10 Web Design Element Inspirations
When browsing the internet I take screenshots of website elements that catch my eye. It's incredibly useful and important, in my opinion, to take inspiration from talented designers. No one should be copying full design ideas, however, blending great ideas into your own creation is what design is all about!
Below are 10 website elements that I have found to be interesting for one reason or another. I hope you enjoy!
Search Results List
Great list format for standardized search results. Easy to read, clear, and simple.
Team Profile Page
A wonderful team page - each person's picture is a gif with still shots of different funny faces. This adds a lot of character and leaves a good impression of the company.
Graphical Hover Menu
A great menu example from Nike's site - instead of using a textual menu they show pictures of each shoe, which are grayed out until you hover over them and they burst with color.
Overlay Element
A good example of using photo-realistic overlay elements in parts of a page that are often neglected. In this case, the dog tags overlay the right side menu.
Side Pocket
This 'post it note' sliding along the left side of the page is excellent. It's subtle, yet adds depth to the page and makes you feel as though the website has a hidden pocket along the side of the page.
Rounded Wrap Around
"The wrap-around effect is popular these days, though it's typically a squared off corner. This caught my eye because it adds interesting dimension to the header but is round vs square.
Dramatic Shadows
Drop shadows are a nice but generic effect - Amex has some exaggerated shadows on their top menu both on their hover and depressed states.
Simple Gradients
It is easy to put too much emphasis on drop shadows, textures, and random design elements. This is an example of a minimalistic design using simple gradients and line separators.
Holiday-specific Logo
Websites may have a wonderful design but it will become stale after a while if nothing changes. A simple yet creative and fun way to add flare to your site is by creating holiday-specific changes to the design.
Upside Down Tab Menu
Tab menus are all over the place...why? Because they work! GAP took the simple tab concept and turned it on its head!