Design Melt Down

Atypical Layout Part 3

Mon, 18 May 2009 16:18:54 GMT

As usual, this section of sites offer up some fresh takes on how sites should be laid out. At times alternate layouts can be annoying, inspiring, helpful and destructive. There are many good reasons for the patterns that have formed, and at the same time, they are nothing more then patterns. There are no hard rules. These sites challenge our preconceived notions of how a layout should be structured. Whether they function well or not is almost irrelevant in terms of just plain making us think about why we do things the way we do.

Super Clean Part 5

Mon, 04 May 2009 14:16:09 GMT

It's a shame it has been so long since I updated this category because it is quite likely to be my absolute favorite. For me an uber clean design is the tastiest kind. If I were ever to be tempted to "borrow" a design, it would be one of these. So much about them just appeals to me. The open clean designs. The amazingly thorough follow through; every last detail is fleshed out and perfected. No doubt, these are inspiring designs that show how this can be.

The Color Purple Part 2

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:48:02 GMT

Amazingly it has been nearly two years since my first post on the color purple. Clearly it is long over due for an update, but there aren't exactly a lot of purple sites to show. So it just takes a long freaking time to accumulate. All the same here are 11 fresh samples of the color pallet in use; a small collection, and yet there are some gorgeous designs in the set.

Grey Designs Part 7 - 30 fresh samples

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:03:21 GMT

It doesn't seem like a true color trend pops up very often. But lately one has become incredibly clear to me. The usage of gray on the web is definetly on the upswing. Is gray the new black? The new blue? What ever it is, its being used a lot. It does make me wonder if it is a reflection of the economy and our bleak future. Who knows. There are some fantastic examples here and I am really enjoying the trend.

Announcing the second Web Designer's Idea Book

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:51:56 GMT

With work on the second book in my series on web design under way you are invited to submit your site to be showcased in it. While the first book was by invitation only this one is open for anyone to submit their site for usage in it. Entering is free and easy to do. You can submit your site, or a site you built for a client. As in the first book, the content will showcase all the sites in a positive light and will be limited to around 800 sites at most. So, indulge in an act of shameless self promotion and drop your name in the hat. Just do it soon because all entries must be received before May 31st!

Atypical Navigation Part 5

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:14:57 GMT

It has been a long time since this section was updated. I always enjoy this topic because it challenges my assumptions. I don't always like the methods used, but they do at least keep my mind open.

Photographic Backgrounds Part 6

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:59:35 GMT

This is one design style I never get tired of. Enjoy the fresh batch of samples.

Web Software Part

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 15:02:58 GMT

I am always on the look out for fresh ways to build a vitual office based on web software. While I don't endorse these products for that purpose, they all have embraced design and have created some fine examples of this type of site.

Real Estate Sites Part 4

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:25:53 GMT

Real estate is perhaps not the most exciting topic, and yet, this batch of sites shows its a topic that can be handled beautifully.

3d Worlds Part 3

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 15:03:44 GMT

Well it has only been three years since I updated this category, I suppose it is due for a fresh batch of samples. It is really hard to believe DMD has even been around that long. More on topic is this fresh batch of sites that leverage a 3d element with out actually being 3d in the typical (or expected) way. In this case the use of 3dimensional elements create the illusion of depth. I suppose the real question with this style is why do it? Why use this style? This is one of those styles that has very little to offer beyond simply looking nice. I have a hard time coming up with any connotations the style reflects, or any other message it sends. In the end this seems like one of those styles that can simply be very beautiful and create an enticing design.

Coming Soon Pages Part 2

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:35:01 GMT

Many of the examples for this follow up topic have been sitting int he queue for a bit to long. As a result, some of theme have launched or moved on. I figured I have saved screenshots though, so I might as well share them before they get any older.

The iPhone as a Design Element

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:35:58 GMT

It should come as no surprise that the iPhone has found its way into web sites as a deign element. The beauty of the device, combined with the beauty of the applications makes for an ideal design element. It's not hard to understand why when we compare it to a boring old flip phone with lame web rendering. There really isn't to much more to say other then that many of these sites are remarkably beautiful.

Personal Sites Part 2 - Ego surfing at its best

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:58:14 GMT

The personal site can closely resemble a portfolio site, and often the line between them is rather fuzzy. All the same this collection of samples represents sites that serve to show more of a full view of a person as oppose to simply a huge display of work. Obviously this approach has benefits on a personal level (mom and dad can see photos of the baby, etc), but it also has some other potential benefits.

Design Firms Part 4 - 16 Fresh Samples

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:21:54 GMT

One thing I always love about this category is the overall diversity. You don't get the feeling your looking at the same formula over and over, which is massively refreshing. If there is one thing we can learn from looking at agency sites it is that there are countless solutions to the same layout problem. All to often it seems we get stuck in the same layout rut and can't escape it. Many of the ideas seen here can be applied to other fields.

Icons Part 3

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 18:12:33 GMT

It's funny when you open up a topic like this and see that it has been 2 years since you last looked at it. It is so hard to belive I have been doing this for that long. I guess time just tends to run away from you. The use of icons in design is not likely to ever end. The practice of summing up lots of information in a little package will never go away. It all boils down to the most rapid form of communcation possible. Design is in fact all about communication (even if you don't realize it or belive it). These fine examples of icons put them to work in interesting and useful ways.

Black and White Part 6

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 18:57:48 GMT

Nostalgic designs can take on many forms. Sometimes through classic typography. Sometimes through the visual language of an era like retro pop 1950's elements. In this case the color combo forces such an appeal onto the design. Combine this with other classic elements and you have a recipe for success.

Collage style sites part 4

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:16:47 GMT

This section is long overdue for a fresh batch as it hasn't been updated since 2007. That is so hard to belive. Enjoy the fresh batch of collage fun.

Blue Part 7

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 15:39:31 GMT

A big batch of blue site goodness.

Brownies Part 6

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 15:02:44 GMT

A fresh baked batch of brown sites for your consumption!

Shiny Stuff Part 7

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:52:01 GMT

This is a style that won't likely end anytime soon. This wonderful batch of sites tastefully use the approach to demonstrate how sharp the style can be.

Portfolios Part 11

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:49:28 GMT

A fresh batch of portfolios.

Illustrated Part 6

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:25:04 GMT

Yes, finally a fresh batch of illustration focused designs.

Events Part 4

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:18:46 GMT

Round 4 of event promotion sites.

Orange Sites Part 4

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:39:22 GMT

A fresh batch of zesty orange sites. Enjoy.

Minimalism Part 7

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:18:05 GMT

Another round of the ever popular minimal style.

Fabric - Textile based web designs

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 13:50:51 GMT

This particular topic has been on my collection for quite some time, I love the style, but it seems it is not that heavily used so it took me a while to assemble this list of sites below. All the same I think they are a sweet cluster of sites and serve the style really well. First and foremost is the fact that though these sites make use of fabric in their design they aren't necessarily fashion or textile oriented. Lets just look at a few samples to see how this style is leveraged in various ways.

Designer Portfolios Part 10

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:35:34 GMT

I get lots of portfolios sent my way, so this section just keeps growing. I am still on my rant about focusing on highly effective and easy to use portfolios and almost all of these reflect that. There is one odd ball in the bunch though, a flash site that caught my attention. This one harkens back to the days when portfolios were so complex it was annoying. This one has the flash style, but isn't to hard to use. Somehow a nice balance has been struck between usability and sizzle.

All Shades Of Green Part 8

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:38:37 GMT

I have once again fallen a bit behind on things, but as always I pick back up where I left off. I suppose some people take their blogging incredibly serious and stick to strict schedules. I find that this only sets you up for failure. It is impossible to think you can write every day on a topic and never need a break. I have been off busy getting a job and going to classes to learn to care for a baby. But alas, here I am, back with a fresh set of links. Enjoy the samples.

Sketchy Part 4

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:26:17 GMT

In keeping with the recent trend towards organic design the sketchy style fits right in. Sure this isn't a new trend by any means, but it is still a solid design solution that has a unique and useful set of connotations. The fresh hand drawn style eludes to an artistic and crafty atmosphere. This connects viewers with a creative side and really establish's a context for the sites design to exist in. Almost any topic feels a bit more personal and creative with this style.

Red Part 5 - 14 Bold Red Sites

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:58:21 GMT

This new set of red sites once again deomonsrates the power and authority this color carries.

Got Wood Part 5 - Is wood is the new glossy style?

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:51:46 GMT

Sometimes there is a trend, and sometimes there is a trend. Is the use of wood the new glossy style? It just might be the case. I have noticed for some time now the shift from a technical aesthetic (things like shiny sites, badges, saturated colors etc) to a more organic style (think brown and muted colors, and wood of course). As I researched my database of sites for this article I couldn't believe how many sites I found that used wood. There were so many I just got tired of looking to be honest. But this wasn't until I had 40 samples to provide here. Which by my standards certainly establishes this as a solid trend. Sure the style has been around for a long time, in fact it was one of the first articles on Design Meltdown. However, there is a massive surge of design using this style and it easily warrants a fresh collection here on Design Meltdown. Enjoy the samples.

Beautiful Blogs Part 6

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:33:02 GMT

This is a small set of blog samples, and yet it still has such massive variety. My goal with this section on blogs in general is not to include every last beautiful blog, that would be an impossible task. Rather, I hope to provide diverse sets of samples which demonstrate a variety of layouts and design styles to push us towards inventive designs.

Announcing SpamMeltdown.com

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:29:24 GMT

Many months of hard work is finally paying off. The Web Designers Idea Book is finished and accepting orders, and yesterday I finally put the finishing touches on my next Meltdown site. I am thoroughly pleased to announce that SpamMeltdown.com is up and running. And since I don't believe in launching empty blogs and tout what they will be I have already posted 20 articles featuring about 650 HTML emails.

Old Paper Part 5

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:37:42 GMT

Some styles just never die, and the use of old worn paper is certainly one of them. This is not to suggest that in any way it should. No more then we should decided that the color blue should no longer be used because so many others have. As the saying goes, there is nothing new, only new combinations (actually, I think I just horribly misquoted the bible). Anyhow, this design style is fun for one main reason, it breaks the techie feel sites seem to come with.

Pre-Order the Design Meltdown Book

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:19:38 GMT

It is really amazing just how much work it takes to crank out a book, but I have finally made it. The book is in fact finalized and being manufactured right now! This is of course massively exciting! The book is available for pre-order, to be delivered to you by mid October. Needless to say I am exceedingly exited, I can't wait to see the printed book!

Blue Part 6

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 13:16:47 GMT

It comes as no real surprise that blue continues to be such a popular color. In fact, it would almost be surprising if it weren't. Its ability to apply to most any topic, combined with the mostly universal appeal of the color makes it about as fundamental as white or black.

Food

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 12:31:26 GMT

It might seem that the way food is often used in a design is rather cliche; and certainly it often is. This small set of samples shows a few ways food can be worked into a site design. It seems that citrus fruits are the most popular, and vegetables the least. This isn't the most exciting of trends I suppose, unless your a bit hungry.

Yellow Part 3

Thu, 22 May 2008 14:09:24 GMT

Hard to belive it has been over a year since an update to the yellow section. Just a slow building category I suppose...so here is a fresh set of samples.

Grey Part 6

Tue, 20 May 2008 14:27:34 GMT

A new batch of gray centered designs.

Universities Part 3

Wed, 14 May 2008 13:20:08 GMT

Univiersities have come along way in terms of web design. These 15 sites demonstrate the energy that these organizations are putting into their public image.

Portfolios Part 9

Tue, 13 May 2008 14:28:46 GMT

Yes, another round of portfolio sites. This is one of the most frequently submited types of sites so it is inevitable that so many get listed.

Restaurants Part 3

Tue, 13 May 2008 14:23:47 GMT

More tasty restaraunt sites to sink your teath into.

Blue and Green Part 4

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:09:40 GMT

A fresh batch of blue and green designs.

Hotels and Resorts

Mon, 05 May 2008 14:08:42 GMT

This somewhat small set of sites representing a few niche hotels and resorts was selected primarily because they are powerful demonstrations of their type of service. I intentionally left out the major brands because these are not hard to find, and are typically rather uninspiring. What stands out to me about these sites is that they represent the smaller providers in the industry and yet they have a quality to them that is not common.

Mascots

Fri, 02 May 2008 13:52:38 GMT

If there is one thing missing for the typical web site it is personality. Personality is hard to get across with out putting some "live" element into a design. Mascots are just such a tool. They imbue the design with a character which inevitable has some sort of personality. The amazing thing is that these characters need not be animated in any way to effectively fill this roll.

Muted Colors Part 3

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:04:41 GMT

At the Future of Web Design conference I mentioned that the muted color pallet is a future trend. Well of course it is hard to know what is coming, but in this case I was certain about it because I was already observing an upswing in terms of usage of this style. In fact this large collection of samples is a small portion of the sites I could have cataloged this way.

Flower Power

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:59:25 GMT

I hereby declare that the recent DMD silence is over! Being caught up in so many aspects of life I can finally focus again on my writing here. Fortunately I have still been cataloging, just not publishing the results, so there is a glut of samples waiting to be published. I am also super excited about several new Meltdown projects that are in the works of which I plan to launch the first one in the next few weeks. Just ironing out some development issues. So, on with the trend! While these samples don't necessarily embrace the theme of Flower Power in the stereotypical 1960's way, they do make use of floral elements in a common way. And many of these designs fall somewhere between ornate elements and just plain old use of nature. All the same, I think this style deserves its own section.

FOWD, London, and the Book

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:25:52 GMT

A round up of off topic posts...

Hybrid Part 5

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:01:25 GMT

12 fuel efficient hybrid sites that make a clean use of multiple technologies.

Designer Portfolios Part 8

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:44:22 GMT

16 fresh portfolios to feast your eyes on.

Black and White Part 5

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:36:04 GMT

Some things in life are black and white; like these 15 sites. (Sorry, this is cliche day)

Minimalism Part 6

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:19:30 GMT

A fresh batch of minimal sites demonstrating that less can be more and not just a cliche.

Religious Sites Part 5

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:16:46 GMT

15 more church sites for your worshiping pleasure.

Brownies Part 5

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 13:17:34 GMT

A fresh batch of brownies...brown sites that is.

Drips, Sprays, and Splatters Part 4

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 14:10:35 GMT

Well here we are (finally), back for another round of drip sprays and splatters. It is hard to believe this is actually only the fourth installment of this topic. It seems to be I have published this one a dozen times. But alas, I have not. This is one of those styles that lends itself to a more minimal style. Of course this isn't always the case, but quite often it is the result.

Illustrated Sites Part 5

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 14:12:25 GMT

I know that I have said it before, but illustrations that are fully integrated into the design of a site can a page to life in a way no other asset can. The samples provided here are fun and full of life. And even better, they stand as visually distinct sites with very little similarity to sites we are familiar with. It is this uniqueness that should draw us to the style. Its ability to create a totally unique experience is invaluable in a medium where it is far to easy to blend in.

Giant Type Part 2 - Big Bold Beautiful Type

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:56:04 GMT

The use of jumbo sized typography leads to two interesting results. First, it often inspires the designer to rely more on traditional typographic methods. And secondly, it frequently leads to a semi minimal design approach. Lets take a look at both of these results by analyzing some samples!

Atypical Layouts Part 2

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:19:10 GMT

Atypical layouts is one of the more exiting topics to look at. Inspiration comes in many forms, but for me one of the most useful is viewing work which clearly breaks the norms. Sites which present content in unique and often unlikely formats. You won't find any standard layouts here. What is really cool is how easy to use most of them are. A few of them are a bit tougher, but for the most part the layout is intuitive, despite its atypical nature.

Designer Portfolios Part 7

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 14:19:10 GMT

I am continually amazed at how fantastic so many portfolio sites are. It seems really remarkable to me is how simple some of these portfolios are; and yet they are stunning and sell the individual incredibly well. Some that stand out in particular to me are Freshly Painted, Stage 5 Studio, 1984 Interactive, and Foan 82. What really sticks out to me about these sites is how the style of presentation so effectively reinforces the style of work the individual does.

Finance Part 2

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 16:33:37 GMT

I continue to find it very interesting how diverse the solutions to a topic like Finance can be. In this edition I have included several applications focused on finance, things like accounting, invoicing, etc. Certainly such products must be marketed differently then a site offering more traditional financial services. And yet, it is inspiring to see the variety of solutions revolving around the same topic.

Web Services Part 3

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 15:48:11 GMT

It isn't to hard to dig up samples of web services considering the rate with which they pop up. For this edition of the topic I tried to present a rather diverse set of design solutions. From scanning the thumbnails you can quickly see how diverse the design approaches are. This is kind of exciting, and can hopefully demonstrate that their is always room to stand out and be unique.

Government

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 14:11:27 GMT

This section on government sites is way long over due. Many people have requested it, and a few have sent in samples. The hold up, not surprisingly, has been the lack of decent samples with which to feature the site type. And yet, ever so slowly I accumulated the sites you see here. This is one of those sections that doesn't necessarily present earth shattering design samples, but one that should help to inspire and motivate a difficult part of the internet. I am certain the budgets for government sites are small, I am also certain that the tasks often fall onto the shoulders of those who aren't trained in such areas. I don't want to bash these people at all, I think it is a tough role to fill. Even if you were a brilliant web designer, it seems you would be fighting a bureaucracy the whole way. This brings back my days at a university where it seemed you had to convince people you were right, and eventually it just wears down your will.