The importance of colors can be described by only one sentence – “Color to life is like salt to food”. Colors can change your mood, determine your attitude, whenever you see color you can feel its pleasing effect within your soul. In other words, in life colors express a lot of meanings without saying anything.

Today we have collected some captivating examples of elegant colorful web designs for your inspiration. Have a look.

Colors are not only important to our personal life but it is very significant in every field of life, like in web designing. Excellent use of colors scheme in designing a website can make your website highly noticeable, it is all about impression, if your website has elegant color scheme then it will give a delightful impression to your visitors which will make them visit again.

1. WeareHughes.com

2. Rareview.com

3. Havaianas.com

4. MattSalik.com

5. PixelCool.com

6. ILoveColors.com.ar

7. CuriousGenerationGroup.com

8. MarcosXotoko.com

9. K4Lab.info

10. Tanq.cl

11. Duirwaigh.com

12. NybbleTech.com

13. The Red+White Sale

14. Boomerang TV

15. Nokia Trends Lab

16. Brasil Cine

17. SheridanandCo.com

18. CocaCola Website

19. Fidelity

20. Bebiko

21. Dreft

22. Colorful Design by JenniElfi

23. Smudge design

24. Paperclay Holderisms layout

25. SolidGiant.com

26. WebDesignerWall.com

27. WebDesignerDepot.com

28. RotaCups.com

29. LifeMusicFoundation.org

30. JasonBradbury.com

31. AdaptD.com

32. Garamiz.hu

33. GetMeFast.com

34. Beautiful2.com

35. Twenty2Designs.com

36. Giancarlo-Fajardo.com

37. DesignFabrika.com

38. Creative Sessions | Tuts+

39. TutCandy.com

40. Pampaneo.es

41. DivVoted.com

42. CubeClub-Chemnitz.de

43. DouglasMenezes.com

44. CtlOnline.org

45. JulioSilver.com

46. Burubundi.es

We hope you enjoyed this inspirational article. You thoughts?

In many of my previous posts on website design I have always categorized the style of websites that I was showcasing. In this post, I have decided to compile some of the most visually appealing websites from all sorts of different design styles that are out there today. From retro inspired designs to the very creative. So if you [...]

We always present quality stuff for our readers and visitors, we also creating an beautiful roundup “40 Beautiful MAC OS X and iPhone Inspired Icon Sets” they are better because all listed stuff really useful and variety of different formats. Most of peoples are fan of Apple products because they always produce powerful and fully user friendly machines what ever Mac Machines, iPod or iPhone all of these combines incredible sleek designs with advanced graphic user interface technology.

All of these icons have been designed according to the modern styles which are helping to use in all mentioned products, also helping us in latest designs, hope you respected visitors and readers leave your comments.

Note: All listed icons are licensed, you may use according to there policies, because we’re not selling any stuff or designs, just sharing for your better user experience.

iPhone Brazilian

Round Theme Icons by kon

iLeaf v1.0 by sa-cool

REDUX SummerBoard Theme by m0rphzilla

Hand Drawn iPhone Icons

I-KID ICONS FOR IPHONE~

iMac icon by ~Stinky9

Apple iMac Icons by skate3214

Chalkwork iPhone & iPod Touch Mini-Set Preview

Deep: iPhone

iPhone icons by joshladella005

iMacBox by Thvg

Icons 2 by lecoupdulapin

CONCEPT ICONS .08 by Bobbyperux

Saffron by SpiffyC

Mass Effect 2 Cerberus iPhone by Cuclick

CandyMilk V2: iPhone Theme by ToffeeNut

iSweet2: iPhone Theme by yrmybybl

Apple concept by Darwins

Black Neon Agua

Aluminium iMac Icons by skate3214

orbit by SpiffyC

Gradiance – Icon Pack 1 by misecia

Suave Badge Pack by Lord-Apples

Okay by ryyst

ES.HX -Now on Cydia- by DarkRed27

Overdue for iPhone by kediashubham

Othoni Afis by LordKokkei

Object icons for iPhone

iPhone Icons

Matte Nano Icon Set

Touchit 4.2 by LordKokkei

No Name by PatrikG

iNaise by Psychopulse

Teneo icons by PatrikG

Carol icons by PatrikG

Diversus by MattSaf

Dark Apple + Wood Dock by abh83

Archigraphs Collection Icons by Cyberella74

iPhone Icons by sly55

iphone theme icons picnic by guteCharlotte

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Designers have been busy in the last two months with creating interesting logos. Zabransky, for example, did it again with an intelligent logo, brilliant actually, or should I call it Genius? Yeah, you know what I mean. Don’t be fooled by my appreciation for Jan, the other 42 logos are also incredible, cause that’s why they’re in this article. I’m gonna let them do the talking.

Aqua

Author: Pavel Stepanov

Awesome Industries

Author: Pavel Stepanov

Badava

Author: Shtef Sokolovich

Bamboo eatery

Author: Siege

Beast media

Author: Alex Tass

Big eat

Author: nido

Cafe Expresso

Author: constanc10

Chart Monster

Author: Jerron Ames

CO2

Author: Michael Spitz

Colourfruit

Author: almosh82

Crazy Croc

Author: James Strange

Dandelion

Author: Breno Bitencourt

Danzk

Author: Pete Lacey

Dmitriev Sommelier

Author: Anton Gridz

Downtown Lounge

Author: rui.pombares

Frankenstein Films

Author: Josiah Jost

Genius

Author: Jan Zabransky

Get organized

Author: Srdjan Kirtic

Golf lessons

Author: Dennis Thomsen

GPQ

Author: Tiago Pompeu

Haircutime

Author: Srdjan Kirtic

Handmade Coffee

Author: Sergey Shapiro

Hoppenia

Author: Sergey Babenko

Lapsha

Author: Logoped

Magnify Agency

Author: Magnify Agency

Maritime Law

Author: Rich Scott

Michael Spitz

Author: Michael Spitz

Mouse House

Author: Andrei Gadoiu

Nautilus

Author: Dan Slupskiy

Pakuy

Author: Muamer Adilovic

Paper Cups

Author: Katharine Y.

Polish National Hockey Team

Author: Wojtek Polak

Quantum

Author: Denis Ignatov

Rock It

Author: Arnas Goldbergas

Spartan

Author: LexLogo

Surf Index

Author: Roy Smith

The Health Alliance of North California

Author: Sean Heisler

Thinktank

Author: Alexander Jones

Totem Media

Author: Oana Olaru-Zainescu

Tusker

Author: Sergey Babenko

WildSugar

Author: c3

Zharnitsky

Author: Kirill Demidenko

Don’t forget to become a fan on FaceBook.

You can advertise on Design your way by buying a banner spot or even a featured article of your site/online business as long as it concerns Design your way’s visitors.

Submit logos, CSS and Flash sites and even tutorials for Photoshop, Flash or Illustrator

43 of the best logos of January and February

You will definitely like these articles

• Best logo designs of the last two months
• 41 extraordinary and cleverly made blue logos
• 26 interesting yellow logos
• 54 great green logos for inspiration
• Over 70 of the best fresh red logos
• Show me some well designed logos! #29
• Show me some well designed logos! #28

Every business, small or big, needs a business card to impress his clients. I have created a collection of 25 Creative Business Cards that will definitely impress your clients. There are no plain square business cards in this list, they all got something unique. Just take a look.

1. Business Card Outside. (view).

2. Matchbook Card. (view).

3. SheetSeat Business Card. (view).

4. Ninja BTL. (view).

5. Easel Business Card. (view).

6. Cardapult. (view).

7. Yoga Business Card. (view).

8. Paper Plane Business Card. (view).

9. Second Paper Plane Business Card. (view).

10. Etsy Business Card. (view).

11. Beautiful Business Card. (view).

12. Business Cord. (view).

13. Rubber Business Card. (view).

14. Lego Business Card. (view).

15. Heartbreak Business Card. (view).

16. Lego Woman Business Card. (view).

17. Manicurist Card. (view).

18. Balloon Business Card. (view).

19. Rubber Band Business Card.

20. Business Card in Water Protected Bag. (view).

21. Chewing Gum Business Card.

22. Complete Company Business Pack.

23. A Business Card Including A Model Car.

24. A Pencil Business Card. (view).

25. Piano Repair Business Card.

I hope this inspired you for your business card.

“There is no specific London style.” At least that’s what the ‘Super Contemporary’ show at London’s Design Museum proclaims. During an exploration of London’s art and design scene in September 2009, what did emerge was a city with a unique sense of its own personality and history, a fertile hub of international thinkers, and a community working towards a future that is designed to be interactive, environmentally responsible, and prosperous.

Here is a look at the visual personality of London, based on visits to the city’s major art museums, attendance at the 2009 London Design Festival, and interviews with artists and designers who call the great city home.

Identity of a City

Street Style

Neville Brody served as Art Director at The Face and Arena.

London magazines including The Face, i-D, Blitz, and Arena became major influences on international design during the eighties and nineties. The Face was known as a showcase of London street style and experimental graphic design during Neville Brody’s tenure as Art Director from 1982-86. Brody incorporated hand-drawn typefaces and custom graphic symbols into his page layouts. His work for The Face – and later, Arena – put an emphasis on striking photography, the impact of simplicity, and occasionally jarring juxtapositions of text and imagery. Brody is responsible for fonts including Industria (designed for The Face) and Arcadia (designed for Arena).

Geography

Supermundane’s ‘Truman’ font, based on the bricks of the Truman Brewery tower

One example of a physical representation of London in design is the Truman font designed by illustrator and designer Supermundane, a.k.a. Rob Lowe. The font is based on the iconic tower of the Truman Brewery, located in East London. “The reason I did that was because I couldn’t believe anybody else hadn’t done it,” Mr. Lowe says of the project. “(The tower) is just sittin’ there!”

Public street signage around town.

London as an International Hub

London is a metropolis that is proud to be composed of international residents and ideas. The 2009 London Design Festival featured a great diversity of artistic fields (product design, furniture design, digital media) represented by artists from all over the world. The ‘Make Believe’ show presented by Goldsmiths, University of London featured emerging designers who came to London from locales including India, California, Switzerland and Bangkok. All designers seemed to bring their unique cultural perspective to their work; one even boasts of his quadri-lingual skills in his bio.

History

“It’s a city steeped in history and heritage,” says London-based photographer Haider Kikabhoy. It is impossible to review London’s entire art and design legacy here, so two elements of its history have been chosen: a legend from a distant era and a cultural phenomenon from the recent past.

“England’s First Great Native-Born Painter”

A self portrait by William Hogarth (left) and an example of ‘the line of beauty’ in his work (right)

According to the Tate Britain Museum, William Hogarth is “England’s first great native-born painter.” His depictions of London life tell visual stories about the lives of archetypal characters: the harlot, the apprentice, the drunk. He symbolized his unique theories on artistic beauty with an icon he called ‘the line of beauty,’ a curved, serpentine line which can be seen over the palette in his self portrait (above left) and in compositions of his such as Beer Street (above right). Hogarth incorporated this element in his compositions because he believed that this curved, S-shaped line excited the viewer’s eye with its energetic movement (as opposed to straight lines or right angles).

Hogarth is also considered a pioneer of sequential images and therefore a forefather of the narrative structure used in comic books. One example in Hogarth’s work is his series ‘A Rake’s Progress,’ which includes eight paintings that tell a story when viewed sequentially.

Punk Rock: High Versus Low

The often tense relationship between upper and lower classes has been a dominant theme in English culture for centuries. Many entertainers and designers have relished the act of thumbing their nose at a perceived snobbery amongst royalty and the upper class. No one did it better than the punk rock movement that blossomed in England during the 1970’s. The impact of punk has made an indelible impression on generations of designers that have come since. Acclaimed graphic designer Neville Brody said that punk was “the most influential thing that happened to me in London.”

Two Sex Pistols designs by Jamie Reid

Punk design was dominated by D.I.Y. (do it yourself) techniques, outrageous subject matter, collage, photocopied imagery, defaced images, and basically any technique that broke the rules or seized the viewer’s attention. Punk fanzines like Sniffin’ Glue empowered amateur designers and liberated audiences from the limitations of mainstream music media. Jamie Reid’s ‘ransom note’ typography for the Sex Pistols seemed to capture the spirit of the movement.

Elvis’ debut record; London Calling by The Clash

The cover of The Clash’s London Calling (1979) was partially based on the cover of Elvis Presley’s 1954 debut. The London Calling cover was designed by Ray Lowry with a photograph by Pennie Smith. The typography and colors of the two records are nearly identical, but Elvis is pictured playing his guitar while Clash bassist Paul Simonon is smashing his. The design pays mildly satirical homage to the Presley cover while signaling the change that London Calling represented in music: The Clash had come to destroy their audience’s perception of rock and roll.

Pentagram: London Roots, London Presence

This announcement for the merger of designers Fletcher, Forbes & Gill (1962) features split pages so that photos of the three men can be merged. A different incarnation of this design firm would become Pentagram in 1972

London Roots

Pentagram was formed in London in 1972. The studio began as Fletcher/Forbes/Gill, but after aquiring and losing several members, they tired of altering the name of the firm. Alan Fletcher chose the name Pentagram – a star with five points to symbolize the partners – after reading a book on witchcraft. The acclaimed design firm has since opened offices in New York, San Francisco, Austin and Berlin. Pentagram was the world’s first multidisciplinary studio; its partners work independently but share knowledge, experience, and the legacy of the brand name. The formation of this global organization in London seems to symbolize the city’s thirst for international ideas and its expansive creative curiosity.

A clever footwear advertisement by Fletcher/Forbes/Gill on the side of a bus

The Influential Career of Alan Fletcher

Two designs by Alan Fletcher: his logo for the Victoria & Albert museum (1989), and an illustration of a glass of wine from his classic design book, The Art of Looking Sideways

Graphic design legend Alan Fletcher was one of the founding members of Pentagram in London in 1972. One of the most influential designers in history, he was once called “the most highly regarded graphic designer of his generation” by The Daily Telegraph. Fletcher had a gift for cleverness and simplicity. His illustration of a glass of wine (above) uses only the simplest shapes to convey form and perspective.

Pentagram at the London Design Festival 2009

Logo and identity of the 2009 London Design Festival, designed by Pentagram partner Domenic Lippa

Today, Pentagram’s influence is indelible and ubiquitious. The 2009 London Design Festival included identity and collateral materials designed by Pentagram partner Domenic Lippa as well as a ‘London Posters’ show curated in part by Mr. Lippa at the Victoria & Albert museum – an institution whose logo was designed by Alan Fletcher.

An Eye on the Future

A thorough exploration of the London art and design community in September 2009 has revealed a glimpse at what’s to come. Here is a look at the designers who are leading the way as well as the themes that emerge in their work.

‘London Posters’ at The London Design Festival 2009

Two posters from the ‘London Posters’ exhibit. Designs by Andy Altmann, Why Not Associates (left), and Damon Murray and Stephen Sorrell, FUEL (right).

Some of the brightest talent in today’s London design community was on display at the ‘London Posters’ show in the London Design Festival. The show was curated by Domenic Lippa and Sir John Sorrell, Chairman of the London Design Festival. According to Mr.Lippa, the show was “a reflection of how our capital is seen by some of the country’s most renowned graphic designers… certain themes cropped up frequently – transport, location, structure, heritage and even love.”

Two posters from the ‘London Posters’ exhibit. Designs by Morag Myerscough, Studio Myerscough (left), and Jonathan Ellery, Browns.

Another element present in the work was the renowned dry British sense of humor. The poster by Morag Myerscough, Studio Myerscough (above left), reads, “London BORN London BRED until I DIE and then I’m DEAD.” Using stark photography and typography, the poster conveys London pride, playful morbidity, and a delight in language and rhyme.

London Goes Green

London hopes to lead the way to a more environmentally sound future. Lord Digby Jones of Birmingham remarked on the issue of climate change during a London event held by British Airways in September. “The answer to this issue is science,” he said, and went on to remark that leading economies of the world like the U.S. and the U.K. made their wealth while polluting the Earth, so we should lead on solving the problem.

Designers at the ‘Make Believe’ show presented by Goldsmiths, University of London sought innovative ways to approach environmental topics. Mina Papathanasiou proposed a structural system to build housing that would function “as a living organism, while re-using and recycling construction materials.” Among her innovations were roof tiles designed to collect rain water for redistribution throughout the housing structure.

Interactivity

Interactivity was another theme that emerged at the London Design Festival. Visitors at the Victoria & Albert museum were invited to draw ceramics and the results were put on display. Children visiting a boutique called Few and Far were invited to participate in a drawing competition affiliated with illustrator Christopher Brown. But the most exciting interactive element of the festival was Kioskiosk (pictured below), created by designer Wayne Hemingway.

Although Kioskiosk was featured in the ‘Supercontemporary’ show at the Design Museum, its main component is an actual shop where start-up designers sell their wares in a public venue. Hemingway’s goal was to encourage business growth by providing low-rent or free space to designers and entrepreneurs who face difficult economic times and high London rents. This project gives back to British design community by supporting its artists. It also provides an exciting new way for shoppers and art lovers to interact with featured participants like SonoDesign and The Arthouse. Kioskiosk is now on tour.

Seventeen British Artists and Designers You Should Know

This list has been assembled to inspire and inform. It is not an attempt to summarize the entirety of a nation’s visual arts. The selections range in their style, era, and cultural impact. A certain continuum of creativity is evident: Bacon had a profound influence on Hirst, Hockney extolls the virtues of Turner, and so on.

Francis Bacon

Irish-born painter Francis Bacon worked in London for much of his life and is known for his gruesome, nihilistic imagery. “I would like my pictures to look as if a human being had passed between them like a snail,” Bacon said of his work, “leaving a trail of the human presence and memory trace of the past events as the snail leaves its slime.”

FUEL

Two books designed and published by FUEL

Since 1991, graphic designers Damon Murray and Stephen Sorrell have worked together as FUEL. The designers split their time between commercial work (album covers for The Thrills, film titles for Lost in Translation) and self-initiated projects like the publication of their own magazine. In an interview with the Design Museum, FUEL cite The Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopaedia (on which they served as editors, designers, and publishers) as one of their favorite projects. The series of books serves as an ethnographic study and includes thousands of tattoos accumulated by author and former prison warden Danzig Baldaev.

Damien Hirst

Hirst’s installation piece The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (above) features a 13-foot tiger shark in a glass tank of formaldehyde. The piece shocked the London public during its first display (at the Saatchi Gallery in 1992) and launched Hirst to international fame. The piece is indicative of Hirst’s sense of morbid, outrageous humor.

John Everett Millais

John Everett Millais’ painting Ophelia (1851-52) is an example of the great British tradition of Shakespeare as subject matter for painting. Millais’ dedication to capturing every lush, vivid detail of the wooded scene was so intense that he sat painting by a stream in conditions of great discomfort for nearly five months. Ophelia is pictured holding flowers that she herself listed during her mad scene (Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 5).

Edward Johnston

The logo and typeface of the London Underground were designed by Edward Johnston. The logo (or ’roundel’) has become something of an international symbol for London.

Calligrapher and typographer Edward Johnston is responsible for the logo and font that have graced the London Underground for almost a century. In 1915, Johnston was commissioned to design the font by Frank Pick, the first Chief Executive of London Transport. For his ultra-modern sans-serif font, Johnston looked to a few unlikely sources for inspiration: calligraphy and Classical Roman capitals. The influence of Roman typography is evident in the perfect circle of his capital ‘O’ and the square outline of his capital ‘M.’ The diamond-shaped dot (or ‘tittle’) above the lowercase ‘i’ and ‘j’ resembles the dots made on paper by a square-nibbed pen. The result is a font that has become an influential classic due to its modern nature and profound communicative power. Johnston is author of the revered design textbook Writing & Illuminating & Lettering.

J.M.W. Turner

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) has been called “Britain’s greatest artist” by The Times and was even dubbed ‘the Shakespeare of landscape’ by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Turner’s gift for graceful light and sublime color helped him elevate the landscape to an artistic height that had previously been reserved for historical painting.

John Isaacs

Untitled (What Makes Certain), 1995

John Isaacs has shown work at London’s Saatchi Gallery along with other artists affiliated with the so-called ‘Young British Artists’ that included Damien Hirst in the 1990’s. Isaacs’ work suggests an insidious danger lying in wait just beneath the surface of conventional reality.

Bibliothèque

This gallery guide accompanied the Cold War Modern exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum. Bibliothèque designed the guide and other exhibition materials.

A glance through the portfolio of graphic design firm Bibliothèque reveals a consistency in the style and quality of their work. Although their clients vary from a manufacturer of electrical components to a company that makes mattresses for babies, Bibliothèque brings an austere simplicity to each project. Another unifying feature of their work is a keen understanding of color: many projects include a limited palette employed in bold compositions.

David Hockney

Pool With Two Figures, 1971

David Hockney is “the most enduring British artist” according to The Times. An important contributor to the Pop Art movement, Hockney is an artist known for painting, photography, printmaking, chain-smoking, and conspiracy theories. He was born and educated in England, but some of his most famous works depict the sunny, laid-back lifestyle that he experienced while living in California.

Chris Cunningham

Stills from Aphex Twin’s ‘Come to Daddy’ video, directed by Chris Cunningham

Chris Cunningham is a filmmaker, video artist, and photographer. The twisted, disturbing style of his music videos for Aphex Twin and Squarepusher have made the director infamous, although he claims to find his imagery more “silly” than scary. Robotics and anatomy emerge as themes in Cunningham’s work, and he often works in color palettes that are cold, muted, or spare. Cunningham’s recent experimental short film Rubber Johnny applies inane, childlike humor to spazzed-out scenes of a disabled mutant dancing in darkness. It’s a truly bizarre vision that is exciting for its sheer individuality.

William Blake

Plate 1 from Europe a Prophecy, 1824

According to Andrew Wilton’s Five Centuries of British Painting, William Blake was a “maverick rebel” best known for his historical paintings of narrative subjects from The Bible and Paradise Lost. Although he failed to attract many patrons during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a key figure in histories of both poetry and the visual arts. His work was motivated by grandiose creation myths and also by visions he claimed to have seen of Gods, angels, and other spirits throughout his life. To William Blake, the imagination was ‘the body of God.’

Gilbert & George

Existers, 1984

Since the 1960’s, the duo Gilbert & George have been producing provocative, ambitious work from London’s East End – their home and an area they consider a microcosm of the world at large. Their career has been a subversive exercise in branding; the artists incorporated themselves into their body of work as ‘living sculptures’ and thereby “sacrificed their individual identities to art,” according to the Tate Britain.

Lucian Freud

Girl with Roses, 1948

Lucian Freud was born to Jewish parents in Germany during the winter of 1922. Eleven years later, Lucian and his family moved to England in order to escape the rise of Nazism. The anxiety and despair of war and the Holocaust would inform some of the painter’s greatest works.

Girl with Roses (above) is a portrait imbued with fear and discomfort. The subject is the painter’s wife, Kitty, who clutches her roses so hard that she appears to have broken one. The sensation of the thorns in her grasp is almost palpable. Her enlarged eyes are wide pools of angst – what does she see that we cannot?

Airside

Airside’s logo for the Pop Art gallery at the Wolverhampton Art Gallery

Airside is a “creative agency working across the disciplines of graphic design, illustration, digital, interactive and moving image.” Airside co-founder Fred Deakin says, “we have a real pride in bouncing around different media.” In early 2009, Airside designed the identity for a Greenpeace initiative called Airplot. Airside shared some of their design process on their blog and the work was featured on notable design sites including Brand New and Logo Design Love.

Clare Leighton

Breadline, New York 1932

Clare Leighton devoted her life to the medium of wood engraving, cultivating a style of great detail and heavy contrast. Born in London, she later moved to America. In Breadline, New York, she captures the grim mood of depression-era Manhattan. The heavy contrast of light and dark mirrors the contrast between the anonymous poor and the shimmering metropolis that looms over them like an alien landscape.

The Vorticists

Cover of the first issue of Blast magazine, 1914

Vorticism formed in 1914, spurred partially in response to Futurism. The debut issue of Blast magazine shocked with its bold pink cover and huge, diagonally-set type. Along with publications from other groups, notably Fluxus, it is a precursor to the radical printing techniques and typographic experimentation of the punk ‘zine. Author Richard Hollis remarks in Graphic Design: A Concise History that the pages of Blast “exhanged symmetry for the consciously crude layout of popular advertisements,” thereby solidifying the Vorticists as the first in Britain to exploit typographic form at a time when “tradition remained the most powerful influence in Britian.”

William Morris

‘Bird’ textile design by William Morris, 1878

William Morris was a central figure in the Arts and Crafts Movement, which was led by artists and designers who romanticized personal crafstmanship while rejecting Victorian-era opulence and an age of mechanical reproduction ushered in by the Industrial Revolution. In 1861, Morris and several colleagues founded a prolific decorative arts firm that produced stained glass, metal work, printed paper, tapestries, decorative carvings, and more. Morris himself was a master of two-dimensional design and his work should prove inspirational to any contemporary graphic designer. In textiles like the one pictured above, Morris searched for the “force, purity, and elegance of the silhouette of the objects represented.” He also sought to return to the “crispness and abundance of beautiful detail which was the especial characteristic of fully developed Medieval Art.”

Further Resources

• Ways of Seeing
  The first episode of John Berger’s groundbreaking 1972 BBC television series about the perception of art.
• Alan Fletcher: fifty years of graphic work (and play)
  A biography of the designer and his career of accolades. Includes images.
• Video: History of Pentagram
  Current partners of the international design firm provide an oral history.
• Interview: Supermundane
  Interview with London artist Supermundane. Written by Dan Redding.
• J.M.W. Turner Online
  Learn more about the great British painter J.M.W. Turner online at Tate Britain.
• Hockney on Turner
  In this article, ‘The Turner surprise’ from The Times, David Hockney discusses his passion for the work of J.M.W. Turner.
• Pitchfork Interview: Chris Cunningham
  The music video director discusses his work, his goals, and working with Stanley Kubrick on A.I.

© Dan Redding for Smashing Magazine, 2009. | Permalink | 24 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Digg this | Stumble on StumbleUpon! | Tweet it! | Submit to Reddit | Forum Smashing Magazine
Post tags: London

Showcase of Web Design in Russia (via @smashingmag) -

This article is the first of our new series “Global Web Design“. Over the next months we’ll be covering various continents, featuring web developers and web designs from different countries of the world and taking a close look of what is happening in the web design scene worldwide. We start today with an article about web design in Russia. We will continue with Ireland (Lee Munroe) and Brazil (Fabio Sasso) upcoming weeks. Hence, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed for more similar posts.

If you’d like to prepare an article for this series, please contact us and we’ll discuss the details.

Web Design in Russia

The land mass that is one-sixth of the Earth is always surprising. As the founder of one of design-related magazines in Russia (Designcollector.net), I am happy to present the hidden force that is Russia. I won’t dwell on the classic stereotypes but will rather look at the creativity flowing through.

The era of professional and commercial online design started in Russia about a decade ago. We’re now seeing an increase in professional design and development. I won’t concentrate much on the history of Web design in Russia; that has been happening for ages. Like everywhere in the world, Web design came to Russia as a modern way to present any kind of information to an audience online. So, principles such as simplicity, accessibility and eye-catching design have been cultivated for several years.

Russian Web Design: Mospromstroy

Web development as a profession was relegated to the elite for years until geek heads and artists took it over. For a few years there was a boom of home pages and tiny corporate websites that were built with any regard for the end user. This trend ended thankfully, in large part due to the highly scaled websites that came out the original and still unique studio founded by Artemy Lebedev, which has produced more than 760 websites.

Today, the professional scene of web design consists of thousands of freelancers, studios, agencies and large media companies, along with offshore and outsourcing businesses. I won’t do a “Top 20″ this or that rating, but I will try to touch on the most established parts of Russian Web design, including agencies, freelancers, portals and so on.

State Of Things

Measuring a Web design market by the products of its agencies is not quite fair. Russian agencies have also proven their management technologies and quality-control processes. As someone once said, “The best way to understand a new city is to go to the central market.” And in Russia, Web design is still concentrated in the hands of freelancers and small studios. To get a better picture of freelancing in Russia and the bordering Ukraine, I have asked two freelancers to talk about their work.

I spoke with Gennady V. Osypenko, who is the rather famous Kiev-based designer working with companies from Eastern Europe (he is also known as Genn), and Dmitry Sulliwan, a Russian freelance Web designer.

Alexarts

Q: Could you please describe the life of a freelancer, developer and designer?

Gennady Osypenko: You do work, get inspiration and then do more work: that is freelancing. For sure, you meet clients and collaborate a lot. Compared with an office job, you travel around the city a lot, wasting your time on that. Freelance designers become the center of the project, and even oversees developers, acting as a kind of art director. Designers in offices just do the routine, yelling at account managers and listening to art directors. Hence, I am a freelancer, and I do not remain at one job for long.

Dmitry Sulliwan: The work of freelancer is very interesting. You get new experiences from working with different companies on diverse projects, and some of those experiences may not even be related to design. Different cultural and professional events make the life of the freelancer easier and allow him to share his experience and understand the value of his job. A freelancer’s life is good because he manages himself, which allows you to get more pleasure from your work. But that does not mean you work any less. From my perspective, freelancers work one-and-a-half times more than permanent contractors. The only barrier to getting the best results is laziness. Hence, there are not a whole lot of true professionals in the freelancing space.

Profsouz.tv

Q: Are there any regular meetings or events?

Genn: We hold festivals and different advertisement exhibitions. The only exhibition I have visited abroad was the designers market in Budapest (Sziget). Web-oriented conferences were very popular last year. Not all of them were about design, but some were useful and interesting anyway. I’ve done things like short master classes at some of them, and I plan to do that in future; I’ve been invited at the end of October to say something about being a freelance designer. I like talking about what I do to people who are eager to listen.

Dmitry: There is a good set of conferences in Russia. I can name the last ones: DesignAct in Moscow, and the 404 Web Designers Conference in Samara. Many Russians also visit foreign events in Europe and around the world.

Erarta.com

Q: Where do you get inspiration from?

Genn: I get inspiration from everything around me. That is a typical answer, but any object could lead my imagination to the unique and perfect idea. It is like in the House M.D. series on TV, when House is stuck on a diagnosis and suddenly gets inspiration to solve it. I got inspiration for my last project from the Wipeout Pulse game on PSP. I played it for hours and eventually got an idea for a website architecture.

Dmitry: Design books, magazines and Internet resources. Nowadays, we have a nice bunch of local design blogs on which they share their experiences and thoughts.

Solisty Moskvy

Q: What’s the situation with the market? How much do designers earn?

Genn: I don’t know the situation in the market, but I know for sure that a lot of people want to make a website or establish an online identity. As a freelance designer or creative process supervisor, I prefer more interesting and specific projects, ones that don’t reflect the whole market situation.

Dmitry: True designers, like any other good specialists, cost a good amount of money. The question is whether there are enough positions. There are many agencies and studios, and so fewer of them would be able to provide a good experience or take on interesting projects.

Stilyagi

Q: Is being a Web designer considered high-level, sophisticated work?

Genn: When you see an ad on every (literally every) open surface saying, “Site for $100,” how could you regard Web designers or anyone connected with website creation to be high level or sophisticated? Luckily for us, customers who really need complex, functional websites understand that they have to work with professionals. Just because you can illustrate something does not mean you are a Web designer. If you can organize the craziest information in a usable and readable way, and then decorate it, then you are a Web designer. So, we could say that being a Web designer is both high level and not high level at the same time. Actually a lot of Web designers also create perfect identities and motions, so I’d better call them designers, even though we create beautiful websites.

Dmitry: Unfortunately, not always. Mostly because people still confuse Web designers with system administrators [Interviewer note: That's true, because most Russian Web designers can do Shell and Apache tasks, hosting stuff and email management and develop a reputation for mixing them together. When a Russian customer orders a website, they want it 100% with domains, parking, hosting, support. This is the main issue with the profession.] But in most IT and related companies, the position of Web designer (and developer, UI designer and visual designer) is valued and respected because of the high-level skills and usually complex work involved. These days, the Web design profession has cut out its own place in the market and is recognized for it.

Nel’ma

Q: There are rumours that many designers in Russia still use tables, and that most designs are 100% fluid, regardless of screen resolution?

Genn: Are you referring to HTML coders and Web developers? As far as I know, the trend is to use semantic code and follow accessibility and other compliance standards. One Ukrainian HTML coder even coded his own blog in HTML 5 and met all standards requirements, even if only for a few browsers. So they’re all progressive and forward-looking. As for 100% fluid width, there was an assumption that all websites had to be 100% wide and fill the whole browser window. As I explain in my training and master classes, the width of websites should fit the requirements. As I can tell, incorrect use of fluid widths is declining and used in only specific instances.

Dmitry: Those are only rumors. Professional Web developers follow standards and adopt the latest trends in coding. Fluid width is a distinction of Russian Web development and a common standard. Good fluid layouts are usable, dynamic and look good at different resolutions. And good Web developers can avoid common issues, such as those related to floating and typography, by using fluid width.

Imja Rossii

Q: What about typography and Web standards?

Genn: It’s a common joke that all designers hate Cyrillic letters. The letters really look odd if you want to create something fancy, but we adapt to it. I like the story of one logo made in the US for some candy trademark. The designer decided to add a feature to the logo and name, so he made ö out of o. Years later, he found out that Scandinavian designers hate umlauts, but he used them as decoration and it worked well. We have to abstract and not see hieroglyphs in letters but rather understand their nature and use them in the best way.

Dmitry: Cyrillic type has far-reaching issues. The main illusion is that Cyrillic type is not better than Latin. That issue is outdated. We have great Russian typography designers who do amazing type that fits certain designs well and win awards. Nowadays, even Web editorials order custom typography for their titles. Typography on the Web has become user-friendly and readable.

vtransport.ru

Q: Are there any issues unique to Russian Web design?

Genn: Yeah, there might be some difference between design in Ukraine and in Russia. As long as designers are not regarded as high-level specialists in the community, then customers will continue to believe that they are perfect designers, too. So, they will always want to move this a bit, repaint that a touch, and change the whole layout five minutes before the deadline. With any project, I try to be as specific as possible in explaining almost every pixel (or dot, if we are talking about print) so that the customer can see why the product is the way it is. It’s surprising, but it works more than half the time. The other problem is that no one wants to part with their money, so you could end up waiting some time before getting money for a project that is done, implemented and working.

Dmitry: Russian customers still do not understand that designers do not blindly follow their ideas but are rather themselves highly motivated workers who want to produce the best results for the given job. Whoever the customer, whether foreign or local, every time it is a minor war. Designer-client relations are not stable in Russia and are not even regulated. We have no professional unions and, of course, no support from the government. Newcomers to freelancing are often not aware that some customers are unfair, but they find out when they do not get paid.

Zemlja

Q: Do you see any remarkable differences between Russian designs and ones in the US and Western Europe?

Genn: I am happy that distinguishing between designs in Russia and those on the worldwide scene is becoming harder and harder. The designs here are unique in their own way, but then the work of every good designer is unique.

Dmitry: As mentioned, the main difference is fluid layouts. Good Russian websites have a clear and semantic structure, and they don’t follow strict grids, which make the layouts dynamic and fresh. They use modern Web technologies, combining unobtrusive JavaScript with clean xHTML.

Russian UK Style

Q: How does all of this work?

Genn: I don’t know. I didn’t like physics in university much. When I ask myself that question, I start reading British science fiction. It doesn’t answer the question, but it has a lot of funny jokes.

Dmitry: Briefly, the situation is good. Russian Web designers are always looking forward and no longer do clumsy, heavy Flash-based websites. We have started to concentrate on usability and accessibility and become more integrated with the rest of the professional world.

DC: Russian Web designers are even starting to organize professional unions (like WSG Russia) and visit local conferences, such as 404, RIT, Drupal Camp and many others.

Showcase Of Creative Agencies

Let’s turn now from the freelancing life in Russia to the FMCG and promotional sectors, where Russian creative agencies live. They do their best to impress consumers with their products and corporate websites. The results are meant to impress visitors and make them spread the news like a virus. Here are some agencies that have gained public attention as well as prestigious awards, such as the FWA, ADCR and even the Cyber Lions shortlist.

Design Depot

OrangeLabel

Ony.ru

Deluxe Interactive

FIRMA

BrandStudio

Red Keds

Nile Studio

Coalla Revolving

Instinct

ONY!

Transformer Studio

Showcase Of Web Agencies

These guys create great websites and form the foundation of the Russian Web design scene. They’re not necessarily the best; they just do their work better than most.

As mentioned, ArtLebedev Studio is still the largest studio in the Russian market, based on portfolio size. To date, it has done more than 760 websites, 725 graphic designs, 113 product designs, 44 interfaces, 32 environmental designs and 30 presentations. This record is still unbeaten, and its brand is something of a guarantee on the Russian Web design scene. Also worthy of mention is its Bronze Cannes Cyber Lion award (the only studio in Russia to win it), and its internship program, which helps international students realize their ideas.

ArtLebedev Studio’s work

The next largest studio in Russia is DEFA Interaktiv. It was founded by Dmitry Kozlov eight years ago and has made a success of its customers’ businesses with its highly professional skills.

DEFA Interaktiv’s work

The quite new and fast-moving creative agency Deluxe Interactive has already been mentioned at the Favorite Web Awards (FWA) and continues to produce great promotional Flash websites.

Deluxe Interactive’s work

Futurico

Turbomilk

Creative People

Proekt

Pixel

Oblako

Showcase Of Freelancers

Freelancers are the hidden force of Russian creativity. As we mentioned, anyone who can successfully freelance in Russia could handle art direction at any agency with no problem. To grow as professionals, freelancers need a decent place to showcase their work and share insight. Such places include Deforum.ru, free-lance.ru, illustrators.ru, behance.net, revision.ru and russiancreators.ru. Quite a few magazines and blogs profile the best practitioners: kak.ru, Designet.ru, Designlenta.com, Revision.ru, Creativenews.ru, Peopleofdesign.ru, Omami.ru, ru.designeast.eu, designwar.net, djournal.com.ua and Designcollector Network

Valery Fironov

Stepan Burlakov

Illya Mikhailov

Alexander Kizyachenko

Andrey Gorokhov

Stas Polyakov

Andrew Tron

Denis Drachyov

Dmitry Sulliwan

Eugeny Muravyev

Nazir Khasavov

Alexandr Martinov

Alex Kuh

Anton Ponomarev

Dmitry Evstropov

Bogdan Sviridov

Yuriy Degtyar

Web Developers Online

The Web developer scene in Russia is well represented on blogs, too. We’ll cherry-pick the best ones here among the dozens that exist. On them, Web developers and intelligent commentators share their thoughts on various topics and host friendly communities. Vadim Makeev and Constantine Osnos chose these ones for us.

Vadim Makeev

Alexander Shabunevich

Nikita Vakorin

Gennady Osipenko

Din Neville

The particular nature of Russian communication has produced these huge community platforms, where any topic can rise or fall according to the “vox populi.” Everything IT-related, from Web 2.0 to Web development, is discussed on Habrahabr. The best place to talk about Russian Web standards is Webmascon magazine. And Deforum is the place to share your creative work and welcome a crowd of decent, and sometimes obscene, critics.

Also worthy of mention is Injun, a Flash and ColdFusion development blog, as well as Inforedesign and SEOBaby, for their useful content. Nbsp and Internet Things are great for their professional content related to Web design, development and promotion.

Creative Formations

To round out our picture of Russian creativity, we’ll mention some online resources related to other design industries. For example, advertising: Adme and Advertka. For fashion: LookAtMe and Fashion Communication. And the 3-D and CG arts: Render Ru and CGTalk.

Russian creativity bears fruit every day, and the best way to stay on top of it is to read our Designcollector Network and stay connected to Russia’s magic networks.

Showcase of Russian Web Designs

ValdiGroup

Pestovo Golf and Yacht Club

Yaltinsky Mjasozavod

Adv.ru

73dpi

DEFA Interaktiv

Worktrek.ru

JustParty

Gamer.ru

F5.ru

Turbomilk

Centrostroy

Red.mts.ru

Pink.

SOFT BAG

Rosinka International Group.

Armenianchurch.ru

Industry-daily.ru.

ElCheVive.

Plohiestihi

Stella Artois

Maminy Kolybelnye

RBC.ru

Tish

© Creative People

Stanley

Panorama Parket

Tomichechek

Red Apple 18

Dymov1.ru

Stardust shop

mobilemarafon

Bork.ru

MTV 2008

Elementshop

Semejnoe Puteshestvie

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Stay Tuned and Get in Touch!

This article is the first of our new series “Global Web Design“. Over the next months we’ll be covering various continents, featuring web developers and web designs from different countries of the world and taking a close look of what is happening in the web design scene worldwide. We start today with an article about web design in Russia. We will continue with Ireland (Lee Munroe) and Brazil (Fabio Sasso) upcoming weeks. Hence, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed for more similar posts.

If you’d like to prepare an article for this series, please contact us and we’ll discuss the details.

About the author

Arseny Vesnin is the founder and creative mind behind Designcollector.net, a blog that showcases designs created by artists from Russia and other countries of the world.

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© Arseny Vesnin for Smashing Magazine, 2009. |
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Post tags: inspiration, showcases, webdesign