Top 10 Websites For Design Inspiration

For designers, a business looking for a muse for their next web design project, or people who view websites as art, our Top 10 Websites for Design Inspiration offer a breath of fresh air in the often cluttered landscape of the World Wide Web.

The web has millions of websites dotting the landscape; some good, some bad and some just plain ugly. Then there are those unique sites that combine incredible visuals and branding with flawless execution that delight and inspire; websites that make you proud to be part of the industry and challenge a designer to greater heights.

Here are the Top 10 sites we find inspirational that truly embody excellence in design:

• Gillemore Magical Gin – The opening page is subtle with the coloring and texture with very clear navigation options dead center. From there you transition to a simply, yet focused image, again with very clear navigation options for the user. The site is responsive with a clean layout that transitions very well coupled with regular call to action buttons.
• Weber – BBQ Cultures – A simple, yet direct landing page that features the Weber logo in the background and a great message in the center of the page that clearly states what this website is all about. From there the user can go on a journey with activities that take the user through five BBQ cultures. Just an outstanding use of images, video and overall presentation to keep users hooked on the site.
• ESPN Sports Programming – This site is a testament to what you can do with video. The background is in constant motion on the landing page with a barrage of high quality clips strung together, yet as captivating as it is you clearly see your navigation options and the purpose of the site; there is no confusion. From there you have direct navigation to get you where you need to be with simply, yet effective imagery, use of white space and clean lines.
• In Pieces – A tremendously creative website that launches with pieces forming and breaking apart to tell the introductory story that instantly hooks a user. The flow, animation and simplicity of the site, from the user perspective, make it an undeniable success. This site is very intriguing and also sends a powerful message about endangered species. The music background matches the content extremely well.
• Impossible Bureau – It starts with a flash of color and a simple graphic. From there it transitions to a straightforward, yet very effective menu of options on a responsive site. The side-by-side panel menu is unique when combined with the color change highlighting. From there you have a very clean layout that combines good images with white space to clearly define pages for users.
• Take Me to Tomorrowland – A great site built to promote a movie is a wonderful example of a mobile-first mentality coupled with full immersion. The 3D environments make you feel like you are there. Having a game and unique selfie feature are perfect additions to an already great site. When you add it all together this site is extremely memorable and sharable.
• The Dominion Rocket – This is another great example of meshing your brand with your site to create a website that instantly allows viewers to understand who you are. With top notch images blended with a simple scrolling navigation, contrasting colors and clean lines this site has all the hallmarks of a great site. The floating logo in the top left and easily noticeable navigation bar on the top right are a perfect way to allow users quick navigation after they have taken in all there is to see.
• Henge Travel – This travel hub is well crafted, blending elements of Flickr and Twitter with wonderful imagery and suggestive ideas that create curiosity. Clicking on a destination is an invitation to explore the site and the images, videos and music is spot on.
• Dream Team – The website for a stage and exhibition designer that is influenced by abstraction and futurism has big shoes to fill and it does it admirably. The coloring alone makes it stand out but the most interesting design feature is the way colors and shape move as you scroll. It is a wonderful transition to viewing the other aspects of the site such as the gallery. With the impressive gallery the choice of background colors is even more meaningful as the accent the color images in just the right way, while still being interesting in their own right.

These sites represent a variety of business interests and while many share certain design aspects such as being responsive, intuitive navigation or the use of video, they are all very unique in how they present their information to the user. We encourage everyone to explore our Top 10 websites for design inspiration as a way to see what can be done in your next project or simply as a testament to the beauty of design found in today’s World Wide Web.