Must Design

There are a many aspects of good web design, and whitespace is certainly one of them. Whitespace is the empty space around design elements such as images, text,

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. 

There is no doubt that choosing the right colors for a design is a very important step of the creative process. We need to think about the message and the style

It almost seems that this year flat designs have taken over the world of graphic design by force, but especially in the arena of mobile apps with the first industry-shaking flat design being for the iPhone5. Reality is that flat design has been around longer than the emergence of the iPhone5, but of course it was Apple that helped to bring such cross-industry awareness to the design style. 

You can’t imagine your life nowadays without the internet. We all spend hours and hours doing various things, like work, research, entertainment.

Marty Note
Sometimes it is good to look at a group of websites. This link includes 35 examples of rock band websites. The convention is clear. Rock band staged photo looking out directly at the camera, lots of texture and dark colors in the designs. Here is how any one of these sites could increase conversion 3x or 4x:

* Lighten Up - all that dark texture and color lowers conversion.
* Calls To Actions - few CTA's (BUTTONS) hurt conversion.
* Scream Less - visitors are fans, so scream less convert more.

* FANS - where are the fans (testimonials, games, contests).

* Games & Mobile - scream to download the app.

Of these 35 designs Metallica and Incubus would convert the best. I understand branding must be done, but this much screaming branding is obsessive and damaging to conversion. Sometimes the best brand strategy is to make it easy for fans or supporters to JOIN and CONTRIBUTE.

Everyone of these band sites feels like a lecture NOT a conversation. Funny concerts aren't like this. Concerts are a give and take between the crowd's energy and the band's performance one contributing to the other. Web, at its best, works that way too but not here so much.