BlogmyQuery – BMQ

The new Smashing Books have finally arrived—freshly printed, neatly packed and ready to be shipped to you, our dear reader. We believe this is by far the best book we’ve produced so far. We are very proud and excited, and the initial verdict has been thoroughly positive, yet in the end it’s up to you to decide how valuable and useful they really are. Get your books now!

Why the Theme of “Redesign�?

In recent years, the Web has changed—a lot. The Web designer’s tools are now advanced, and browsers are highly capable. Designers have established clever coding and design techniques, and they face new challenges and are embracing new technologies. These changes are fundamental and require us to reconsider how we approach Web design. It’s time to rethink and reinvent: it is time to redesign the Web. The new Smashing books will change the way you design websites for the better.

But are we all prepared for this? How does responsive design fit into your workflow? What UX and mobile techniques do you follow when designing websites? And if you have a redesign project on the horizon, how do you approach it and work your way through it? The books explain what you need to know in order to create effective websites today, and what you need to know to be prepared for the future. Well-known experts share practical know-how and introduce a whole new mindset for progressive, future-proof Web design.

Smashing Book #3 (Printed & eBook)

With over 40 people having worked on the project, a lot of thorough editing and consideration needed to be done to fine-tune each chapter’s content and order to make the most sense. In the end, 11 of the most outstanding articles made it into the Smashing Book #3, covering topics ranging from the business side of design to mobile approaches and responsive design.

The Smashing Book #3 covers innovative coding, design and UX techniques and discusses the peculiarities of the mobile context and emotional design. It also presents practical HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript techniques, as well as a bulletproof workflow for responsive Web design. The book challenges you to think differently about your work, your code and your designs.

Table of Contents

AUTHOR	CHAPTER	DETAILS
Elliot Jay Stocks	Preface
Elliot Jay Stocks introduces the new Smashing Book #3 by making us think about our workflow, the quality of our work, our industry and our community. Working in an industry that evolves at an incredible speed takes a lot of effort—at the same time, it’s what keeps us going.
Paul Boag	The Business Side of Redesign
A redesign is the best thing that a Web designer can experience. Yet before leaping head on into a project, we must consider the business behind the redesign. By its nature, a redesign has the potential to make a website successful, but it also has the power to destroy a perfectly good idea. Important considerations to keep in mind before engaging in a redesign project include common dangers, required research, the working process with the client and testing. Paul Boag leads you through this process step by step. Chapter keywords: business model, redesign timing, scope of redesign, redesign considerations, realignment, project pitfalls.
Rachel Andrew	Selecting a Platform for Redesign
Once you have understood the business side of the redesign project, the next step is to choose the right platform. Understanding all of the requirements of a project will save you valuable time in aligning the new functionality with the technological circumstances. Take stock of existing structures such as the CMS, e-commerce system and payment gateway. Beware of the project constraints, including the budget and wishes of the client. Only then will you be able to concentrate fully on the project, without encountering unpleasant surprises ahead. Chapter keywords: technical requirements, CMS, eCommerce, payment gateway, refactoring, platform choice, redesign project constraints.
Ben Schwarz	Jumping Into HTML5
Ben Schwarz takes away the fear that many Web developers suffer when confronted with a new technology—by encouraging experimentation. The chapter guides you through the new HTML5 elements and discusses the possibilities that come with the adaptation to these elements. This is a practical, compact guide to HTML5, with everything you need to know today in order to create flexible and maintainable websites for the future. Chapter keywords: HTML5, semantics, semantic outlining, ARIA, client-side storage.
Lea Verou, David Storey	Restyle, Recode, Reimagine With CSS3
Some CSS workarounds that have hung around from earlier days prevent us from becoming better, more efficient designers. Learn how to recode CSS to reduce the number of images, HTTP requests, presentational JavaScript and wrapper divs on the page, while making the style more flexible and maintainable. Learn about the rem unit, Flexible Box Layout, source-order independence with flex order, multiple backgrounds and gradients, background clipping, border images, transforms, transitions, box sizing and new CSS3 selectors. Restyle, recode, reimagine: because CSS3 is here to stay! Chapter keywords: CSS3, techniques, Flexbox, multiple backgrounds and gradients, transforms, transitions, box-sizing, selectors, layout.
Christian Heilmann	JavaScript Rediscovered
Even though jQuery is written in JavaScript, it is not the same; nor is it native to browsers. The large jQuery library abstracts away a lot of issues that Web developers face, yet sometimes it’s used without a real purpose. Christian Heilmann takes us back to its origins and shows us how to implement simple JavaScript solutions without resorting to jQuery, achieving the same result in a slimmer and less process-intensive way. Chapter keywords: JavaScript, jQuery, CSS selectors, classlist, localStorage, tutorials.
Dmitry Fadeyev	Techniques for Building Better User Experiences
User experience means good design, and the central aim of design is not to decorate, but to solve problems. Whether that means getting more sign-ups, inviting users to post more content or making the interface easier and faster to use, this is ultimately the sort of design that delivers a great user experience. This chapter features powerful UX techniques that you can easily apply to your products and websites. Make sure users stay on your website for the right reasons, and get an edge over the competition by improving user-targeted processes. Also, explore experimental approaches and avoid some misleading design techniques. Chapter keywords: UX design, forms, good defaults, customer service, copywriting, storytelling, experimental techniques, design pitfalls.
Marc Edwards	Designing for The Future, Using Photoshop
Because good design and user experience are almost mandatory for success today, the lines between desktop software, mobile software and the Web are increasingly blurry. We have to continually change our tools and techniques to meet new requirements. Marc Edwards addresses some of the challenges that Web designers face today and will in the future when using Photoshop. Realism, scale, screen sizes, resolutions, formats, techniques—this chapter touches on all of it. There is no reason to surrender to scaleability and liquid image requirements when using Photoshop! Chapter keywords: Photoshop, screen sizes, pixel density, scale, gradients, shapes, color profile, mobile, Retina display.
Aaron Walter	Redesigning With Personality
Any design that does not effectively establish a connection with its audience has missed its goal. Getting to know your user is just as important as knowing yourself and the personality behind the brand; this will set you apart from competitors. This chapter describes how to develop your own design persona and define the key characteristics to guide your project’s path. New technologies and techniques are not what build connections with users, but rather the empathy evoked by the personality behind them. Aaron Walter explains how to bring out the personality at the heart of your work. Chapter keywords: personality, brand sympathy, engagement methods, design persona, voice and tone.
Aral Balkan	Mobile Considerations in UX Design: Web or Native?
The native vs. Web debate is meaningless and counterproductive. All products nowadays have high demands for UX design. Web designers turn into UX designers by gaining specialized knowledge of the Web and by mastering auxiliary frameworks and their components. Not only do the aesthetics of an interaction object count, but also how the object behaves upon contact. Designing documents and designing applications requires knowledge of basic responsive design principles and progressive enhancement. This chapter helps you understand your medium, explains what exactly it means for an application to be “native,� and goes over how to choose the right tools and technologies for the job. Chapter keywords: mobile, user experience, native applications, native as culture, interaction design principles, responsive Web design.
Stephen Hay	Workflow Redesigned: A Future-Friendly Approach
Web design changes quickly. In multiplatform design, where websites and apps are used on many and varied devices, we are confronted with multiple destinations. How do you go about integrating as many devices as possible? Is targeting as many different platforms as possible really important? In this chapter, Stephen Hay suggest a new design workflow for responsive Web design. A new way of thinking leads to a new way of design—the sooner you get the hang of it, the sooner you will be ready to discover what works best for your projects. Chapter keywords: responsive Web design, device-agnostic approach, content inventory, future-friendly approach, breakpoint graphing, designing in the browser.
Andy Clarke	Becoming Fabulously Flexible
There are significant upsides to responsive Web design for designers, especially in workflows that embrace flexibility. Responsive Web design still asks more questions than it answers, and it challenges the working relationships and interactions between everyone involved in every process. Andy Clarke gives you some insight into the techniques that helped him become fabulously flexible when developing responsive designs. Learn his approach to designing atoms and elements of a design first and see if it works for you. It might enable you to create many facets of the same experience within a single workflow. Chapter keywords: Responsive Web design, design challenges, style tiles, design atmosphere, flexibility, designing components first.

Well-respected professionals have poured their heart and expertise into these contributions. To ensure quality, every chapter of this book has been thoroughly reviewed by experts, including Jon Hicks, Tab Atkins, Paul Irish, Russ Weakley, Josh Clark, Anders M. Andersen, Bryan Rieger, Joshua Porter, Ryan Carson and Elliot Jay Stocks.

Technical Details

• 340 pages, 16.5 × 24.0 cm (6.5 × 9.5 inches).
• Download a free sample (.zip, in PDF, EPUB and Kindle)
• Quality flexibound cover, with stitched binding and a ribbon page marker.
• Delivery from Berlin, Germany, only via air mail (3 to 15 working days).
• $5 worldwide shipping (check worldwide delivery times).
• Also available as an eBook (PDF, EPUB, Kindle).
• Get your Smashing Book #3 today!

Our new books: the Smashing Book 3 and Smashing Book 3⅓—The Extension. Both are available as a print bundle, as eBooks and as a complete print + eBooks Bundle.

Smashing Book #3⅓ — The Extension

With Web design, we can do much more than inform the audience. The power of storytelling and content strategy is in creating engaging, emotional connections that transcend their platform. In this book, we will review emerging navigation design patterns and understand how to employ a content strategy—which is an important process, often underestimated, and dependent on many factors.

Smashing Book 3⅓, otherwise known as “The Extension,â€� presents practical applications of storytelling to Web design, reviews emerging navigation design patterns and helps you understand how to meaningfully employ content strategy on your websites. A case study of Smashing Magazine’s responsive redesign illustrates how this approach could look like in practice.

Table of Contents

Technical Details

• 160 pages, 14.0 × 21.0 cm (5.5 × 8.3 inches).
• Quality flexibound cover, with stitched binding and a ribbon page marker.
• Delivery from Berlin, Germany, only via air mail (3 to 15 working days).
• $5 worldwide shipping. The book will be shipped separately, starting from 15 May 2012. (Check worldwide delivery times.)
• Also available as an eBook (PDF, EPUB, Kindle).
• Get your Smashing Book #3⅓ alone for $14.95 or as a part of a bundle.

Cover Design by Veerle Pieters

The Smashing Book series has gotten a rather eye-catching facelift. The well-respected Belgian artist Veerle Pieters has taken on the significant task of putting together an innovative, bold cover design. And the result is bold indeed. Veerle’s styling of Smashing Magazine’s “S� reflects the many aspects that make up a Web designer’s workflow today.

An excerpt of Veerle’s final cover design for the Smashing Book #3.

Veerle’s final sketches for the cover of the Smashing Book #3.

Exclusive Artwork by Kate McLelland

If you have the Smashing Book 2, you’ll know that animals play a distinct role—forming almost a tradition for the series. This time, we have asked the talented young illustrator Kate McLelland to illustrate the introductory pages for all of the chapters. Kate has been impressively creative in her designs; the theme of redesign has obviously shaped the tone of her artwork. Each chapter begins with an elaborate drop cap.

A detail of a chapter illustration, designed by Kate McLelland.

Each illustration employs a different metaphor that relates to the accompanying chapter. See what they all are once you get your hands on the book. Appropriately enough, when strung together, the drop caps spell out “Redesign the Web.� The composite style of the illustrations points to how so many components have to come together for a successful redesign.

Reviews and Testimonials

We’re looking forward to honest, objective reviews of the brand new Smashing Books. Please share your photos, opinions and feedback on Twitter using the hashtag #smbook3. The first feedback has been throughout positive and, in fact, we’ve discovered the first reviews of the books as well:

“The entire book is wonderfully balanced between theoretical and practical, with each author contributing a strong point of view on their area of expertise as well as a thorough explanation of how to execute it in a way that is useful. [...] curating the most cutting edge perspectives on the Web and offering the tools and information that the rest of us need to build upon them. If you’re into that, check out this book.”

— Christopher Butler, Book Review: Smashing Book #3

“This book is worth buying and reading for yourself. It really covers many aspects of modern website production in eleven in-depth chapters. There will likely be a few you don’t care for—we all have our own tastes—but I’d be surprised if any genuinely leave you disappointed given the chance. I was quite prepared to write something less positive, the first Smashing Book didn’t excite me, but this one very much did.”

— David Bushell, Smashing Book #3

“The Smashing Book #3 is an invaluable resource for Web designers, regardless of skill level or experience and we highly recommend it.”

— Cameron Chapman, Review: Smashing Book #3

Please feel free to submit a link to your review in the comments to the post and we’ll add your testimonial into this article. Feel free to provide criticism or praise: we’d love to hear your honest opinions!

A quick peek into the Smashing Book #3. Yes, we do like animated GIFs.

The Smashing Anthology

If you haven’t purchased Smashing Books #1 and #2 yet, we’ve prepared a couple of complete bundles for your convenience. Even though the first two books were published a couple of years ago, they remain relevant and valuable, because they were designed by our editorial team to be timeless. Save 20% off the price and get yourself the Smashing Anthology, a collection of all of our books as of today:

• complete Printed Smashing Books Bundle with all printed books for $84.90 (i.e. 20% off the price) or
• complete Digital Smashing Books Bundle with the digital versions of the books for $44.90 (i.e. 15% off the price) .

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

We want to make it as easy as possible for everyone to buy the new Smashing Book. We welcome all suggestions and advice that could improve Smashing Magazine’s user-friendliness. Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about the Smashing Books #3 and #3⅓:

Please Spread The Word!

These new books took seven months of production time, from brainstorming to delivery; 43 people worked on the content, design, layout, editing and proofreading of the book; 623 animals are hidden in various places in the Smashing Book #3; and the production costs for initial circulation, excluding marketing costs, required a six-figure budget. That’s what it took us to ensure that our Berlin warehouses are stocked with these new valuable books, waiting to be shipped right away as soon as you place your order.

The authors of the new Smashing books.

Here at Smashing Magazine, we do our best to support and enrich the design community. Yet we also rely heavily on community opinion—in fact, the magazine would not be what it is today without the constant feedback of the community. That’s where you come in: we now pass the book onto you. Use it, enjoy it, test it, read it, rate it, evaluate it, criticize it or praise it—and share your honest opinion of it with the rest of the world.

Feel free to take as many pictures of it as you like and to use the Smashing Book #3 media kit (.zip, 9 Mb), which is full of interesting facts, figures and images related to the book. Be one of the first to give the community a critical view of the book; stir the discussion, and encourage feedback on your website.

Your criticism helps us further improve future projects, shapes the selection of topics and enables us to stay close to the pulse of the community. We sincerely appreciate your support.

(il)

It’s not good for you but every now and then, we all hit the drive thru for something quick and easy. The golden arches are the most recognized brand in the United States, if not the world. When my family moved from Brooklyn to St. Louis, my three-year old son saw the St. Louis arch and yelled, “McDonalds!�

I asked him what we should order and he replied, “a Burger King!�

McStart

The marketing McDonalds did on children’s programming had my two kids brainwashed long before my youngest son could even talk. When a McDonalds commercial came on the TV, it might as well have been Spongebob due to the transfixed state both my kids would enter. In fact, once Happy Meals featured Spongebob, we had to eat there twice a day so the kids could collect each and every piece of brightly colored plastic from China. I often wonder what the Chinese think of the toys they produce for the west. In the morning they package Cello sponges for the kitchen and in the afternoon, sponges that live in a pineapple under the sea.

Say what you will about McDonalds, they are smart, savvy marketers of their poisonous products. Good thing they chose to sell food and not bags of broken glass and sulfuric acid squirt guns! Maybe I shouldn’t give them ideas. Sometimes it just gets a bit too weird.

This image will give me nightmares forever. Now I’ll have to sleep with my hands and feet under the covers so baby Ronald doesn’t bite off my fingers and toes while I sleep! 

I have no idea why or from where but it’ll keep those nightmares coming. Maybe it’s an ad for fresh milk?

Clowning Around With Customer Service

I once had the pleasure of meeting one of the McDonalds Corporation executives who worked in the department that planned counter and drive thru innovation. He was a smart, well-spoken man who had come up through the ranks, as do many corporate executives. One day flipping slabs of meat and the next, ordering around slabs of meat, so to speak.

He was speaking to an audience of creatives and marketing personnel about how his company explores the evolving customer base and solves the challenges. Sure, technology keeps advancing but, just the same, the public grows stupider, too. If you doubt that statement, listen to people order a simple burger next time you are standing in line. It’s like asking Stephen Hawking to solve an immense calculus problem in his head, except he can do it in less than ten minutes. As customers lose their ability to think quickly when ordering a simple meal by a number tied to a large picture of what it represents.

The McGentleman showed video of experiments in both drive-thru creation and in-store ordering situations. In a large warehouse, crisscrossed with white grid lines on a black floor and walls, much like the holodeck of the starship Enterprise, or, if you aren’t a nerd, the game grid in Tron. Cardboard boxes were laid out to simulate a drive-thru space and walls and actual cars were driven in to test traffic flow, service time and the number of fiery crashes that would occur when the herds converge on a restaurant.

Viewing the video, I was struck that the testing was probably more intensive than what NASA had done with the space shuttles. If you think about it, McDonalds was around long before the space shuttle and has outlived it. Chances are there will be Big Macs on the International Space Station long before the United States has another launch vehicle able to dock there.

The cardboard boxes would be moved to form two or three lanes and the flow tests continued until they found the best solution with the least amount of deaths.

Moving inside, the flow at the counter with an eye to the ease of ordering was the challenge. The register used by all fast food places, also known as the POS (Point of Sale), is laid out in a fairly simple fashion. All menu items present and then sub menus to upsize, add items, remove items, figure in discounts for the out-of-date coupons senior citizens scream about having honored and a delete button for when people change their mind two or three times while trying to order from an array of three basic burgers.

Having stood on both sides of the counter at times in my life, I can attest that having a human to regulate the ordering process is essential and will never change. Although McDonalds did try to entertain the notion of POS ordering system a customer could do by themselves, I gather the amount of mistakes made by illiterates having to push buttons with a number from one to ten was just too much and I have yet to see the proposed technological advance put in place.

A clever use of food to advertise McDonalds “Wi-Fry.” Do you want to eat greasy food while typing on your laptop? It don’t come off so easy, folks!

A public service ad to promote how a balanced diet is good for breast-feeding mothers and their babies. I’d like to thank the McDonalds Corporation for not using baby Ronald… or adult Ronald!

I always appreciate when a creative sees something unusual in the usual. The ad for McDonalds coffee balances on the bean resembling a burger, albeit a thousand year-old, mummified burger.

There’s something sadistic about this, and how many customers will think the sandwich is made from goldfish?

She won’t be “lovin’ it” when stalker Ronald grabs her and turns her into burger meat.

I can hardly wait for my next trip to McDonalds to make me fish-eyed for life!

McDonalds is the leader in environmental advertising. Working with engineers, they have created some very impressive advertising.

How cool is this engineered piece? Of course, after noon, you’re stuck with a watch!

I wonder who had the job of scooping the beans out every day, and what they did with them? Maybe there was a reason the coffee was free?

Fries to the heavens! I wonder if the beams blinded any pilots?

Does this need to be watered?

How about this one? Dead fresh carrots kind of negates the message.

A “night only” ad? Personally, I would have opted for something subtle during daylight hours in conjunction with the reflective lettering, which would make a bigger impact on locals who knew the sign.

McBribery is a wonderful thing! Why not use it?

I love this technique. It may take a minute for the viewer to identify the message but that’s more time spent on the brand, which seems under represented in this case.

Again, this may take a moment to get but all the while, you see the brand.

McDonalds is known for generous altruism. In this case, a public service against drunk driving. Besides, the drunks will be McThrowing up in the back of the cab!

McCulture

I’ve traveled all over the United States and odd parts of the world and have been amazed that while each McDonalds, corporately owned or run as a franchise, sticks to the handbook of rules and ethics, yet veers on menu items depending on the local cuisine and population. While in Newark, New Jersey, I was delighted to find they served McBean Pie. I’ve heard of other locations that serve Pizza, McWine (France), McBeer (Germany) and some of the oddest things in Japan and Mexico. The McLobster Roll (viewed by many as a menu item failure), served seasonally in New England, is actually quite tasty and made from real lobster, as opposed to the McRib Sandwich that is pressed mystery meat formed to look like a slab of ribs on the bone but there are no bones. Frightening but evily delish!

The McLobster Roll still sells well in New England as most lobster rolls are nine dollars.

The infamous McRib sandwich that only appears every couple of years for a month and then retreats into history.

Is it more embarrassing to have to wear this hat while taking orders or ordering from someone forced to wear this hat?

McZpacho showed up on menus in Spain. Can such a McDish compete with such a national culinary staple?

McPizza just couldn’t cut it on the market. It was reported to be tasteless, soggy and McAwful.

Some concoctions from Japan. The McDonalds menu selections change often and just get weirder and larger. Wish I lived there!

If you have a “Yen” for a sausage, the Mega Sausage is available in Japan. Unfortunately, it’s a breakfast item, so get up early!

I’m surprised the Japanese aren’t all the size of Sumo wrestlers with menu items like these. I wish they had them in America!

Cheese McKatsu sandwich, a fried pork sandwich stuffed with cheese (although I’ve never had Katsu with cheese). Again, the McDonalds people need to import these to America!

The McEbi Filet-o, a fried shrimp sandwich. In Hong Kong, it’s known as the McShrimp Burger. Here it would be known as, “in my belly!”

Ach du lieber Gott! McBeer in Germany? Can a country famous for brewing for over a thousand years stomach beer from a tap on the soda machine?

McArabia? What internationally inept marketing tool came up with this name? The McArabia is made with grilled chicken or grilled kofta (beef with spices) and comes with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, garlic mayonnaise and is wrapped in an “Arabic style” pita bread. I’m surprised McDonalds didn’t call it “The Aladdin.”

The Chicken McCurry Pan. It starts off with a rectangle dish made out of dough and is topped with a tomato-curry sauce, spiced with thyme, basil, oregano, chicken, bell peppers, and cheese. Why are we stuck with chicken and burgers when things like this are available?

Want to see more McDishes available throughout the world? See more…

McMarketing

McDonalds is widely recognized as being a leader in projecting its brand through marketing and advertising. While McDonalds uses many agencies for co-op advertising, Leo Burnett Worldwide is their biggest agency of record. Burnett, known for innovative advertising, has led McDonalds into the top spot for influential ads.

The first McDonalds TV commercial. Can you spot TV weatherman, Willard Scott, as Ronald? We all have to start somewhere! Hy-uck!

Although several examples of foreign ads were used here, this article has some great foreign ads for McDonalds including a nine-minute mini drama on working at McDonalds. The Japanese “hipster” video will just cause you to freak!

McFail

No matter how much you try and how good your ads are, it’s the public who will decide in the end. These are some failed products “Mickey D’s� (as they tried to brand it for the “urban� customer) just can’t live down.

If you’re going to make a commercial, be ready to have it parodied. Like the iconic Ronald, sometimes even parody, often known as the sincerest form of flattery, can be cruel. But even bad press is, as many ad execs will tell you, good press.

(Did you spot the TV stars in the chorus?) Naturally, this was ad was spoofed.

Again, this ad was parodied many times over.

While there’s no parody for this 1980s commercial starring a young, unknown Jason Alexander, there should be.

It wasn’t so much the burger itself as the idea of keeping the hot elements hot and the cold items cold, it was the styrofoam packaging at a time when people were starting to become more aware of the need for recycling and a greener approaches.

Naturally, there have been menu items that just didn’t sell well, for one reason or another. Let me see them!

McEnd

Certainly there are many iconic brands that have ads, jingles and packaging that people will always remember and cherish as parts of their childhoods and lives. That’s quite a power, especially from a brand that is blamed for major obesity in America. Whether you believe that or not, McDonalds has succeeded at what many tyrants and madmen have tried throughout history and failed – they conquered every part of the globe and are here to stay. All bow down to Emperor Ronald…

15 Facts About McDonalds That Will Blow Your Mind…

What are your thoughts on this iconic branding? How many of these outrageous ads or products have you seen in your area? Use the comment section to fill us in your McXperiences.

(rb)

There are many photographers who aim for vibrant explosions of color in their work. Using these bright hues to connect with and move the viewer. Though there are some who take a different path for reaching their audience, however color still plays a part. They actually process the photos to lower the saturation of color and thereby enhancing the mood and tone of the pictures.

By fading the images in this way, some truly breathtaking and inspiring results can take shape. Which is what we are hoping to accomplish for our readers today. In this showcase of low saturation photography we hope to inspire our readers with the glorious, emotive imagery these talented pros have created. Enjoy!

Faded Glory

Petal Dance by Jean Fran

Vintage book… by aoao2

Boudoir by Ophelias-Overdose

Blossom by EliseEnchanted

Fog by Tamerlana

untitled by oprisco

Disappear by duchesse-2-Guermante

Somewhere Back In Time by oO-Rein-Oo

:old tale: by candymax

Keep my distance by xxchange

Kangaroo by Lady-Tori

Veiledly yours by INeedChemicalX

Softness Time by Rave15

Suicide by NadirSiddiqui

The Offer by nairafee

Wedding day… by Khomenko

Chrystal palace by aoao2

Daze by EliseEnchanted

Between cats by Tamerlana

infinity by oprisco

I have to go by duchesse-2-Guermante

Ballerina Dreams by oO-Rein-Oo

:lost in freedom: by candymax

remember the times by xxchange

Miss Elegance by Lady-Tori

Life in Red by Rave15

Tea Time by nairafee

Hush, but the heart beating by Khomenko

les jours tristes by Pink-Promise

(SP)bRING me to Life. by JoanaSorino

The Long road. by Squirrelondope

its tea time by brenditaworks

Vintage Cupcakes by fiegga

muse by oprisco

Ode to Summer by duchesse-2-Guermante

Absent Mindness by oO-Rein-Oo

Spring Chronicles by nairafee

haiku by Pink-Promise

Selfportrait. 2 by JoanaSorino

macarons by fiegga

What Did You Think?

That concludes the showcase. So now we want to hear from you. What did you think of the photographs that we shared? What was your favorite? Do you know of any other wonderful examples of low saturation photography that we missed? Just drop us a few lines in the comment section and let us know.

(rb)

Using watercolor in web design is not a new thing that designers are implementing, by any means. In fact, it has been used in web design for years. In no small part due to the fact that digital watercolor effects are inspiring and attention-grabbing, and on top of that, easy to achieve. In this collection, we have put together some beautiful examples of watercolor effects in web design for your inspiration.

All of the sites and tutorials have been hand-picked, and demonstrate the allure and beauty that this wonderful effect can add to the web. So, let us take a close look at this collection, and get some inspiring and tempting ideas for web design projects to come. Enjoy!

World of Watercolor

Boompa makes use of appealing and soothing watercolor effects that look astonishingly beautiful and mesmerizing.

Istok Pavlovic‘s website showcases some excellent and visually pleasing watercolor effects not only in the background, but also all over the site.

Chris Sharp uses watercolor effects against a black background, which can be tricky to do and have the effects stand out. But here the balance has been found nicely.

Five Points Interactive uses watercolor effects very decoratively throughout the background and header.

Giancarlo Fajardo, you’ll notice, has some darker tones that blend perfectly with the lighter toned background giving the whole design a very soft look.

Syster has amazing watercolor effects used in the design. And while the header really shines here, the top navigation menus as well as the footer have also been designed quite creatively.

Weberica, while not the most outstanding site design on the list, the large, decorative header makes this design’s use of watercolor effects stand out.

Corvus Art has a very beautiful and visually alluring header design with some exceptional effects that complement the entire site.

Le Bloe‘s designer tried to give a very charming and shimmering look to the design that was accomplished wonderfully with the use of watercolors.

CSS Addict has a very calming and pleasing look, and the watercolor effects used make it even more so.

All for Design, though it is somewhat similar to the design of CSS Addict, it stands apart from it mainly because of the type of watercolor effects used. The big difference is the header.

Football Made in Africa‘s overly imaginative design is full of impressive watercolor effects that add a grungy textured look to the site.

Web Designer Wall is a popular site whose use of watercolor effects really stand out and make the header shine.

Imoments takes an imaginative approach to using watercolors in the web design. The page does not feature any significant content rather just the graphics and astonishing watercolor effects.

Bcandullo
This website’s layout is somewhat busy and full of different kinds of elements. The use of watercolors in the header is quite lively and represents an energetic spirit.

Wccnet contains various beautiful watercolor effects in the footer area, which stands out against rest of the site which is very understated and plain.

Deborah Cavenaugh uses watercolors to great extent, and the effects have been incorporated very well within the design to give it a complete and interesting look.

Davide Savelli‘s website is designed on the concept of minimalism and does not contain too much in the way of graphical elements, which makes the watercolor effects used really pop.

Sunrise Design uses vivid watercolor effects and has successfully pulled it off. The bright green and yellow colors gives the web design a feel of happiness and joy.

Big Cartel‘s use of cool green shades and beautiful illustrations are the main visual draws in this otherwise very simple design.

Small White Bear‘s design brings out a very positive and soothing change in your mood with its soft, comforting watercolor effects.

Efinterns‘s beautiful and gratifying use of watercolor effects works well with this quite unusual, and quite dynamic design.

Pallygiraffe‘s vivid and energetic colors brings the design a feel of liveliness and vigor.

Designer Interviews‘ simple, sophisticated design uses watercolor effects quite minimally, yet they stand apart from the rest of the site.

Billyhughes.oph‘s various shades of blue with beautiful mouse over effects in the header are sufficient enough to grab the attention and make this website a memorable one.

N.design Studio‘s design, uses watercolor effects quite creatively throughout, with big, bold typography and large images.

Xhtml Cafe has a very appealing design with watercolor effects not only in the header, but also in the footer to make it look even more stunning.

Sietedefebrero limits the use of watercolor effects to the header, but the header itself speaks volume about its creation.

Moon Beam Illustrations website stands out, mainly because of the use of excellent watercolor effects. The background textures fully enhance the beauty.

Tutorials

Watercolored Design Studio Blog Layout
In this tutorial you will learn how to make a clean and simple watercolor based layout for a blog. The PSD is available for download.

Creating an Abstract Watercolor Wallpaper
There are plenty of ways to create a watercolor effect in Photoshop. Some are very cheesy and you can easily tell that a simple filter has been used. In this tutorial, we will be using Layer Masking.

Create Cool Watercolor Effects in Photoshop
In this tutorial we will learn how to create cool watercolor effects of your very own in Photoshop to build up your design arsenal.

Create Convincing Watercolor Effects Using Photoshop
This is a short tutorial about creating convincing watercolor effects in Photoshop. We’ll use a picture of a crane, several watercolor brushes and a texture to obtain this particular effect.

Create a Nature Inspired Painted Background in Photoshop
In this tutorial, we will show you some techniques for creating watercolor effect backgrounds.

Super Cool Watercolor Effect in 10 steps in Photoshop
In this tutorial we will learn how to create a quick and easy watercolor effect for your design needs.

Create a Watercolor-Themed Website Design with Photoshop
In this tutorial you will learn how to use the Art History Brush and combine it with watercolor custom brushes to create a nice background header image and more for web design projects.

Easy Watercolor Painting Effect In Photoshop
In this Photoshop tutorial, you learn how to easily make a photo look more like a watercolor painting. This photo effect works best on images where maintaining rich colors and strong contrast is more important than keeping any fine details, since you’ll be losing a lot of detail with this effect.

All for Now

That wraps up the post on our side, now we are turning the discussion over to you. Use the comment section to tell us your thoughts on the collection and to share some of your favorite sites and tutorials that feature watercolor effects.

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When creating websites you have to consider a great deal of aspects such as usability, visual-appeal, the technical side, and last but not least, brand building. Many successful and profitable businesses have been tackled this brand building with user-centric website design. They do this for different reasons, but the one that tends to draw most brands in this direction, is the way it often helps build a relationship with their users.

There are several ways that one can go about building user relationships and trust through web design, and putting a face with the design is one that, when done well, can score a lot of points for you and your brand. To add that personal element to your brand, your website can be one of your brand’s most effective weapons. But it has to be done with care to ensure that it is handled properly.

Below is a list that is filled with great examples of people making their website designs not only visually appealing, but also trustworthy by adding the human touch.

The Human Touch

1. Beyond Commerce recreates a sense of the individual approach to every customer using a properly selected slogan and the image of the singing song in your honor.

2. Hitmo studio shows eagerness to fighting on your side and working as a team against the problems. The image also plays the role of visual interpretation of the main slogan.

3. Netbluez provokes good feelings that are usually associated with the image of child-like keenness, honesty and purity of mind. The well treated photo highlights the main message and completes the whole design.

4. Creative People is a great example, where the image not only makes the whole design look fresh and mysterious, but also gets users to believe that this agency works with really talented people, who definitely use unconventional approaches.

5. Forty Seven Media presents people behind the scene with a touch of quaintness. The appearance of the potential performers shine with eagerness and creativity, convincing us of their good intentions.

6. Gavin Castleton‘s site uses a masterful photomanipulation to both divide the website into two functional parts and to inspire confidence by means of showing off the designer’s skills.

7. Digital Hands like with the previous example, the agency bets on creativeness and skillfulness of their workers, using an exceptional image that should convince users that such talented people wont let us down.

8.  Jorge Rigabert‘s whole website design is made with such a scrupulousness and attention to the smallest details that the self-portrait of the executor only adds seriousness to his intentions to do the job perfectly.

9. Chandan Roy Sanyal is not afraid to show his dark side. This unwonted and peculiar image can be regarded as an attempt to be honest with the users.

10. SEOCOM plays with the illustrated names of search engines and social media websites to bring users the idea that they are on familiar terms with web giants, thus making users feel that they are real pros.

11. Griffinabox uses a trick with transparent display to say “Hey, this is the guy who will do all the work for you�, and he is always within reach.

12. Gauged2 shows all their staff by creating offbeat photos and small descriptions. Focusing on making visitors familiar with all the members of the team and making an impression of an honest and open company.

13. Raffaele Leone greets you with open arms and with serenity on his face. Raffaele wants to make his website a welcoming place where you will feel safe and sound.

14. Jeremija Webdesign uses the power of gestures, putting in users minds that he is talking directly to them. Simply establishing the bond between him and the person behind the screen.

15. Thathurtabit uses another powerful psychological tool – facial expression. A great deal of people associate  smile and “hi-fiveâ€� gesture with goodwill, fairness and eagerness. And  he really does know about it.

16. Michael Wong presents himself as a daring and responsible warrior of website design and development, who will lead you through the web jungles and won’t leave you in any case. Making users believe that with him they will be safe.

17. Quodis calls on your imagination, creating a whimsical slider that instills the idea of full understanding and perfect cooperation among all the members, making their company the place to visit.

18. Volunteer Louisiana incorporates images of its members and of the people who regularly volunteer. Showing appreciation – cause for others to “remove their shieldsâ€� and be more friendly and thoughtful.

19. Jorge Riera realizes the importance of eye contact between himself and the user behind the screen, adding amiability and geniality with his smile.

20. Soul Media does a good job of using geekiness, instilling the sense of hopeless dedication to you and your project.

21. Bokche builds a brand around himself, integrating the impression of stability, gravity and safety. Making the customers believe that they really can rely on him.

22. Michele Giorgi concentrates on several images, each of which depicts different emotions. The first shows tranquility, the second the artistic side of Michele, and the last one displays a willingness and eagerness to start working.

23. Smultron‘s imagery conveys the sense that “everything is going to be alright”.

Share Your Thoughts

That concludes this side of the showcase, but things are just getting started. What are some of your favorite sites that use the human touch to help make a connection with their users and begin building that trust in their brand? Be they on this list, or not. Leave us your thoughts in the comment section.

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