Apparently Gloss is dead. Texture is here to rip up the corners, splash paint around, burn and char everything above the fold, and get iStocked up. Jacob Nielsen does not like these sites – but you might.
These designs are wide and very modern looking. They jump off the page and offer great colour and depth. Original art, often with vectored sketch, is a cornerstone of this class. Notice how masthead art is integrated with page backgrounds in these designs.
These modern designs are not right for so many applications. The novelty will be lost on most audiences, and the price tag of the creative and implementation is out of reach for small business. With a couple cool designs I can demonstrate texture and how it can play with your content and template .
These are designer sites for designers. But we’re sure to find ideas here that transfer over to the corporate, contemporary design for the web.
Some examples, in no order:
This design is impossible for most applications. But when this layout sports the beautiful textured header art, we find what a modern toy site can be. Notice the white (but not white) space, and the great typography.
Leather, and wood.. feel it. Scroll down — in the middle you could be anywhere with fantastic typography. And don’t miss the footer.
http://www.webdesignerwall.com/
This is how to overdue it in the most impressive way.
http://www.elansnowboards.com/en/
Everything here is in motion. It feels like you first find something to click, then you’ll probably be chasing it with your mouse. Imagine Grandma trying to use this site.
http://www.ndesign-studio.com/
A very useable design that gets to show off its behind. It dedicates a couple hundred pixels before content, but you wouldn’t have this any other way.
…more great textured designs to come!
The famous Latin who proclaimed the quote – Solutions- The first step toward a cure is to know what the disease is.