Showcase of Great Video Game Related Web Designs
September 14th, 2009 — 6 Comments
Video games and web design share one thing, visual design. A lot of work in both industries is geared towards visual design. Some games keep the artwork consistent between game and website while others communicate the look and feel of their games through their web design. Here is a look at some of the best examples of video game related web designs.
Left 4 Dead 2
Left 4 Dead is a zombie survival horror game, although a very action orientated one. The design of their website follows on from first game. An example of great header design. Saying that, the way the header has been built is not exactly great. Open up firebug, Webkit’s web inspector or view the source code to see what I mean.
Nintendo DSi
Nintendo uses a big javascript slider to show off their latest handheld gaming device, the Nintendo DSi.
Sidhe Interactive
Sidhe  is a game development studio. They came to my attention with their PS3 game, Shatter. Very clean and uncluttered design with links to sites for each of their games.
Pop Cap
Pop Cap are probably the king of casual games right now. There is a huge emphasis on fun in their games which is carried over into the design of their website. The header, background and footer are all customised to promote their latest game.
Rock Band
The strong illustration as seen in the menus of the Rock Band game are carried over into the header of the game’s website.
Forza Motorsport
The visuals of Forza Motorsport 3 are very clean and crisp which is reflected in the website.
The Orange Box
The Orange Box contains five different games that could sell for full price individually. Very simple design that is striking at the same time.
Gameloft
Gameloft are one of the biggest mobile game developers in the world. The light colours evoke the kind of find that they try to achieve in their games.
Star Defense
ngmoco uses a picture of an iPhone to display videos of their tower defence game, Star Defense. All of this is displayed on a great looking background image.
Nintendo
Nintendo has laid out their main page in a grid based layout. The combination of this and and strong imagery makes the page easy to scan.
Naughty Dog
Naughty Dog uses a background image of concept art from their soon to be released PS3 game, Uncharted 2. Certainly one I am looking forward to myself as I’m currently thoroughly enjoying the original.
Wrixel
Wrixel is a gaming blog that makes good use of colours to highlight different areas in the navigation. Also, good use of a jQuery slider to highlight their latest articles.
Battle.net
Battle.net uses a visually stunning background image and transparency. It is also an example of how to use buttons to improve usability that I looked at here on Inspect Element last week.
Next Level Games
Simple, clean design for game developers Next Level Games. Good use of proactive words as navigation.
Rolando 2
Rolando 2 is a fun and colourful game just like its website.
Capcom Europe
Capcom Europe’s website does something that I haven’t seen before. If you click customise, you can upload your own image to use as the background of their homepage.
Plus
ngmoco’s social gaming network’s site, Plus, has a great, consistent interface and is another example of how to use buttons to improve usability.
Konami
Konami uses a big image to show of their latest project allowing them to attract attention directly to what they choose.
WoW Insider
World of Warcraft blog, WoW Insider, utilises a big search bar for users to easily find what they want. There is also an area towards the top that displays their latest, top content.
The Beatles Rock Band
I’m not a fan of the Beatles at all but the website for the Rock Band game is quite good looking. As you move the mouse around, the layered header moves with it. A similar effect happens to the stars when you scroll up and down.
Codemasters
Codemasters uses a customised header and background to show off their latest game. In this case it is Colin McRae Dirt 2 which has an innovative in-game 3D menu. See a video of it in action.
Read more...Recent Web Designs that Don't Follow Recent Trends
September 7th, 2009 — 18 Comments
Last month I wrote an article on why design trends don’t have to completely disappear, explaining why design trends should live on beyond their acceptance. However, we are now starting to see designs that don’t follow any popular recent trends. What makes the following examples great is that they stand out from the crowd and are instantly memorable for being unique.
Read more...5 Important Things to Remember when Redesigning a Site
September 3rd, 2009 — 15 Comments
Redesigning sites is an important part of website design as technology and the web is constantly evolving. Staying with a design for too long risks falling behind competition. There are a number of things to consider when redesigning website so don’t think of a redesign as just changing the visuals.
42 Very Colourful Websites
August 31st, 2009 — 25 Comments
Great use of colour can really make a design stand out but deciding on an effective colour scheme can be a difficult thing to achieve. The following examples all use a number of different colours to create a visual impact which is the first thing a visitor is likely to notice. If the colours blend well together then that initial impact will almost always be a positive one.
Make Photoshop Faster
Humour in Web Design
August 24th, 2009 — 21 Comments
Web design is a serious business so it is nice to come across some humour now and again. Sure as designers and developers we generally enjoy our work but I don’t think there is enough comedy in the web design and development industries these days so I decided to do some research and see what is currently out there.
This is a look at the lighter side of web design, if you spot anything you find funny that isn’t here, please let us know in the comments.
Read more...Why Design Trends don't have to Completely Disappear
August 20th, 2009 — 10 Comments
Web design trends come and go but when one comes around you can’t miss it. That’s the nature of trends in the web design industry, with the ability to release something that the whole world can see immediately, designers are able to push their designs live very quickly which aides in popularising a trend.
A trend is defined in the dictionary as:
“a general direction in which something is developing or changing”
Usually most designers follow these trends resulting in a number of websites looking very similar in style.
Ever since I saw the guys From the Couch stating that ‘the letterpress trend has to go‘, I thought to myself that it still could have its place in design. Perhaps I wasn’t as bored of it as they clearly are.
Read more...37 Brilliant Examples of Transparency in Web Design
August 17th, 2009 — 39 Comments
Transparency in web design has been held back by IE6′s inability to display transparency in PNG files. Now that there are workarounds using javascript and the increasing lack of support for the aging browser transparency has become a viable option in web design.
All of the examples below make use of transparent PNGs.
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