In this sample, we will implement the server-side of a client-server style messaging app. To do so, you could use your preferred programming language, but for speed, we’ll use Linx, a low-code developer tool for backend APIs, integrations, and automation.
For a quick review of Linx and how it works, see this video.
We will implement some web methods, which will be useful for creating a messaging client. However, the following items fall outside the scope of this sample:
Ecommerce design may seem fairly straight-forward; you build an online store that showcases a company’s products or services and gives customers a quick and pain-free way to purchase them.
While that formula will always hold true, ecommerce is undergoing some big changes, and web designers need to be prepared to keep up with them. This monthly ecommerce trends roundup will explore these new and evolving design, sales, and marketing trends.
Although we’re not likely to see this trend go near the sites for big box stores, it’s something smaller ecommerce companies are adopting. And with good reason.
As consumers become wary about how much money they’re spending, they don’t need to feel pressured or rushed into a purchase. And ecommerce sites that employ calmer color palettes — like pastels and earth tones — will do a better job of putting their customers at ease.
Bicycle saddle manufacture Brooks England shows how this trend plays out in ecommerce design:
It’s not just outdoors or sporting goods companies that can use more natural-looking colors, either. CBD product vendor Cannaray is another company that uses a more subdued color palette:
Really, any store that wants to do a better job creating satisfying experiences for customers and gaining their long-time loyalty should consider toning things down with color.
For years, we’ve seen consumers go crazy for brands that offer free and fast shipping. But thanks to the surge in online shopping in 2020, ecommerce companies, their shipping partners, and delivery service providers just haven’t been able to keep up with the pace.
When customers are unhappy with slow deliveries, they’re going to go to social media and review sites to bombard brands with complaints, as has been happening with Loft since November:
Although many ecommerce stores still don’t inform customers ahead of time about these delays, we’re starting to see a new checkout trend.
Here’s how Gap is encouraging and rewarding customers for choosing no-rush shipping:
Amazon is another ecommerce site that encourages no-rush shipping at checkout with a reward:
Not only does this set better expectations for customers before they finish their purchases, but it encourages everyone to slow down a bit so that ecommerce companies and their shipping/delivery partners can keep up.
Each year, design trend roundups suggest that AI will play a greater role in web design.
While that may be true for things like the search bar or personalized recommendations, ecommerce sites are pulling back the reins on automated support and assistance.
Best Buy, for instance, offers customers the option to “Shop with an Expert”:
After shoppers go through a quick survey, they’re given a variety of options — based on their own level of comfort and convenience — to work with the expert:
Something that might’ve been left in the hands of a self-service quiz or automated chatbot is being given the human touch once more.
We’re seeing a similar trend with retailers like Warby Parker. While it still offers a virtual AR try-on, the main navigation actually emphasizes the home try-on option:
Again, this is another example of ecommerce companies becoming less reliant on automated support to give their customers a better and more confident shopping experience.
Ecommerce trends are always evolving. Sometimes it’s due to new technologies. Other times it has to do with what’s happening in the world around us. And sometimes it’s simply to keep up with changing consumer expectations.
Stay tuned as we explore new and emerging ecommerce trends in the coming months…
The post What’s New in Ecommerce, January 2021 first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.
The start of the year is always a good time to reassess priorities and consider new approaches, but 2021 is more of a reset than we expected this time last year. 2020 is unlikely to go down in anyone’s autobiography as the best year of their life, but it has done something positive: it’s prepared the ground for rapid change in the next 12 months.
More than any other year in our lifetimes, 2021 is set to be revolutionary, with emerging trends that will last well into the new decade. Here’s what we think you can look forward to around the next corner.
Minimalism has been the de facto approach to web design for the last decade because it works.
But design reflects the zeitgeist. Where minimalism once felt clean and fresh, it’s starting to feel dull and uninspired. There have been a few false-starts breaking out of the long-term trend, but thanks to the pandemic, 2021 will be the year minimalism finally folds — at least for a while.
Prior to coronavirus-mandated lockdowns worldwide, there were already signs of a more vibrant, more decorative, more joyful approach to design. Simple typefaces have been replaced with more decorative examples — faces that use ink-traps to fake 3D effects are surprisingly popular.
trends are cyclical, and the wheel always turns
One of the biggest aspects of this blossoming trend is the move away from Material Design-style flat color not just to gradients but to multi-color gradients and even animated gradients. Even Apple, the last bastion of the clean white-box approach, jumped on the gradient bandwagon with its Big Sur branding.
One of the few things COVID-19 hasn’t slowed is the adoption of new web technology, and CSS, in particular, has had some major developments in the last year. CSS Grid is now a practical technology, and our ability to code standards-compliant designs that aren’t dependent on hierarchical boxes is greatly enhanced.
After more than a year of pretty grim news for most people, much of the world will be vaccinated over the next twelve months, and life will rapidly return to normal. The last global crisis on this scale was the 1918 influenza pandemic, and it led directly to the decade known as the Roaring Twenties.
Minimalism was already dipping in popularity — trends are cyclical, and the wheel always turns — but lockdown, or perhaps more precisely the end of lockdown, is the catalyst for significant change.
In Autumn 2020, something entirely unexpected happened: The W3C announced the platform its new web presence would be built on, and WordPress — the previous choice of the web’s steering committee — didn’t even make the list of finalists.
Due to accessibility concerns, the W3C development team opted to migrate away from WordPress to Craft CMS. The decision was met with a mixture of glee and outrage. But whether you agree with the decision or not, it’s hard to see it as anything other than yet another symptom of WordPress’ decline.
WordPress faces a triple threat: there are web builders that do an adequate job for low-end web projects; there are newer rivals like Craft that outperform WordPress as a CMS; there’s a growing interest in alternate approaches, like Jamstack.
So will it all be over for WordPress in 2021? Not even close. There are myriad reasons WordPress will continue to be the choice of designers and developers for years to come. Tens of thousands of professionals worldwide have invested their whole careers in WordPress; there are millions of themes, plugins, templates, and build processes that are tightly woven into the WordPress ecosystem. What’s more, there are millions of sites with substantial content archives powered by WordPress [WebDesignerDepot is one such site].
WordPress reportedly powers approximately 37% of the web, and it will still be the dominant CMS in 2022. But it’s unlikely to grow beyond that 37%, and by 2030 its market share will be in rapid contraction.
2020 was the high-tide mark for WordPress
But for all its faults — and it’s undeniable that WordPress is full of faults — WordPress is the best of the web; it has given a voice to millions of people, launched countless careers, and empowered entrepreneurship worldwide.
2020 was the high-tide mark for WordPress, but it’s not an extinction-level event — even the much-maligned Flash, which was killed dead in a matter of months by the first generation iPhone, limped on until a few weeks ago.
WordPress will have to find a niche and accept a smaller market share; in doing so, it will address the single biggest complaint that anyone has about WordPress: that it’s trying to do too much.
WordPress is one of the great success stories of the web. In a decade, it may have to settle for powering just 10% of the web — a level of failure most of its rivals can only dream of.
2021 is undoubtedly the year that cryptocurrency goes mainstream. In 2020 Bitcoin grew by almost 400%; currently valued at around $35k, conservative predictions for a December 2021 valuation are $100k, with five-year predictions as high as $1m. And Bitcoin isn’t the only cryptocurrency; the value of developer-friendly Ether has jumped by more than 50% in the first few weeks of 2021.
In the US, the incoming Biden administration is preparing a multi-trillion dollar relief package, which many believe young Americans will invest in cryptocurrency. Perhaps more importantly, large investment banks are now pumping hundreds of millions in digital currencies. PayPal and Visa are both in the advanced stages of adopting blockchain technology.
The biggest threat to the new digital economy is the volatility of cryptocurrency. You cannot price services in XRP if XRP’s dollar price could crash at any time — as it did a few weeks ago.
And so there are two routes in which this trend will unfold for ecommerce. Either pricing will remain in dollars, and the equivalent price in various cryptocurrencies will be calculated in real-time. Or, transactions will make use of stablecoins like Tether that are tied to the value of the US dollar.
Cryptocurrency is the latest gold-rush, and whether you think it’s the chance of a lifetime or yet another Ponzi scheme, it will become increasingly high-profile in ecommerce throughout 2021.
2020 was the year of Zoom. Its growth from bit-player to overtaking Skype is a material lesson for entrepreneurs that every obstacle is an opportunity.
every obstacle is an opportunity
Over the last year, we’ve discovered two things: meetings are more creative in person, and office costs are significantly reduced when staff work remotely.
There’s going to be a shift in the business landscape this year. Remote working will continue to be normal for years to come as businesses enjoy rent savings. Video calls will still be common for quick update meetings. But expect to travel to physical meeting places periodically for in-depth strategic planning.
Expect to see major cities with deserted office buildings and a rapid expansion of co-working spaces, especially those with meeting spaces — if WeWork can hold on a little longer, there may be light at the end of the tunnel.
As a web professional, you’re in a unique position to thrive in the new business world, even more so if you’re a freelancer. Remember, if you’re working onsite, be mindful of your physical health, and if you’re working remotely, be mindful of your mental health.
No one saw 2020 coming. Sometimes world events are outwith our control, and we have to hang on and hope it gets better. It’s been a tough 12 months, and the truth is we’re not through it yet.
But the 2020 coronavirus pandemic is the first pandemic in human history that we’ve had the technology to shorten.
2021 offers the opportunity for enormous change. Will designers look for new, more decorative approaches? Will we replace our technology stack? Will you be billing clients in Ether this year? Will you suffer the misery of a packed evening commute ever again?
Featured image via Unsplash
The post 4 Predictions for the Web in 2021 first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.
Every week users submit a lot of interesting stuff on our sister site Webdesigner News, highlighting great content from around the web that can be of interest to web designers.
The best way to keep track of all the great stories and news being posted is simply to check out the Webdesigner News site, however, in case you missed some here’s a quick and useful compilation of the most popular designer news that we curated from the past week.
Want more? No problem! Keep track of top design news from around the web with Webdesigner News.
The post Popular Design News of the Week: January 4, 2021 – January 10, 2021 first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.
There are dozens of factors that influence the UX of your site, app, or game. Most of them are beyond your control; user connection speed, end-system resources, even browser technology is all out of your hands. So when you do have the opportunity to influence your project’s infrastructure, you should seize it.
The world’s fastest muscle car can’t perform at its best when traffic is gridlocked bumper to bumper; likewise, the most finely tuned website can’t meet its potential running on shared hosting.
If you want your website, application, or service to run quickly and securely, maximizing both UX and SEO, then you need to look at the bare metal servers from OVHcloud.
Bare metal (or dedicated) servers aren’t uncommon. Still, most hosts only offer a single type of server, expecting small startups to pay for resources at the same rate as global giants, which can make dedicated hosting prohibitively expensive.
OVHcloud is different; it offers a range of bare metal server products optimized for a wide variety of challenges. That means small startups can invest in fast, easily scalable solutions that meet the most demanding security requirements without breaking the bank.
Whatever your aims, there’s a different OVHcloud solution configured for you:
Rise is the perfect option for a website, or web app hosting. With its low entry-cost, Intel-powered performance, bundled DDoS protection, and simplified administration, Rise is the natural choice for your first step into bare metal servers.
To meet SMEs’ need for reliable infrastructure to run mission-critical applications, OVHcloud configured Advance. From in-house CRMs to web-facing SaaS products, Advance is a solid foundation upon which to build your business.
Storage is ideal for storing large amounts of data securely. Hosting data on standard servers is a colossal waste of resources; with OVHcloud’s Storage product you can host up to 504TB and seamlessly access it via a performance-tuned server.
For large companies with thousands of employees, global non-profits, colleges, and even local governments, OVHcloud Infrastructure offers scalability and flexibility beyond the average dedicated server.
For web apps that are leveraging cutting edge technology like machine learning and big data, OVHcloud’s High-End product is a no-compromise custom solution, the humdinger of bare metal servers, with every conceivable option available.
If you’re developing video games, then lightning-quick, reliable streaming servers are essential. OVHcloud’s Game product delivers the type of speed your customers demand, with massive performance gains over comparable bare metal servers.
It’s easy to get bogged down in detail, especially if this is your first foray into bare metal servers.
But here’s the good news: every OVHcloud bare metal server is a massive boost in performance over shared web hosting. That’s because, with a dedicated server, all of the server’s resources are…dedicated; that is, you don’t have to share with anyone. Shared hosting is pot-luck: You might wind up on a server with thoughtful users who don’t eat up all the resources, and you might end up on a server with one selfish user who hogs the processes and compromises the security. With a bare metal server, that’s not an issue.
Choosing a bare metal server is a two-step process. The first step is to think about what you intend to use it for:
Are you going to store a lot of data? If so, think about OVHcloud’s Storage product. But a lot of data doesn’t mean a WordPress blog. Let’s say you’re a polling company, collating millions of records that you hope to analyze to predict political movement; that requires a lot of storage. On the other hand, all servers have some storage. OVHcloud’s Rise product comes with 500Gb and can be configured with more. So if you’re planning to host something the size of a blog, then OVHcloud’s Storage might be using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
The second step is to ask how complex the operations you’re going to ask the server to perform will be:
Hitting up a database to retrieve some data is not a complex operation. Even something like a complex search isn’t too taxing. If that’s the kind of process you expect to perform, OVHcloud’s Rise is more than adequate. But if you’re manipulating large amounts of data, like resizing hundreds of raster images dynamically; or using facial recognition to search through millions of biometric data records; or even managing your advertising application serving millions of ads to sites across the web; in those cases, you need the sort of performance OVHcloud’s Infrastructure product delivers.
OVHcloud’s products are all scaleable. Its High-End bare metal server product is entirely customizable. Whatever you choose, and however your needs change over time, you can be confident you’re running the optimum server for your project.
There are a mind-boggling array of processors, and OS, and a seemingly infinite — and increasingly expensive — amount of hardware on offer on the web. OVHcloud radically simplifies running a bare metal server by delivering a range of popular packages, tailored for everyday uses, that are both customizable and scaleable.
What OVHcloud delivers is a clear choice, letting you choose the right server for your product.
Whether you need lighting fast response times to maximize your SEO or the space to store a digital archive of the world’s most important art, for reliability and choice, opt for OVHcloud bare metal servers.
[— This is a sponsored post on behalf of OVHcloud —]
The post How to Choose a Bare Metal Server From OVHcloud first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.
Every week users submit a lot of interesting stuff on our sister site Webdesigner News, highlighting great content from around the web that can be of interest to web designers.
The best way to keep track of all the great stories and news being posted is simply to check out the Webdesigner News site, however, in case you missed some here’s a quick and useful compilation of the most popular designer news that we curated from the past week.
Want more? No problem! Keep track of top design news from around the web with Webdesigner News.
In the 2020 COVID pandemic, most enterprises have realized the importance of creating an effective digital presence. While some businesses used digital presence to promote their services and business continuity, other companies used the latest trends to stay ahead among competitors. One of the most popular and widely used platforms is Node.JS, which is widely used for the development process.
What is Node.JS?
Over the years, experts have repeatedly discussed the possible impact of mixed realities on web design. Concepts like AR and VR are expected to have the potential to change the way that we interact with websites on a fundamental level.
Now that we’re in the year 2021, however, discussions about AR aren’t just observational anymore. The age of mixed-reality interfaces is here, in everything from Pokémon Go, to Snapchat filters.
The question is, how do web designers create incredible user experiences in a world where there are now multiple digital realities to consider?
Before we look at some of the steps that web designers can take to enhance their projects with AR, it’s worth examining the benefits of interacting with augmented reality in the first place.
While virtual reality replaces the typical world around us completely with digital components, AR augments it. This means that developers and designers need to learn how to thrive in an environment where the real world and the digital one work together.
The most common AR application for website owners is to provide a solution for real-time and remote product visualization. Imagine being able to try on a pair of shoes before you buy them online. That’s a service that the Vyking brand can deliver by creating technology that “reinvents” the digital shopping experience.
This test functionality plays a massive role in purchasing decisions. In a world where people can’t see a shade of make-up in person when they’re shopping online, or check how an item of furniture looks in their home, AR has a crucial role to play.
In simple terms, AR helps shoppers to make more informed purchases.
Here’s how you can use augmented reality to deliver incredible UX.
Augmented reality is all about connecting the real world to the virtual world.
Doing this provides users a unique experience – one that’s filled with real-time feedback that can deliver crucial and insightful information. For instance, an augmented reality system in a GPS app can calculate the average time before reaching a destination based on previous trips.
Another option is for an augmented reality to use solutions like face-mapping to help customers determine how a certain makeup product will look before they buy it. For instance, that’s the case for the Mary Kay Mirror Me app, which simplifies the process of shopping for make-up.
When designing for AR, experts need to consider how they can provide customers with real-time information that they can use to make better purchasing decisions.
Although you’ve probably performed similar exercises when designing for traditional websites and applications in the past, defining inputs and outputs of UX in AR environments can be tough.
Defining inputs and outputs allows you to determine which elements of an interface your user can actually interact with, in your interface. This gives you a better idea of what to “augment.” For instance, you might decide that physical gestures like a swipe of the hand will be essential for AR inputs. However, you’ll also need to consider how each mobile device offers different input possibilities.
Outputs are a little simpler. For instance, you could offer a three-dimensional model of a product that your customers are interested in. Once you have that output, you can think about how the customer will interact with it by changing colors or position.
Another feature at the heart of AR applications is interactivity.
Good designs in the augmented reality world need to be simple to access and use, otherwise customers will end up avoiding them. For instance, 60% of customers say they want to use AR when they’re shopping for furniture. However, they’re only going to use your app if it actually works.
The Décor Matters website and app mix gamification with home decorating features that help customers get a better view of the home goods they’re planning on buying. The website even has inspiration pages available to help users find and try new design options with their AR technology.
When designing for AR, think about how you can make your applications or technology as simple to use as possible, so customers actually want to interact with it.
In augmented and virtual reality applications, it’s important to remember that interfaces aren’t bound by physical screens. The viewport will move with the user, shifting perspectives in response. Most AR designers will use four different signifiers to describe AR environments:
The environment that you’re designing for will be crucial for your project outcomes. Remember, spatial considerations need to be carefully considered when accounting for how users will interact with objects in a frame.
Another thing to keep in mind when designing for AR technology is that user fatigue is likely to be a much more significant consideration. After all, people interact with websites and applications in a much more intimate and in-depth way when AR is involved.
AR applications can often use the entire body of a customer as a controller. Because of this, designers need to be careful about exhausting interactions. High-effort and repetitive interactions could tire the user out mentally and physically, causing them to give up on the interaction.
When designing, you’ll need to consider how you might over-stimulate the user with too many interaction-focused elements at once. Keep it simple.
Remember, just because you’re tapping into a relatively new technology doesn’t mean that you should abandon all the basic tenets of user experience design that you’ve come to understand over the years. Although UX is constantly evolving and changing, it’s always going to keep a few fundamental principles in mind.
For instance, you’ll always strive to give users the best digital experience in exchange for the lowest amount of effort on their part. Additionally, you’ll need to think about how you can make end-users as comfortable as possible when they’re interacting with new types of technology on websites and apps.
For instance, since AR is most commonly associated with gaming in the current environment, it might be a good idea to implement gamification concepts into your AR design. What can you do to make sure your customers are having fun?
For instance, Inkhunter is an app that allows users to try on tattoos just like using a filter on Snapchat. The experience feels familiar, comfortable, and exciting.
Augmented Reality technology has come a long way over the years. Today, developers and designers can access simple plug-in tools like WordPress VR, allowing designers to upload 360-degree videos into WordPress sites and other unique web extensions.
Augmented reality is becoming much more readily available on sites and apps of all shapes and sizes. Additionally, customers are accessing more ways to unlock AR’s power through everything from headsets to mobile interfaces.
However, just like any new technology in the web design world, designers need to think carefully about how they will overcome the challenges in user experience that AR can present. For instance, though AR can offer more information for a customer and help them make purchasing decisions faster, there are also risks. For instance, add too many interactive features to a single website or application, and you could scare users off with too much information.
In the short-term, web designers need to explore the new tools that are available to them and think about the customers they’re designing for. Only this way will we be able to make any considerable advances in the possibilities of AR.
Designing for augmented reality applications and websites can be an intimidating concept – even for seasoned designers. However, this is just another technology that creatives can use to drive better experiences for end-users.
Learn how the latest technology works and get an insight into your customers’ needs, and you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish in the AR world.
Google Fonts is one of the most useful tools designers have, with hundreds of amazing fonts provided for free. But if you just grab one of the top ten suggestions, you’re missing out on a vast wealth of typographic gems.
Just about every font on Google Fonts is worth trying out, but the very best designs — designs that engage, inspire, and delight — combine two or more fonts. It’s the same principle as sweet and sour; two competing tastes that are both familiar and surprising; that’s a good font combination.
But how do you pick out those flavors? How do you know what complements and what clashes? Does Inter work okay with Open Sans? Does Merriweather look good with Roboto?
Well, today we’ve got a deal for you that will answer those questions and more. Our sister site, MightDeals.com, has arranged an extraordinary discount on The Preposterously Huge Book of Google Font Combinations. To date, it’s the single largest collection of Google font combinations ever produced.
Read on to find out how the PHBGFC will save you time, update your design choices, and keep you inspired throughout 2021 and beyond…
The Preposterously Huge Book of Google Font Combinations is almost 8,000 pages long. If you use one of the suggested font combinations every week, it will take you 125 years to exhaust it.
We think you’ll agree that that’s a truly preposterous number of design options.
When you visit Google Fonts, you see a nice clean interface, with some dropdowns. You can pick a font. And then maybe pick another. But there’s no real way of discovering, trying out or otherwise selecting font combinations.
The Preposterously Huge Book of Google Font Combinations changes that by lining up all the possible combinations in an easy-to-browse package.
Step 1: Navigate to the index at the front of the book.
Step 2: Locate a font you’re interested in, in the index.
Step 3: Click the font name to navigate to the corresponding page in the book.
Step 4: Scroll back and forth through the pages to review the possible combinations for your font.
It’s that easy!
The Preposterously Huge Book of Google Font Combinations lays out all the best Google Font combinations for you — every font included has a regular, bold, italic, and bold italic version — saving you days of hunting through the site hoping to hit upon a combination that works.
The Preposterously Huge Book of Google Font Combinations isn’t a set of rules or guidelines; it’s a tool to help you make the best design decisions you can make in the shortest possible time.
The Preposterously Huge Book of Google Font Combinations purposefully doesn’t exclude any combinations — even ugly combinations are deliberately included — so you’re free to compare an unredacted list of font options.
Every design decision you take is yours, but instead of spending hours downloading, installing, and comparing prospective fonts, you can review a combination in seconds.
The Preposterously Huge Book of Google Font Combinations is an essential purchase for anyone working with Google Fonts. It will save you time and improve your familiarity with one of the web’s best resources.
If you like fonts, then you’re going to enjoy just scrolling through the Preposterously Huge Book of Google Font Combinations. It’s a beautifully realized catalog of font options.
Whether you’re a design student, a web developer curious about design, or a seasoned design professional, The Preposterously Huge Book of Google Font Combinations won’t just save you time; it will help develop your eye for great font combinations.
This incredible resource, designed to help you maximize your use of Google Fonts, will save you hours of fruitless hunting through Google’s UI.
The Preposterously Huge Book of Google Font Combinations normally sells for $69, but thanks to our sister-site MightyDeals.com, WebDesignerDepot readers can grab it for just $24! That’s a suitably preposterous 65% off the full retail price.
Head over to MightyDeals today to download your copy of The Preposterously Huge Book of Google Font Combinations and start making Google Fonts work for you.
2020 has been one of the most memorable years in our history. Few of us have been alive long enough to experience a more turbulent time. But throughout the year, we saw design respond to challenging events with positivity, color, and a desire to elevate those people and projects working to make the world better.
As we head into 2021, there’s no denying that 2020 has changed our outlook on life and marked a major turning point in web design trends.
Here’s a collection of the websites we loved the most this year. Enjoy!
On Looks Like You Need Iceland, you are invited to record a scream, which will then be broadcast into the Icelandic wilderness. It’s meant as a form of therapy. The idea is that you will one day visit Iceland in person. That might still be some way off for most of us, but we could certainly use a good therapeutic scream.
Across 2020 there were major protests around the world in support of Black Lives Matter. The movement’s website is a central hub for news, resources, and civil rights information in 38 countries.
2ºC Earth takes the user to 5 locations worldwide and shows what will happen there if global temperatures rise by 2ºc. Sound is used really well here to create an immersive experience, along with some beautiful photography.
Along with some new features announced earlier this month, GitHub has a glossy new homepage. It has a clean feel, with some nice scrolling animation and sparing but effective use of illustration.
Political and social initiatives were big in 2020, and non-profit activism initiative I Weigh Community is the brainchild of actress Jameela Jamil. It’s devoted to radical inclusivity, communicated with bold, expressive graphics.
Back in January, we clicked around UNREAL’s site for hours, enjoying the sharp transitions. The Swiss agency produced a wonderfully chaotic love letter to web animation.
Delassus grows fruit, from citrus to avocados. The Moroccan company employs a cornucopia of 3D design to make its site bold, fun, and practical.
We loved everything about Lynn Fisher’s site back in May. The homepage illustration was awesome. It was a humorous approach to RWD that we really appreciated. The site has since changed, with tons more to explore.
The Minervo site feels distinctly Latin, with the hot pinks and sun-blasted desaturation feeling suitably South American. We love the cropping on the custom typeface.
Norwegians have an almost mystical connection with the sea, which is evident in the site for Babord, a Norwegian seafood supplier. We loved the brand font too.
Calexo makes THC-infused beverages, and back in April, we loved the color and positivity of the site. The animated hamburger menu was a hit too.
Moooi’s site layers illustration with a maximal effect that makes you feel like you’re chasing a white rabbit. There are tons of great UI details here, especially the bar that reveals the product videos.
The Blind Barber celebrates 10 years of success with this microsite. A deconstructed grid and an entirely black and white design, but with color photos, create energy and a sense of joy.
Zand Harirchi is an architecture firm based in Tehran, Iran. Its site features subtle references to architecture, like the delightful thumbnails reminiscent of small windows.
The WFN (Women’s Funding Network) is an international alliance supporting women’s foundations and gender justice funders. The sophisticated color palette and clean type are both confident and feminine.
We loved exploring Nathan Taylor’s playful site all the way back in January. The different lighting modes were a firm favorite.
A tribute to the life and work of Käthe Kollwitz, an Expressionist printmaker. There’s a catalog of her work, presented alongside large type and splashy color transitions.
Emotive Feels is a design manifesto from the Emotive Brand agency that illustrates an A–Z of potential brand emotions with simple animations that we likened to a Blue Note release.
A.N Other’s site for perfume highlights quality ingredients, materials, simplicity, craftsmanship, and the environment; in the process, it cleverly invokes a sense of luxury.
Danish type foundry Playtype’s site fits its name perfectly. The playful site with bright blocks of color and the occasional animation shows off some pretty nice typefaces.
All-text sites are always a thrill, and back in June, we were treated to this simple one-pager by Feijoo. Details like the numerals being replaced by words are delightful.
Although this site’s subject matter is harrowing, it is presented in a very beautiful, thoughtful manner.
Sophisticated typography, the wave textures, the nostalgic feel of the photography, and even the cookie notice’s on-brand styling all show attention to detail, which gives this site its appeal.
Find and ‘photograph’ the endangered species to learn about them in this delightfully illustrated game.
When Curbed came under the umbrella of New York magazine earlier this year, it got a makeover. Neon highlights and a distorted grid give an edge to the classic magazine layout.
The carousel of fonio (it’s a West African grain) products on Yolélé’s landing page is a good example of horizontal scrolling that works well. There are some great page transitions too.
Pantheone Audio’s site employs elegant scrolling to enable seamless navigation of an extremely luxurious site, underpinned by a complex grid.
Bright color, an irregular grid, illustrations, and a display type that feels almost hand-drawn perfectly captures the aesthetic of this NY-based home furnishing brand.
This site for private membership leisure club Highcourt uses subtle background color changes and simple line illustrations to create a sense of calm. Black and white are softened to dark blue and ivory, and gentle animation adds interest.
Kate Jackling’s site takes a step back and allows the content to bask in the glow of attention, placing her photography at center stage.
While there is less hustle and bustle outside than we were used to pre-pandemic, we could certainly all use some calm. Treaty’s site for CBD oils reflects that calm with a combination of video, whitespace, and botanical drawings.
Ukrainian Railroad Ladies is a book of photographs of women, and some men, who work on the Ukrainian railways. The site is basic, even brutalist, but it has charm, and the photographer’s fascination with his subject comes through.
Year & Day is an ecommerce site that sells tableware, from glassware to ceramics. The colorful collection is designed to complement different types of food, and the site’s color scheme reflects that perfectly.
Juan Mora’s ‘under construction’ holding page has probably been crafted with more care than many full-blown sites. This showcase cleverly manages to demonstrate its subject’s skills without showing a single piece of work.
Lucciano’s homepage hero video alone will have your mouth watering for some of their gelato. Much of the appeal of food is visual, and the photography here does not disappoint. Circular text boxes in ice cream colors complement the product shots nicely.
Back in April, we were already a little weary of lockdown — if only we’d known how long it would last! The amazing color blobbing of bored.solutions was the ideal distraction.
Grand Matter is an artist agency representing illustrators. There is a wealth of talent on show here and a broad enough range of styles to keep the web interesting for a good while.
This site for Dunderville motion design studio features a paper fold detail, which adds tactility to the virtual. Some superb type and vector animations showcase an impressive portfolio.
Album Colors has taken the covers from 150 albums released this year and arranged them by dominant color. The hex code for each color is provided if you want to copy it.
Mammut uses stunning photography and a strong narrative to present its Eiger Extreme outdoor clothing. Longing for the great outdoors will either be alleviated or exacerbated by this one.
808303.studio is a virtual Roland TR-808 drum machine and TB 303 bass synthesizer. You can program, record, and share your very own 80s techno masterpiece.
Humor can be hard to get right, especially when you want to be taken seriously at the same time. Here, it works, and the result is a memorable site, oozing with confidence.
Type your message into Jazz Keys, and you’ll hear it in sound. You can send the message to anyone and let them hear your words — the web lives for side-projects like this.
The fabulous, simple site for Sao Paulo-based Érika Moreira has some awesome big type and creative case studies. It’s an excellent example of a non-visual portfolio.
Earlier this year, the site for leading paper supplier G.F Smith got a redesign. It is a simpler design than the previous site and keeps the visual focus on the products and the colors.
Abbotsford Convent is a creative arts venue in Melbourne, Australia, based in a former convent. The UI for its site blends architectural forms to acknowledge the building’s heritage.
Waka Waka designs and builds wooden furniture. The mid-century typography and the noise textures transport the site to the last century’s radical graphic design. There’s some clever disruption to the typical thumbnail approach.
Sites advertising apps always seem to want to box the design into a hastily de-branded mock-up. Cone takes a daringly refreshing approach by depicting a more expansive mobile experience.
Amsterdam’s Ride Out bike store teases the content with an intriguingly masked video. Plus, we love the wheel-inspired spinning links.
This site is a model of minimalism. Beautiful photographs and very little text, there is nothing to distract from the product on display.
