expression to text, communicating personality in a way that no other design element can. And so, we put together this collection of the best new fonts we’ve seen on the web each month.

This month’s collection of fresh new fonts includes some typefaces that push boundaries in subtle but irresistible ways, a few retro fonts that evoke specific eras, and some exceptionally well-drawn examples of classic themes.

Gazzetta

Gazzetta is a condensed typeface with soft curves and sharp joins that gives it plenty of personality at display sizes while still being highly practical.

Bacalar

Bacalar is an intriguing variable font inspired by the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. The bold, simple shapes are contrasted by extreme tapers that create dynamic shapes.

Monden

Monden is a high-contrast serif with an interesting slant applied to the lowercase h, m, and n. This “kick” adds a modern richness to blocks of text.

Flecha

Flecha is a sharp typeface with precise, simplified shapes that make it ideal for digital use. There is a range of styles and weights that provide flexibility.

Wonder Varelia

Countless calligraphic script fonts are available, but few are executed with the same elegance as Wonder Varelia. It works best as concise display text.

Okkult

Okkult is inspired by 70s horror films. It’s a great alternative choice for Halloween, Stranger Things-style retro designs, and hard-rock bands.

Southern Beach

Southern Beach is a classy script typeface that feels carefree and optimistic. It would work well as the logotype for a hotel, a travel company, or a restaurant.

Connection

Connection is a beautifully drawn typeface that makes unexpected decisions to create interest in what is otherwise a traditional design.

Lokeya

Lokeya is a playful sans-serif with a distinctly modern-French style. It includes several stylistic alternatives to enliven word shapes and is excellent for brand work.

Grtsk

Grtsk is an exceptionally flexible set of fonts with two writing systems, six widths, and seven weights that are also available as one highly-practical variable font.

Beast Head

Beast Head is an expressive brush script packed with energy. It’s a great branding option for gyms, workout clothing, energy drinks, and music events.

Happy Monday

Happy Monday is a retro script font that evokes the late-60s and early-70s. It’s a laid-back option for T-shirts, branding, and editorial work.

TT Espina

TT Espina is a serif face with extreme contrasts and particularly large serifs. The bold weight swells unevenly on the counters, creating a unique aesthetic.

Spookyman

Horrifyingly, Halloween is just around the corner, and if you’re looking for a spooky font for seasonal promotions, look no further than Spookyman.

Quebra

Quebra is a useful sans-serif for projects that need a range of widths. At small sizes, it feels corporate and reserved; at larger sizes, more human details begin to emerge.

Source

The post 15 Best New Fonts, September 2022 first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.

Source de l’article sur Webdesignerdepot


Purpose of Routing

Routes are created to allow nodes to communicate data packets across networks. In order to route data packets to their destination, they travel along a series of links, each link having a single direction (one-way). A link is formed by joining two adjacent routers together; the router at either end of a link is called the ingress or egress router.

The purpose of routing is to find the best path between two points. Routers exchange information about what routes exist between them using standard protocols. When a packet of data arrives at a router, the router will examine its header to determine where it should send the packet. If the router does not know how to reach the specified destination address, it sends the message to an adjacent router via a neighboring node. Each router stores a table of addresses it knows about. These tables are known as routing tables.

Source de l’article sur DZONE

Every day design fans submit incredible industry stories to our sister-site, Webdesigner News. Our colleagues sift through it, selecting the very best stories from the design, UX, tech, and development worlds and posting them live on the site.
The best way to keep up with the most important stories for web professionals is to subscribe to Webdesigner News or check out the site regularly. However, in case you missed a day this week, here’s a handy compilation of the top curated stories from the last seven days. Enjoy!

DopeUI – Free Modern UI Design Templates

How to Create a PureCSS Tabs Navigation

If Design Principles are for Designs, then Design Values are for Designers

Contember – Open-source, Headless CMS Without Limits

Buckle Up! We’re Diving into the World of Travel Website Design

Rust from 0 to 80% for JavaScript Developers

Three Methods to Increase User Autonomy in UX Design

Scrollex – A React Library to Build Beautiful Scroll Experiences

3 Essential Design Trends, May 2022

No-Code Builder – Place to Find the Right No-Code Tool to Build your Idea

Creating Realistic Reflections with CSS

Source

The post Popular Design News of the Week: May 2, 2022 – May 8, 2022 first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.

Source de l’article sur Webdesignerdepot

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.

Source

The post 20 Best New Sites, April 2022 first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.

Source de l’article sur Webdesignerdepot