Must Design

In this article, Kendra Schaefer examines the things all web professionals should know before swan-diving into the Chinese market, including how mobile-only social platforms have become the revolutionary new frontier of Chinese web design, and who’s designing beautiful websites in China today.

Marty Note
Watching the excellent HBO Documentary about James Brown Mr. Dynamite made me think of FUNK and web design. Web design is easy to get WRONG (lol).

It is tricky to design online with a sense of surprise, beauty and novelty. I like the Digital Invaders design as it feels free and spontaneous. Other designs such as Monster CSS and Creative With A K feel like they are trying to appear spontaneous and free.

Trying too hard is EASY in web design too. Remember all websites are STAGES we designers SET. The trick is to set a stage that feels like it is happening now and won't feel dated tomorrow. Feels like there are enough visual hooks in Digital Invaders it would be easy to keep it fresh with minimum fuss.

I like Emigre too. Emigre creates the same sense of happening now but that design is at the other end of the spectrum from Digital Invaders. Its hard to beat the grid. First website I created, in 1999, used a Mondrian grid.

Grids help organize massive amounts of information without that mountain feeling like it is about to crush you. I like the funky NOISE contrasted to the quiet grid because they demonstrate the need to find a visual VOICE in your web design. That voice can be anything as long as it feels authentic TO YOU.

The web is very good at finding and amplifying DISSONANCE. When you try to FUNK IT UP and aren't really funky it shows like you are wearing the wrong decades fashion (painful). Your customers are your audience.Set the stage anyway you want, but do so with an eye toward YOUR TRUTH.

The closer you stay on the tiny beam of "authentically us" the more success your web design has. This is why there are no web design maxims that apply all the time. What works for Emigre is very different than Digital Invaders but both work, both are authentic and have that hard to describe but know it when you see it TRUTH great web design must have.

Currently, one of the biggest trends in the web design industry is the flat design style. In case you are not yet familiar with the term, flat design is essentially design without the drop shadows, gradients, and textures that have been common in web design for some time. Flat design uses solid colors and often typography figures prominently into the design. In this post we'll showcase 33 excellent examples of the flat web design trend. Hopefully they can provide some inspiration that can be put to use in your own work. Buffalo

Check out these 10 gorgeous websites to see what makes them so critically acclaimed.

Marty Note
Solid work here if somewhat on the heavy side for my taste. I do like Rdio. M

Design Is Revolutionary
Don't have to be Steve Jobs to know design is revolutionary. Our Web Design Revolution feed on Scoop.it is one of our favorites. We love THINKING visual because most of us (save one poor CTO) are marketing geeks who visualize in our sleep.

If you visualize in your sleep consider contributing a Scoop or two or three to The Web Design Revolution in 2015. Several easy ways to contribute:

1. If you are on @Scoop.ituse the Suggest Feature. We appreciate all the great suggestions we've already received and promise a new focus on collaboration in 2015.

2. If you aren't on Scoop.it you are missing one of the best "do less, get more" tools we know, but you can still contribute ideas for stories we should include by:

email: martin(at)Curagami.com

Twitter: @Curagami

Call For Help NOW
Right now we are interested in creating a year-end mashup of all the web design predictions for 2015. If you have a favorite prognosticator and they write about what they think is going to happen in web design next year send us the link and we will mash your contribution up into a summary with early views going to contributors.

Thanks for a great year and hope you will contribute to The Revolution in 2015.

Responsive Web Designs
Responsive design, forming a website's information so it looks great on any device, is becoming mission critical. Here are 65 of the best responsive designs in 2014 via SocialDriver.com.

Apple's clear navigation, romantic heroes (largest images on the page) and easy to understand information heirarchy (based on a grid) are design tactics any website should steal as this excellent post about websites who've stolen direclty from Apple's design shares.

5 Cool Jazz Website Designs


Hero Roll Static Text

http://www.jetztzeitclub.de/

Love this idea of rolling the hero image while keeping a single textural idea. The impact is to EPHASIZE the text while allowing the visual field to create interest and calm. The problem with heroes that roll and bring new messages is the website can become ADD. You never know where or what to look at. Here the roll reinforces a single message. Cool. 

 
 
Color & Texture Shock 

http://www.austynweiner.com/

Same image shift with single text here but an explosion of color and texture. This is an example of going to an extreme to create a sense of visual shock. The only liability with this technique is showing your visitors where to go next FAST since the shock needs to work FOR not AGAINST you. 

 

Hero with Insert

http://thecarcrush.com/blog/2013/8/y3uaah5ojl6zi4iia95h10iircb8o0

Love the lush images with inserts here. The cars are seductive and romantic, but the insert allows the text and descriptions to add instead of distract from the hero images. 

 Magazine Like

http://boompa.ca/

This waterfall, the infinite scroll, magazine shows how you can build a visual and copy story with large hero images water falling on top of one another. There is real visual organization here. Very cool. 

 
Radically Simple Ecom 

http://www.lushtype.com/

Love tis ide of radical simplicity in ecommerce. Big icons sell icons. By selling one thing the page is easy to understand, easy to buy yet very cool and engaging too.