Desizn Tech » Web design

The reality of Cloud Computing – Infographic by Rackspace UK

Kawsar Ali — Tue, 22 May 2012 13:27:25 +0000

Cloud computing is a very vital part of the web industry. It refers to the storing of information in the server and dispatching it to the visitor. Any website or web app that wants to deliver highest quality of service must have a robust cloud computing provider. Following is an infographic that illustrates different woes of a bad cloud computing services. This infographic is designed and provided by Rackspace UK.

Click on the image for the full size

Download the Cloud Reality Check Infographic

If you want to find out more about cloud computing visit Rackspace’s cloud computing service.

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Designing Landing Page for Conversions

dt_guest_author — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:18:29 +0000

Landing pages can have a lot of different styles – but there are few things that they do tend to have in common. A well designed landing page is decently clutter free, makes it clear what the site is about, and presents a clear call to action. Usually, the call to action involves following just one or two simple steps. In this post we will look into some of the technique and elements that make a great landing page .

You have set up your website, perfected your SEO, and put together a killer PPC campaign. Now all you need to do is wait for the money to roll in, right? Possibly. However, if your landing page is not up to scratch, your PPC campaign could be a waste of money. Once you have got those visitors, you need to make sure that they sign up to your mailing list, buy your product, or do whatever else it is you are hoping they will do. Lets take a look at some highly successful and well designed landing pages:

EVE-Online

Eve Online is a popular website for online gaming. If you are already a player, you are directed to a complex website with a lot of information that a new customer would not need. To avoid overloading prospective customers, the default landing page offers just enough information about the game to entice people, including a ticker at the bottom with some “live” information about what’s going on in the game. In addition, there’s a clear “Try the game for free now” call to action.

Groupon

Perhaps the ultimate in conversion rate optimization is the simplicity of the Groupon website. New customers are directed straight to a screen that asks them to confirm where they live. From there, they are asked for their email address. No distractions, no hassle – just quick and easy calls to action.

Twitter

Twitter recently streamlined their homepage. Now, instead of being flooded by tweets from strangers, the site offers a simple explanation of what it’s about, and two options – log in, or sign up. There is no path out of the site, so there is a good chance that people will sign up.

Campaign Monitor

If there is one thing that is sure to improve your conversion rate, it is offering things for free. Campaign monitor is competing in a difficult market. Why would people want to buy email marketing software when there are free alternatives out there? Instead of overloading people with lists of features right away, they prominently promote their free trial. Hopefully, once people see how great the software is, they will be open to upgrading. Bringing people in gradually is easier than going for the hard sell right away.

Fitocracy

The Fitocracy landing page cycles through several slogans such as “Master Motivation”, “Game On” and “People Power.” Each screen offers, in just one short paragraph, a compelling reason to sign up to the website. The landing page offers a signup link, a link to download the iPhone software that integrates with the website, and an image that shows what the phone software looks like. It s simple, clutter free, and enticing.

Foursquare

The Foursquare landing page shows another common conversion rate optimization trick - using videos to explain what the site or product is about. In addition to the short video (which does not auto play – that is one sure way to lose customers), the page also offers a short text explanation which hits the key points – social elements, and money saving. Finally, there is a prominent signup link. If you’re logged in to Facebook, you will see a list of your Facebook friends that have linked their Facebook and Foursquare accounts, providing you with even more incentive to sign up.

In conclusion, If your signup process is long, slow, or complicated, then you are likely to lose people before they complete the process. Keep things simple until you have developed a relationship with the customer. Once they are invested in your product you can start to introduce more time consuming or complex interactions – but even then you should only do so if it is targeted towards tech savvy customers.

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Why Minimal Web Design Works? Examples and Analysis

Kawsar Ali — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:40:42 +0000

Leonardo da Vinci once said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”, and in my opinion he was right. If you can master minimalism in your designs for websites or print, you can achieve an appearance of elegance and a feeling of effortlessness – but as designers, we are often questioned by the clients that employ us, as the minimalist approach is often confused as a way to avoid work, or to cheat them out of using all that space they have paid for.

Getting around client expectations of minimalism can be difficult, so hopefully, this handful of amazingly simple, but beautifully succinct websites will inspire you to follow in da Vinci’s footsteps and champion the minimalist way.

Früute

Früute is a bakery offering exotic bite-sized tarts, using a layout that mimics an art gallery, with a uniform spacing and a muted background color. The layout allows the vibrant tart palettes and textures to stand out.

RFRM Jewelry

Evoking a high-end fashion catalog, RFRM uses high-quality photography of props framed neatly inside a white border. But as you interact with the page, scrolling down to view the content, this background image slides away to be replaced by the content – a simple effect, but executed well.

Paprika

The Paprika website is dominated by a large grid of their design portfolio, making use of the strong colors in their work, they’ve color-coded the images to give the user a more organic gradient as they scroll down the page, making the experience gentle and extremely subtle.

Blake Allen Design

Another heavily typographic website, Blake Allen uses off-white and off-black to add a sense of warmth to the minimal color palette, and uses well-padded elements to create rhythm.

Fashion Tumblr Blogs to Follow

Delivering exactly what you would expect, this site is simply a (large) list of links to Fashion-centered tumblr blogs, but the well-paired serif & sans-serif type faces, set in uniform columns, and without any images on the page, all gives a sense of harmony and balance to the layout.

TK Type

TK Type’s landing page draws focus with a prominent example of their Otari Regular font, gradually fading in from the background, giving users a gentle introduction to the website, but a strong visual of a lower-case “g” that invites a bit more exploration of the site.

Of course, these examples are all different, but they all have several core components in common that help them to retain a sense of balance and pace, allowing visitors to enjoy their experience and easily navigate the sites.

Using a wide grid structure can help to provide that all-important white space around your content
Minimal color palettes can reduce the visual noise of a website, so reducing the number of colors on a given page, or using gradual tone changes can help harmony
Having a strong visual concept, whether it’s eye-catching oversized typography, or evocative photography of a product; may help provide an anchor point for your layout

I’m sure da Vinci would be proud.

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How to Break Away From Boring Design Standards

Kawsar Ali — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:19:35 +0000

Once upon a time, there was really no such thing as a set of design standards. The world wide web was fairly new, and the tools we had for design were seriously limited. In 1997, I became acquainted with a graphic designer named Moyra through a forum, who went on to launch her own modest boutique of free web graphics. She was innovating design techniques with the first consumer versions of Paint Shop Pro, and nothing else like it had been seen on the web quite like it. She became wildly popular, not just for her beautiful graphics, but because her interface concepts later on were truly unique.

Moyra had found a way to break away from the boring linear style that was terrorizing AOL and Tripod websites of the time. When the software industry caught up and web design began generating a demand, Moyra faded into memory and the boxy framed layouts of the next few years took hold.

When “Web 2.0″ happened to the Internet, it brought with it a rigid trend of blue and white, late-night-TV-eque ads and graphics and a regurgitation of the same top-down layout we had been seeing since 1994, sadly undermining the potential of CSS. Web design was picking up as a legitimate industry, and several designers were carrying the creative torch by trying to beautify an otherwise ghastly web browsing experience. With the wide adoption of Flash, amazing things were happening and whole fantastical worlds were being created in the browser.

Fast forward to 2012 and not much has changed in several years, except Flash is now an underdog technology and few are doing its succession justice with HTML5. Perhaps a point of controversy, it seems more and more designers are getting caught up in trends and academic standards than they are truly perusing a creative passion or desire to innovate. There is a clear distinction now between design and industry. My hope is this article will inspire you to take a departure from what you “should” do, what is “safe” and use today’s technologies to find your own unique expression through the art of web design.

Dare to be Different

Building upon our experiences and starting a new project based on layouts, ideas or techniques that have worked for us or others is a habitual practice we all follow. After all, efficiency is what allows us to get the most value out of the work. The problem with this approach is that it contributes to stagnation in the industry, a bottleneck of flat ideas without enough energy to propel us forward.

The first step to standing out is to rebel against your own conventions. Make the decision to stop paying attention to what everyone else is doing and pay attention to your own inner world. By grasping this newfound freedom, you are closer to doing something extraordinary than you could have been before.

Think Outside the Box

There are literally millions of websites that use a horizontal next menu followed by an image slider, some widgets and a footer. It has become so standard, in fact, that designers design around it and clients ask for it almost without thinking anything else is possible. I’m certainly no exception – those layouts plague plenty of my own websites.

The fact is, there is nothing about HTML and CSS that force us into this pattern. Not even user experience tests can prove that boxes are best. They’re just easier. Naturally, after years of conditioning, the average website user expects this format so it isn’t practical to go completely nuts revolutionizing an experience if you are a business with the goal of reaching as many people as possible, but you can build on the barest of familiarity while giving visitors a fresh take on shape and functionality.

Get a New Perspective

Millions upon millions of people own a mobile device or tablet, adding a whole new layer of complexity to how we design. It isn’t just about looking cool anymore, it is about how the website is used. In 2009, horizontally scrolling websites became a big trend, but haven’t really matured until now, thanks to better support for HTML5.

We’ve been taught that we must design for the lowest common denominator and that people like logos on the upper-left and menus on the top and on and on and on. This standard comes from magazine and blog design and how to optimize for the most ad clicks and brand recognition. This philosophy simply isn’t appropriate for most other scenarios. Humans are curious by nature, and will figure out new concepts quickly if we are willing to give them incentive.

In the case of Gavin Castleton’s website, the design draws visitors in with compelling imagery, entertains them with an unexpected user experience, and immediately rewards them with the content they are after – and it does it on any device no matter which way you hold it.

Tell a Story

Ben the Bodyguard was one of the first websites to get circulation for using parallax scrolling in a unique way to promote an iPhone app by telling a story. The site features Ben strolling through town “speaking” each snippet of copy while you scroll. What we can learn from this design is that delivering marketing messages and features conversationally, while entertaining the viewer, is how TV evolved the print ad. So why don’t we evolve the boring columns of web copy?

Telling a story goes beyond the content and extends into the personality you create in your design. By thinking of your websites as people, you are better equipped to envision how they should be styled, what they should say, and who they are saying it to.

Find Unique Sources of Inspiration

Designer Chris Biggins was inspired by his love for winter sports, combining his photos, animations and video to create an interactive experience for his visitors. His portfolio is an example of how we can take a few familiar elements such as a top navigation menu, icon links and modal windows and use them in unconventional ways. This site draws on the power of Flash technology, but the how hardly matters. As they say, it’s not the destination but the journey that marks us.

Recommended Reading

Lead image credit

This is post is made possible by Wix. They released their first full-featured HTML5-powered website builder, which uses a visual design suite. Its comprehensive library of effects, animations, behaviors, graphics and elements gives you just about everything you need to create with absolute abandon.

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Guidelines on Writing Effective Blog Post For Readers

Kawsar Ali — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:30:54 +0000

A compelling article or blog post never falls short of reader’s expectation. For any writer, be it design, fiction, sci-fi, biographer, journalist, analyst or even the homegrown blogger, the ultimate aim is to reach out to their readers.When a reader comes across information that caters to his/her need, the writer’s aim to reach out is fulfilled. Today, the online community connects and shares thoughts and opinion by blogging, tweeting and so on. In this post we will discuss some points that can help you to write a better blog post/article.

Purpose

What compels a person to write? Is it to communicate some information? Share a point of view? For business maybe or just to let off some steam! Online blog posts and articles are supposed to be written with a specific purpose in mind. Most of the material found on social networking sites is personal in nature and affects the writer’s immediate environment. Here posts are limited to a few sentence and are personal in nature. On the opposite spectrums are blog posts, articles, reviews and research papers written for the sole purpose of disseminating information by professional writers. And then there are the SEO blog posts written to draw in quality traffic to specific websites. The foremost part of writing a blog post is finding the topic or cause for writing. Usually it tends to be a topic that you are passionate about and has broad range of knowledge on it.

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Research Topics

By establishing the purpose to your writing, it becomes easier find the topic you wish to write. Topics to research on are easier using search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN and the lot. Although, lot of people questions the authenticity of Wikipedia it can be very good source of information for getting started. Personal bloggers can opt for topics that interest them the most, while professional bloggers would do better by drafting articles that are less written about and offer different points of view. If you present facts make sure you back them up with creditable sources. It allows readers to build a trust.

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Writing the Blog Post and Reviewing

To begin with, headlines or topic titles should be good enough to grab reader’s attention. Search engines scans the content and title to find relevant information. The headline/title can be a decisive factor in the success of the content. Once you have the reader’s attention, provide the requisite information precisely. Long sentences and paragraphs are detrimental towards holding reader’s attention. If you wish your reader to continue on a journey of discovery, keep the copy tight by using short or even single sentence paragraphs. Use bullets, numbering and subtitles for better readability. Bold or highlight important words or sentences for greater emphasis. Keeping in mind the reader’s profile, make use of appropriate language and writing style. Professional bloggers working for the purpose of bringing in quality traffic uses effective keywords.

Encourage Debates and Different View Points

Write the blog post/articles that present different points of view and encourage healthy debate among readers. Register with social media sites and participate in forums/discussions to put across your point of view. At the same time, you can promote your blog/article using these same platforms in gaining an in depth insight on varied angles to the same story. Keep space for readers to comment on what you wrote. By encouraging feedback you can discount minuses and understand where you need to focus on.

Visual Imagery

Currently organic search results also display infographics, images and video links. By embedding relevant visuals/links, the content’s acceptability is enhanced. Visuals that support the content not only helps the reader understand a concept better but also increase its chance of being shared. You can always use flickr, sxc or any other website that has free stock photos.

What are some blogging techniques do you use? Share it us in the comment

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30 Websites with Creative Interface and Design

dt_guest_author — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:52:43 +0000

Sometimes you get bogged down in a design and need to hit a reset button. Maybe you just want to approach a design from a fresh perspective. This collection is a roundup of websites that caught my attention for the various ways they approached their design.
Many are Flash-based and integrate a stunning presentation into the design. Others are just wonderful for their color and layout characteristics. Whatever or wherever you are in your design process, these sites are sure to inspire.

Ecodazoo.com

I love the three dimensional interactive format on this site. The colors, shapes, and sounds are masterfully crafted together to make a very unique online experience for anyone, while maintaining a completely user-friendly format.

Phong.com

I got hooked on the way this site interacts with a user. It takes a very chaotic jumble of shapes and through moving the cursor over them somehow provides every link without much effort. It’s simple, yet complex…and interesting.

Buero-buero.org

As I scrolled down the page I instantly felt a loss of vertigo. Images move through a plain white background from any of the four directions onto the page. Some of them are still frames while others shift and change. I felt a disconnect from the format of the page since it wasn’t typical and was then forced to focus on individual pictures as they moved in and out of the screen. However, it really is an unusual design and certainly stands out. And pictures do stop moving when you stop scrolling so that you can take as much time as needed to view whatever is on the page at the time.

Basilgloo.com

I love the strong three dimensional feel of this site and the way it flows out toward the screen. I also like the way information is organized between the website owner’s personal info on the left and business info on the right.

Mikimottes.com

This is a great website full of incredible illustration work. I can tell a lot of time and effort went into its design. The entire site is a three-dimensional landscape with unique and funny cartoon characters living throughout its blocked worded section. I love how moving the cursor over any part of the site instantly puts the cartoon creatures in motion.

Soft.se

I love the way moving the cursor over the white web page brings white shapes out of the page in a very brilliant and almost disorienting way. There isn’t any color except black and white, allowing the shapes in the background to almost float in and out of focus.

Sensisoft.com

This sight is extremely complex and visually stunning. Not only is it a feast for the eyes, but it also has a very interactive component to its design.

Saizenmedia.com

This site generates one beautiful picture after another with a high quality polished look that I haven’t seen rivaled on any other site I’ve been to over the years. The color quality is vibrant and the lines are sharp.

Bokicabo.com

Seamlessly designed, this site allows a viewer to simply move the cursor around the screen to see one beautiful picture after another. The design really makes the experience fun and difficult to break away from.

Syfy.com/tinman

The design of this site is the most detailed I have ever seen. It takes a good five minutes of the camera traveling forward through incredibly detailed still frames. I love the way the site invokes a sense of wonder that keeps me enthralled until the last moment when I realize the site flawlessly returns me to the original scene and repeats the journey.

Waterlife.nfb.ca

I love the water effects on this page. Entering the site is the true experience it offers, though. The way the designers created the light effects on the water as it reflects down through the choppy waves into the web page is stunning.

Bootb.com

This whole site feels like a big sketch pad of creative drawings. The basic chalk on chalkboard look provides a tangible quality to the page that makes it visually palatable.

Ryanscherf.net

I love the warm feel to this site. It incorporates fall colors over gritty textures and is focused on an outdoor scene at night. Even the textures have lines and shapes moving through them to make the site feel like something one would be drawn to touching.

Razvangarofeanu.com

Right away, I was drawn to the picture of Garphee, which the creator describes as his virtual persona. I love the intense and visually stunning features on the site that would keep me hooked for hours if I had the time. The humor is very original, and will keep you chuckling as you move through the site.

Teamfannypack.com

This site replicates the look of a gritty old circus advertisement and reads just as dramatically. I love the way each aspect of the page strives to entertain and doesn’t leave an inch of space unused.

Wakwaw.com

Simple and straight-forward, I enjoy the way the graphics seem to be stretched over a material of some kind. The information on the site is displayed through a very interesting font that jumps off the screen.

Werkstette.dk

I love the unique way this site changes every time I revisit the main page. Each site has the same options bar across the page but a different picture which takes up the entire screen. Each picture is full of character and visually stunning.

Kuperbergweddings.com

This page is designed in a very simple and elegant format that allows a user to view each picture and gain a quick assessment of the product being offered. The simplicity of the site focuses on putting emphasis on each picture in the center of the page and yet doesn’t lose any points for style.

Your-majesty.com

I love the way the chain mail is designed into the web page. It adds to the depth of the page and gives it a very polished and professional appearance. It is a very unique and engaging design as well. I like how they commit to a design concept and integrate it into every element in the design.

Northkingdom.com

The video designed on this website is amazing. The graphics are extremely detailed and each little clip inside the video shows an amazing ability by this company to provide high quality digital media services. This is an example of a minimalist design that allows the work of the designer to speak for itself.

Estudioagraph.com

I love the unconventional look of this site. A picture dominates most of the space while information will shift into view based on a couple of obvious commands. The design is unique and full of visual depth. I especially like the way the angles slam into each other. A very stunning look!

Thisisgrow.com

This an example of how a little design goes a long way. The graphics and motion don’t take anything away from the purpose of the site and adds a sense of quality to the website through displaying interesting little animated presentations.

Puma.com

This site leaps off the screen with vivid color schemes and interactive features. Through simply moving the mouse over the screen, I was able to interact with the features. It is very intuitive while also visually engaging.

Yugop.com

This site’s got balls. Lots of them. I like the way this site toys with the physics of objects as they bounce off each other or in the case of moldable material such as clay, the way they form together or pull apart. It’s very interesting and detailed.

Skydiver-mike.de

Scrolling over this site adds dots and lines to the background. It also plays a song as well, which can be annoying but works well for the creativity and interaction of this website. The design is simple and elegant. I appreciated the way it flowed from one page to another as well.

Atutiplen.es

This site is very bizarrely crafted. I love the way it integrates real creatures with man-made products. The colors and different textures are amazing to see all in one frame.

Wechoosethemoon.org

Amazing! I love how this site is designed around the launch of Apollo 11 and allows an individual to walk through the different aspects of the launch in a very interactive and user-friendly way. The design is very helpful in balancing between an emphasis on design and functionality.

Mono-1.com

You have to see this site to appreciate the visual effects. This website allows a user to see what this design company is capable of. I love the way they display their skills through allowing a user to manipulate the site and change the image in many different preconceived ways. It’s also very sharp and clear.

Wired.co.uk

I love the subtle depth in this site. The gears in the brain, the cut out picture of the face, and the different bubble blocks that elude to the brains thoughts are all seamlessly woven together to make an attractive and engaging website design.

Krolikov.net

The three dimensional rendering on this site is beautifully incorporated throughout the website. The designer used the space very effectively, and the color scheme is quite impressive.

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4 Website Design Mistakes that Lead to Website Failure

Kawsar Ali — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:49:33 +0000

An expert website designer learns over time to avoid the mistakes that a website visitor loathes and develops awareness about the design flaws. A flawless web design is rare, and even the most successful websites have designing errors here and there. If you are know about these mistakes you can easily create accessible and useful website. Let’s take a look at those mistakes that are an absolute “NO,” when it comes to website design.

Lack of Legibility

Have you ever faced difficulty in making sense of the text on a website, and scrunched your eyes in an effort to understand the content. That is a website’s legibility, which measures of how easy it is to distinguish one letter from another in a particular typeface. Unfit font family, color and small font size creates legibility problems and this is one of the mistake that simply need to be avoided. Problems such as small or even a lack of contrast between the background and text create legibility issues, which have a bearing on the overall website design and the popularity of the website.Lack of readability in website content smacks of unprofessionalism. A negative opinion of your website can lead to significant loss of face characterized by your online reputation taking a big hit. There are many factors that control a website’s readability such as typefaces, letter spacing, line-height and more. Most these are can be easily fixed by understanding how typeface works and appropriate use of them. For example : Georgia will work better with in a corporate website which create a sense of authority and Helvetica in a portfolio website that represent modernism and creativity. However, that does not mean you cannot mix and match and there is set rule for it. As a designer it is your job to decide and choose the appropriate font for the website.

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Improper use of Flash

“What! You have heard that before?” Well, you are going to hear it again and again, because many designers cannot seem to get Flash right. More than giving the web page better interactivity, certain Flash designs actually annoy website visitors. The focus is on making pages move or peppering visitors with extravagant Flash animation that has nothing but irritant value and takes the visitor’s attention away from the purpose of the website. A cardinal sin that some website designers tend to make is using flash for navigation; most visitors do not like such navigability and prefer a navigation menu that is static and very predictable. The reason many web designers try to avoid because it client deepened and not cross browser compatible such as browsers for iPhone, iPad. Now that everyone is trying to embrace HTM5 and CSS3 your best bet is stay away from flash. However, If you must use flash try to make it simple, minimal and for love of god DO NOT AUTOPLAY the music.

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Little or No Contact Information

This is a no brainier. There are some websites that have absolutely no contact information or any other company information that allows visitors to get in touch with the company. Even if there is some contact info, it is hidden in the depths of the website somewhere that a visitor has look for five minutes. This is something that should be a key element of any website and be prominently displayed on a website. Designers can very well be accused and convicted of criminal negligence if they ignore this fundamental requirement. Contact information encourages credibility. The absence of any contact information in a website arises doubt. You should have this important info in the footer section of the website or in a contact us page that is easily accessible.

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Browser Issues

This is also a mistake that keeps cropping up time and time again even though both website developers and designers are well aware of the need for cross browser compatibility. A website absolutely needs to offer the same kind of visual and functional experience across all browsers. There was a time when IE was the preferred browser, but today browsers such as Safari, Firefox, Opera and many others are making their presence felt. So the website needs to look and act the same on all browsers. By not ensuring that the design meets the accepted standards of compatibility, you are actually ignoring the needs of the website visitors who will ignore the site, if it is unable to meet their standards. While Internet Explorer does not support CSS3 properties like drop-shadow, box-shadow, rounded corner there are many javaScripts and alternative solutions for that. When can only hope for a day when everyone in the world will start using HTML5 and CSS3 supported browser. Since that is not going to happen any soon as a designer your are responsible for making the website look same in all the browser.

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As can be imagined, these mistakes are not something that can be ignored and if designers do, they do so at their own risk. Also, these are by no means the be all and end all of designing mistakes that website visitors absolutely loathe. There are many more, but having a look at these will help you get an idea of the direction in which the wind blows.

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Example of Useful Contact Us Pages

dt_guest_author — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:39:26 +0000

When a visitor comes to your website or blog, he is ready to convert into a lead for your business or bounce, it’s as simple as that. As a freelancer or company, your first concern is to attract potential customers by showcasing your portfolio as expressive as possible. The Contact Us page is often regarded as a commonplace element of the website but its role is crucial. A simple contact form makes you reachable and collects valuable leads in an organized way. A few days ago we had an article about creative About Us pages on Desizn Tech. Let’s complete the picture and have a look over 10 inspiring Contact Us pages.

Beautiful design is just the beginning. Contact tabs are centered upon usability and a good amount of information, as you may see below.

Design Sensory

The folks at Design Sensory are pretty keen on the value of words. Right beside the contact form they placed a motivational paragraph so that you will know you do the right thing when contacting them. The physical address and phone number of the company is relevant for their public so you may find these details here too.

Vebbu

The placement matters as much as the contact page itself, Vebbu knows that. In fact, it’s not a separate page at all and that makes it distinct. The contact form is placed right at the bottom of the main screen, no scrolling required. A testimonial accompanies the form – subtle but efficient. The entire picture makes a very powerful statement.

Web Media Alliance

Keep it short and simple, this is the principle of the Contact Us page here. However, notice the right side of the screen, with plenty of contact options for you, so the company makes sure it doesn’t lose a customer. The feeling is that they basically have everything included. Need an attorney? Got it too!

Dumbwaiter Design

No waiter has worked on this page for sure, but a professional designer at Dumbwaiter. As you land on the Contact Us section at the bottom of the screen, you have a tiny lightbox announcing you can view a case study, if you are still not convinced they are the best choice. The vintage looking form is another very aesthetic element.

Clay Ant Creative

The guys at Clay Ant are minimalistic, that you can say when seeing their contact tab. Delicate colors, no clutter and the wise allusion “Use the form if you’d like”, all put together make a relaxed atmosphere that’s just irresistible.

Ryan Scherf

To reach the contact form on Ryan’s page you first have to scroll down a gallery with his works, so that you are well informed and quite impressed when you reach the bottom. You surely have your message in mind already.

Mitch Designs

The map on Mitch Designs’ Contact Us page is very innovative. Its benefits are obvious: the visitors won’t get lost, it spares time in doing searches and speaks about how thoughtful the company is. Good kick-off!

Plaveb

Now here is an effective contact form. Not only it requests contact data from the potential customer, but it also asks for budget estimates and project description, so that the company can figure which are the basis for the gig. It spares time in further inquiries and filters vague entries. By the time the visitor has finished filling in the form, he is already half a customer.

Esparkinfo

This company has made wise use of all the space on the Contact Us page. You have their contact form, email address and social media ids, so that you can choose the most convenient way to get in touch with them. Notice the powerful slogans and the call to action button Request a Quote.

LeXolutionIt

The Contact Us page of LeXolutionIt is state of the art in lead generation. This company is very much aware that this page sits at the very bottom of the conversion funnel. You have not one but three call to action buttons, the follow-up perspective is already present in the title of the form (“Request Callback”) and the contact details are noticeable from the first glimpse. Not to mention the bright colors you cannot pass by.

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A Showcase of Creative About Us Pages

dt_guest_author — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:33:13 +0000

When you are designing a site for a small company (and especially if you are designing a site for a large company) it can be challenging to get across the personality of the team. Sites exist to serve a function, but people often want to know who works there and what they are like. This is especially true of small startups who want to prove that they are not as corporate and dull as the typical companies in the industry, they often want to show off their quirky, interesting and different style.

This is where the “About Us” page comes in – and it is the perfect way of displaying the team’s personality and style. We have brought together a showcase of creative about us pages that use design and creativity to stand out.

Epipheo Studios

Epipheo Studios have a truly inspired “About Us” page that is not afraid to show off their quirky & weird personality.

Cultured Code

Cultured Code, famous for their task management app “Things”, has always been a company with a very professional image and meticulous design, but with small hand-drawn elements to their site. The About Us page is very much in keeping with this, with caricatures of each team member helping to show off the team’s personalities while still remaining professional.

Airbnb

Airbnb, this website that allows you to rent out your house easily, uses big & bold imagery to show you who the founders are.

GiftRocket

GiftRocket’s website has clearly been very thoughtfully designed and has a very clear visual style – and this is also reflected in the “About Us” page. The page reveals a bit more information on the founders and the business, while looking great and fitting in with the site theme perfectly.

Kyan

Kyan is a web design agency with a reasonably large team , but they have taken the time to provide a bit of information on everyone along with a carousel of the team to help prevent the agency from coming across as just a faceless business.

6Wunderkinder

6Wunderkinder, makers of task management app Wunderlist, have always put a great care and attention into the design of their site & apps, and this is clearly true of the “About Us” page too. High quality imagery and insights into the team help to make them seem more friendly and approachable.

Bread & Pepper

Bread & Pepper is a software company that clearly has a sense of humor. It is shown by the images of their team all obscured by their MacBook Pro’s. A little bit of creativity & humor is a great way of showing off the team’s quirky side, without necessarily being unprofessional.

Lateral

Lateral have decided to inject some creativity into their “About Us” page by having the snapshots of the team follow the mouse cursor around the screen. Try pressing the arrow keys to make the team look in the that direction.

Bump

The guys at Bump have decided to make their About Us page a little bit more interesting by including a big photo of them doing what they do best – using their phones (and presumably using the Bump app) – instead of facing the camera.

Fixel

Creative design agency Fixel use big, bold imagery to show off their team – and also include sliders so that you can mix & match the faces. It’s a fun and interesting display that shows that they are not afraid to be a little bit different.

Are there any About Us pages that you think deserve a mention? Let us know in the comments.

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5 Useful Tips to Create Effective Web Design

dt_guest_author — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 16:29:28 +0000

One of the most common practices to become a good web designer is to create quality layouts. However, nobody becomes a good designer overnight. It takes time, practice and dedication. As a designer when you can deliver websites, banner, flyers that are noteworthy it will increase your clientele and business. It will get you more client and publicity. In this post we will be discussing the elements of creating a websites that catches people’s attention.

It has nothing to do with magic

Those who are pessimistic believe that they can reach the desired level, meaning being the best designer in their town. The optimistic web designers believe that tomorrow they will become the best designer in Universe, maybe divinity will help them but it is not enough. The best approach is to be confident and at the same time to work constantly. There is no magic, it is just about how dedicated you are to your work. To become an expert web designer passion is required, or else this dream has a very small chance of turning into reality. People can be born musician, soccer player but nobody is born as a web designer. Most web designers acquire their skills by learning and practicing. Therefore, the first rule to create amazing designs is to learn everything you can. The more you know the better you will get.

Related

5 Principles of Good Web Design

Images are your main tool

It is widely accepted that an image speaks better than 100 words hence a web designer that wants to stay apart must find the proper images. An image has a very powerful visual aspect. A websites with text only can be boring and conventional. Consider any newspaper websites, most of their online article consists at least one image. This allows the reader to visualize a mental image about their content. This rule applies for any kind of website.

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Optimize Your Web Site by Using CSS Image Sprites

The typography

Choosing the right font, aligning the paragraphs in a smart manner is a very crucial typographical element in any kind of design . Some web designers have the tendency to add many fonts or very particulars ones which are not the perfect solution. Indeed, to stay apart is mandatory but the quality of the layout should never be neglected, that is primordial. It is recommended to use (there is no rule, it depends on each project) no more than two fonts, one for the headlines and one for the written content, which should be readable. Using too many different font families create a chaos in your design and distracts the audience.

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Choosing your typeface: Serif or Sans Serif

Usability should be your strong point

Usually, many web designers and developers forgets about the small details that create an accessible and usable website. Here are some examples of usability: back to top link, creating an useful footer linking you logo, adding correct titles on the pages and so on. A lot UX specialists bangs their head to create websites that can be easily used by humans! A visitor should not spend two minutes looking for you search box.

Realted

8 Web Usability and Best Practices for Beginners

Test before launching

This is cannot be stretched enough. A good web designers carefully test their websites in the different platform and browsers. What may work your computer might not work on the clients. An unique design is different from the mental prototype of the user and any modification might put him in trouble . As a consequence, the testing is mandatory and is vital to detect everything wrong before launching. Without testing any project is an incomplete project.

In conclusion, creating a brilliant web layout is a challenging task but with many sleepless nights and talent, anyone may succeed, it is only a matter of inner force!

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