Irresistible Websites Part Four: Energy
September 4, 2008
What gives a website design energy? The way I see it, a website displays energy if the design is not only well crafted but also generates its own atmosphere. The design elements may be simple (even minimalist) or bursting with detail, but with one aspect in common: they create an ambience based on a sense of location, time or mood. This kind of energy is exciting, and is a great way to round off this series on irresistible websites.
Elliot Jay Stocks
A smooth stone finish disappearing into the shadows gives a beautifully moody feel. The Gothic style of the grunge script title font adds emphasis.
NorthColour
What I love about the background image is that I feel like I’m visiting at a specific moment in time. It’s as if the light on the blurred vista would look different if I were to visit even one minute earlier or later, because of the ephemeral nature of sunrises.
Nick Hand
The night sky is so beautifully realised here that I feel I am viewing an Alaskan night scene, complete with lunar flare.
Kobe
A simple design lifted by the warmth of the deep plum background and the glowing elements, including tiny lights ascending like fireflies over the navigation links. Kobe’s website evokes intimacy and sophistication.
Raajje Online
The graphics in this site are all about a great showy burst of activity, colour and movement. The bright colour scheme is playful, and whole effect is pure energy and velocity.
Bex Esler
The framing of the landscape creates a sense of peering over an embankment and through the long grass to the water beyond. The birds in the distance add the feeling that (again) this is an everchanging scene.
Jonathan Yuen
Breathtaking watercolour scenes appear from nowhere. Animated koi (Japanese carp) and butterflies feature in one of the most charming and masterfully executed Flash websites I’ve ever seen.
One thing which has struck me about all of the websites displayed here is the use of light as a design feature. Shadows, glow, strong light sources and backlighting are all evident. In addition, almost every site featured has a very simple colour scheme, which shows that a design need not be overly realistic to convey energy, or its own atmosphere.
I have to admit that I didn’t set out to include a section on Energy when I was initially planning this series on irresistible websites. To view a design in this manner is largely new to me, and I feel I have been inspired on a whole new level as a result. How do you feel?
5 Responses to “Irresistible Websites Part Four: Energy”
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great list;)some of them are new to me.keep up the good work.Il go subcribe.thanks for the share
NaldzGraphics’s last blog post … How to Create a Simple Face Text Portrait in Photoshop
That last one is stunning! Although I’m not a big fan of flash I like this one very much. Very original concept!
NaldzGraphics:
Great to see you here. I’m glad you’ve enjoyed the list.
Webdesign Meppel:
I know what you mean about Flash although I do like it when it’s used well, as it has been in Jonathan Yuen’s site.
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