The Characteristics of a Less Conventional Website with Examples

The evolution of web design has changed significantly since the creation of the internet. Back then, a Geocity webpage could be as simple as a brochure, using a multi colored background and gaudy text effects. It is interesting to note with the progress of technology, websites become more complicated; codes come into play and incredible design techniques are produced.
People spotted this power, the power of the internet that had advanced so rapidly that there was a boom in this industry. Websites became more visually compelling with effects becoming more eye-popping.
Characteristics of a less conventional website

Dissection of Web Layout

These days in web design, the focus of creative layouts is used to draw the attention of users. The current state of most web pages is designed to cater to the eye of readers where readers would start scanning with many fixations from the upper left of the page. This was quite evident from the early days of web design where it is similar to today's conventional wireframe of a webpage shown below.
Conventional Layout
By dissecting both old and new sites, we can spot similarities between the two layouts. The master heads, navigations and content are placed at the same areas.
Dissection of Old Site

Characteristics of a Less Conventional Website

The Undefined Grid

Using a grid layout is a great way of displaying your content and images neatly. However, breaking away from the strict grid layout is a great way of establishing a contemporary and fresh non-typical layout website. Even though unconventional websites do not follow the suggested grids, they are still able to achieve usability, allowing users to glance and read the page at ease.
Siete De Febrero
Undefined grid layouts can be a little hard to achieve usability, but if you are able to pull it off, it would definitely give your site an element of fun and energy.

Great Splash of Images

Filling the background with a professionally taken photo doctored by skillful photo editing, makes the site look like a full-screen flash site. Images play a very important role here because they are huge and they almost fill the full screen of the browser. They should be visually appealing and/or impactful to the eye.
Tony Chester Folio
Overlaying the image with a slightly transparent box for your content, helps the reader to read them more clearly.

Scrolling Horizontally

Vertical scrolling is the most common way of scrolling web pages. However, websites that allow scrolling horizontally only gives a magazine-like feel to the site. Scrolling horizontally may be a chore at first, because you are unable to use the scroller on mouse, but you would get used to it because many of such sites now uses JavaScript, so the page would animate horizontally just by clicking on the navigation buttons.
Faux
Most of the time, horizontal scrolling occurs in sites with lesser content and more images, such as photography portfolio sites.

Slim Vertical Layout

This is a less popular option to go unconventional. The main navigation and content is placed right after each other in a straight row. This means that the user eye will be scanning the page within the vertical zone of this layout. Such a layout should be designed carefully, as the page would get very long if content is heavy. Scrolling too much is not advisable.
Samsys

Showcases- Bringing the Modernist Layout into Web

Tomas Pojeta
This site contains rich illustrations, filling up the whole screen of the browser. There is no typical navigation bar sitting on top or at the side of the screen. Its navigation is placed at the top or bottom right of the screen, and navigation in this site is almost linear. Scrolling up and down the site, feels as if you are looking through a brochure-like website.
Pojeta
Bada Bing
Bada Bing site is also filled with an image that fills the whole browser. The interesting placement of the main navigation beside the logo, gives easy access to the other pages. Its homepage consist of an interesting animation- the image moves vertically and its content moves horizontally. Although it still uses some elements of a common web layout, the positioning of content, images and navigation makes this web page interesting and experimental.
Badabing
Kustaa Saksi
Although Kustaa Saksi's site follows a grid-like layout, it still looks rather experimental because the navigation is camouflaged with images. Users are required to rollover the images in order to find out what the link is about. The overall layout is neat, simple with a hint of a modern look.
Kustaasaksi
Camellie's Portfolio
The navigation bar in Camellie's portfolio site is placed at the bottom, somewhat hidden in the beautiful and detailed illustration. Of course web design experts may argue that the navigation is the gate way to the other pages of your site and it should be placed at a prominent area. In this case, it is the total opposite. In fact, the illustration helps to lead the eye to the navigation at the bottom left.
Camellie
Work At Play
This is another company site that uses JavaScript to animate the pages, moving them horizontally. In every link, the background is filled with a black and white image, contents are all placed vertically, and there is minimal horizontal scrolling.
Work At Play
Aspired Mind
It is quite impossible to define the layout of this site. The navigation is placed within the typography on the left. One may not know how to navigate through the site at one glance, but with the help of the floating blue bubble, it tells the user what exactly they are clicking on.
Aspired Mind
Fudge
This site uses the layout interface of Photoshop. The homepage is not scrollable except for the center column. Although grids are quite evident here, it is an interesting way of displaying information because it has adopted the look of a print media for the web.
Made by Fudge
Only 2 Designers
This site shows the characteristics of a slim vertical layout. The width of the white canvas does not expand when contents are loaded within that area. Its contents are concentrated within the white spaces, and no scrolling up and down is required. Such rare layouts should be designed with care, as the page will get very long when content gets heavy.
Only Two Designers
FM & M Management
With the advancement of scripting, more websites are starting to look flash-like. This site consists of a professionally taken image, with simple graphic elements overlaying on top of the image. Subtle animation and choice of colors, gives this site a contemporary look.
FM & M Management
Rezoactif
The use of 3D graphics gives a futuristic look to websites. Typography, the choice of color and the play of lighting, plays a big part to disguise a simple table in this layout.
Rezoactif
DesignYour Life
Design Your Life is a photography showcase website where users scroll vertically. Scrolling horizontally engages the users differently, providing a different viewing experience to them.
Design Your Life
Frozn
Drop down menus are a great way to hide links when there are too many of them. This site contains interaction cues to help the user to look for these hidden links in the page. It uses an uncommon table layout that is expandable when users click on the arrows.
Frozn
Leg Work Studio
Line art is the main focus in this website. Pages animate vertically in a swift action when users click on the links. Although it uses traditional style of illustration in all the pages, animation is used effectively to help enliven the site.
Leg Work Studio

Towards An Experimental Future

Through the years, professionals have set certain standards for designing the web. However, with the recent rapid outburst of designers and professionals in the creative industry, web design principles are gradually altered. This alteration is being accepted by users. And this acceptance will modify users’ knowledge of interactive cues and habits of surfing the net. Who knows, going experimental might be the next hot trend on the web.




Anatomy of Colors in Web Design: Yellow and the Sunshine Feel

This is the third article of our series, Anatomy of Colors in Web Design. Over the next few months, we’ll continue to cover a spectrum of colors. And one color at a time, we will be featuring web design from around the world. If you have missed past articles in the series, you may want to catch up and read our articles on the colors Green and Blue. Today’s article will explore the use of the color yellow in Web design. Please remember to continue watching this space, as we take a closer look at other colors in upcoming months.
Subscribe to our RSS feed or Follow us on Twitter so that you won’t miss the full series.
Anatomy of Colors in Web Design: Yellow and the Sunshine Feel

Color is everywhere! Although it wasn’t too long ago that we lived in the era of black and white television and film, color has always and will continue to play an important role in our lives. The color yellow is most commonly associated with our sun. It’s bright, striking and sometimes overpowering rays is a symbol of our earth’s humble beginning. With this article, we take a look at the impact the color yellow has made in our lives.
Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot; others transform a yellow spot into the sun. - Pablo Picasso

Definition of Yellow

Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M (long and medium wavelength) cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S (short-wavelength) cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–580 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of somewhat longer and shorter wavelengths. Yellow's traditional RYB complementary color is purple, violet, or indigo, while its colorimetrically defined complementary color in both RGB and CMYK color spaces is blue.
Different Yellow
Image courtesy from Wikimedia Commons

Why Choose Yellow?

Yellow is often represented as the color of sunshine, sunflowers, and all else related to the sun. It is a color associated with joy, happiness, intellect and boundless energy.
The color yellow gives one a warm and cosy effect. It also arouses cheerfulness, stimulates mental activity, and generates muscle energy. Yellow is also often associated with food. Pure yellow is very bright and often attracts one’s attention. This is probably one of the reasons why taxi cabs are often painted bright yellow. However, when over used, yellow can create a disturbing effect; in fact, those of you planning to paint your baby’s nursery room yellow because it’s a gender neutral color, think twice because babies cry more in yellow colored rooms.
Yellow Person
Ever notice that most warning signs are often a combination of yellow against a black background? The yellow and black combination produces the best contrast compared to any other color. Thus, this combination is often used in warning or danger signs. In heraldry, yellow is the color symbolising honor and loyalty. Ironically, yellow is also a color associated with cowardice.
Often chosen to promote children’s products and leisure or entertainment items, yellow evokes a pleasant and cheery disposition in people. Because of yellow’s talent for attracting one’s attention, it is often used to highlight the important elements in your design. Commonly perceived by men as a light hearted and childish color, yellow is not a recommended color to use when trying to sell prestigious or luxurious products – which rational man would buy a bright yellow business suit or a yellow Mercedes?
Seen as spontaneous and sometimes over the top, avoid using yellow if your underlying subtext is to portray stability and safety.
Yellow is at its best when used in its purest form and at its brightest. Add too much white and it because pale and sickly. Muddy it too much with black and it becomes dingy and dirty-looking. As such, tints and shades of yellow are often visually unappealing because it loses its best quality; its innocence and cheerfulness. No matter, remember to use a dark color as a contrast to yellow especially since pale yellow tends to bleed into a white background.

The Benefits of Yellow

The color yellow can affects us mentally and physically which includes stimulating our mental and nervous system, activates our memory, and encourages communication. Golden yellow carries the promise of a positive future, and spreads its cheer. Especially since yellow shines its optimism, enlightenment, and happiness upon us.
Yellow stands out from other colors, and with the support of other lively colors, it can spark one’s creativity while invigorating one’s spirit. In fact, people who suffer from mild cases of color blindness can usually see the color yellow more easily than other colors.
Although yellow symbolizes wisdom and wealth, and is full of creative and intellectual energy, it can also create feelings of frustration and anger as well. People are more likely to lose their temper if they are in rooms with yellow colored walls. The color yellow also increases one’s metabolism. Being one of the most visible colors, it is attention grabbing and often used on traffic signs or advertisements to attract people’s attention.
As with any color, there are both positive and negative effects, but put some yellow into your life if you want a little clarity in your decision-making process, ‘burnout’ relief, sharper memory and better concentration skills. When you’re in a panic, exhausted, or depressed, and you’re in need of a pick me up, yellow’s your color.

The Effects of Yellow

Too much or too little of anything can have an adverse effect. Yellow is most stressful on the eye because of the high amount of light that is reflected off its color. The use of yellow as a background on paper or computer monitors can lead to strain and stress on the eye and in extreme cases, even vision loss. Too much yellow can cause the inability to focus or complete one task at a time as it can be too distracting. And the lack of yellow can give one the feeling of being isolated, resulting in low self esteem, insecurity and even depression. Also, not having a sufficient amount of yellow can result in a person becoming rigid, cunning, possessive and even overly defensive.

Different Types of Yellow in Web Design

Although yellow works well on its own (it is after all a primary color), it also works very well as a companion to other colors. Use bright yellow to create excitement if red or orange is too strong or too dark for you. Yellow is the right kind of perky!

Amber

Amber is a fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty for centuries. Amber is also the name of an orange-yellow color. In fact, was named after this fossilized tree resin because it shares similar shades it. Shades of amber can range from orange to reddish-orange and even light yellow. This is why amber often refers to a series of orange shades.
Danilo Freitas
Danilofreitas

Goldenrod Yellow

Goldenrod is a color that resembles the goldenrod plant, hence its name Goldenrod Yellow.
Dhanesh T.K
Dhaneshtk

Chartreuse Yellow

Chartreuse (the web color) is a color halfway between yellow and green that was named because of its resemblance to the green color of a French liqueur called Green Chartreuse. The traditional color Chartreuse is a yellow color mixed with a small amount of green and named because of its resemblance to the yellow color of a French liqueur called Yellow Chartreuse. The web color chartreuse is precisely halfway between green and yellow; 50% green and 50% yellow. It is one of the tertiary colors of the HSV color wheel.
Lemonsqueezed
Lemon Squeezed

Golden Yellow

Golden yellow is the color halfway between amber and yellow. It is a color that is 87.5% yellow and 12.5% red.
Sketchen
Sketchen

Peach Yellow

Peach Yellow is a combination of the colors pink and yellow.
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone Park

Using Yellow with Other Colors

Let’s take a look at how well yellow can cope when matched with other colors.

Yellow with Orange

Use lemon yellow with orange to portray a healthy, citrus, or summer theme. Very pale yellows also work as neutrals alongside dark or rich colors.
Rite Brainr
Rite Brainr

Yellow with Gray or Black

Use yellow to perk up a subdued cool palette of black and gray. Mix yellow with neutral gray and a dash of black for a high-tech look.
Oodlies
Oodlies

Yellow and Blue

Yellow and blue when matched together creates a high contrast, making it an eye-popping combination.
Ryan Keiser
Ryan Keiser

Yellow with Red

Try a hot, exciting mix of red and yellow.
McDelivery Singapore
MC Delivery

Yellow and Olive Green and Brown

For an earthy palette, especially to create an autumn feel, mix yellow, olive green, and brown. Although pairing yellow with bright or light greens can be part of a natural, fruity color palette, be careful not to use colors that are too close in value or they will appear washed out.
Delicious Library 2
Delicious Monster

Yellow with other Colors

The color palette as shown in the following website features shades of yellow mixed with shades of red, blue, green, brown, and other neutral colors. This succeeds in creating an earthly, sophisticated, yet fun, psychedelic look.
Gisele Jaquenod
Gisele Jaquenod

Showcase of Freelancers

These freelancers have integrated yellow into their sites to liven up their portfolios.
Marcos J. Drake
Your New Designer
Paul Vitor
Paulo Vitor
Bard Hole Standal - Designer and Illustrator
Hello Bard
Gareth Dickey
Gareth Dickey
Mikio Inose
Mikio Inose
Benny Roth
Benny Roth
Phil Renaud
Riot Industries
Imaginary Design - Online Portfolio of Adam Koniuszewski
Imaginary Design

Showcase of Yellow in Web Design

These web designs have used different variations of yellow to attract their visitors.
Yellow Pages Australia
Yellow Pages
Yellow Bird Project
Yellow Bird Project
Wilkintie
Wilkintie
Trout Creative Thinking
Trout
TNTpixel
TNTpixel
The yellow house bar & kitchen
The Yellow House
Team Manager
Team Manager
Studio21
Studio21
shockEnterprise
Shock Enterprise

Roome Consulting
Roome
Revive Africa
Revive Africa
Advertising Agency Paralotna
Paralotna
La Pizza Antalya
Lapizza
Nissan Journey to Zero
Journey to Zero
IAAH / v7
IAAH
Helveticons
Helveticons
ESPIRA Desarrollo
Espira
Engage Interactive
Engage
DesignCharts
Design Charts
Manchester Web Design Agency / Creative Spark
Creative Spark
Chunk. Digital Creative Agency
Chunk
Chefparade
Chef Parade
Booreiland / platform for creative productions
Booreiland
Agatha Group
Agatha
Produkty BG

Typography Served
Typography Served
Loaf Creative
Loaf Creative
Minimalist Joomla Templates Design Gallery
Joomlamini
Foodtease
Food Tease
EBSL | erikbelowsealevel
EBSL
Cabomba
Cabomba
Single File
Single File
moreYELLOW
More Yellow
California Lemon Festival
Lemon Festival
The FontFeed
Fontfeed
Dude Design
Dude Design
Twitterfeed
Twitterfeed


 
Copyright © 2007 - 2010 Internet Spiders. Designed by TALIB IMRAN
Powered by Internet Spiders