25 Brilliantly Simple Web Page Designs
Sometimes a site can be visually stunning not so much because of the content but because of the lack of content. Though often attractive, this is a tricky style to pull off correctly without just looking like you’ve got a boring page.
Today we’ll look at 25 sites that we think got it right. First we’ll discuss why these designs work well under certain circumstances and then we’ll jump into the examples.
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Beyond Minimalism: The Power of a Focal Point
Minimalism is a huge trend right now. Articles and showcases abound on every design blog either praising its simplicity or bashing its shallowness. This post isn’t about minimalism. I’ll show you why with an example:
This is an excellent example of minimalist design. The design is clean, the content perfectly aligned and the typography simple. However, notice that there is still quite a bit going on in the page design, it’s just organized very neatly.
Though many of the sites below fit into the minimalism schema, our showcase today is more focused on the power of one. Creating a site that has a single strong focal point… and little else. The sites below prove that less can often be more, that great design doesn’t always mean multi-faceted, complicated or even highly structured.
As you look at these sites, think about how the focal point grabs your attention. Is it successful in making you want to explore the site? Does it make the site feel unique? Always consider the psychology of a design and how it makes you both feel and act.
25 Brilliantly Simple Designs
Enough talk! Here are the sites. I’ve put in my two cents on those that I found especially noteworthy.
Mary-Ann Foster
You would think a single giant circle would be pretty lame, but I actually love how this site looks. The colors saved the day here and bring in a lot of interest.
Simon Foster Design
An abstract shape with strong lines and lots of contrast makes for something that you can’t help but stare at.
Crealo
The text here is too difficult to read in my opinion, but the large graphic makes a strong statement.
Andy Shaw
Peaxl
Lucia Soto
You’ll noticed circles used heavily in this type of design. I think one reason we see this is because they’re harder to work into more traditional styles.
Dorotheu
Captial G
I love the simple and fun statement made by the color bars, which double as the site navigation.
Norm.Architects.Copenhagen
Big, bold type is almost always attractive. Here you’re letting the font artist do all the work by providing you beautiful elements to display.
Martha Kelly
Crowley Webb and Associates
Bertelli • Biciclette Assemblate
A strong photo can be among a designer’s most powerful assets. Floating one nearly all alone on a page can make for a really dramatic design.
T O Y
Michael Muller
Ryan Hammond
Adelle Charles
Adelle’s site is awesomely clever and really showcases both her personality and style. If you’ve got some really great photography of yourself, go build a personal portfolio using it as the hero.
Skinny Ships
Emma Du Pille
Jan Reichle
Check out that use of negative space. The choice of color and texture is really attractive as well.
CREATED 201 Studios
Pandaweb Studio
Bullet PR, Brighton PR company
Ricardo Gimenes
Ricardo is a rockstar in my book. His homepage is super simple and just features a fun little self-portrait with a laundry line navigation area.
Fajne Chłopaki :: Portfolio :: Studio graficzne
Keyonary+ The Shortcut finder!
Show Us Yours!
Leave a comment below and let us know what you think of the brilliantly simple designs above. Also be sure to leave a link to your own designs so we can check them out.
Thanks for including my website and for your kind words in your introduction. Link to my website is http://www.ehhwhat.co.uk for anyone who wants to see it.
Thank you. These sites are great and functional. They are very easy on the eye. And here is my site: http://web.me.com/x3mbrand/site/VM_Portfolio.html
Urg, I just redid my site and now I’m thinking that I like the starkness of these better. Might be time for another redesign. Ah well, at least I like web design! :)
http://www.nicksigler.com/ is a great example of simple design.
These are some great designs displayed here. Makes me want to make some modifications to my site. :)
I have recently redone my site in the same sort of vein. http://www.jongamblellc.com/. Let me know via email if you have any feed back for me! Thanks.
I traded in my simple, clean site for a slightly busier one, but my friend John has a nice one at http://john.do/
Simple yet Beautiful sites!
Awesome sites!
Mine is at: http://jamesduncombe.com. Would be interested to see what people think :)
I think that my company website is pretty cool too: http://www.bahiastudio.net :) I hope you like it.
I love the first one, Mary-Ann Foster :D
I’m working in my blog (pre-alpha-beta-release) with almost none images, so is pretty clean, if you wanna see: blog.edmundojr.com
I love simple and clean designs… loving them all
Thanks for sharing
Simple clean designs do actually work, why try something that doesn’t work?!
All of these websites are unique but all have there own feel. The only thing they do have in common is there simplicity. Creativity is a key but I find it hard to leave a design there if it is simple, I automatically want to add more to it and I don’t need to but it is just reaching that point when to stop.
A website can just look really clean if it has a column structure to it and a couple or colours that work well together. Thanks for sharing the designs.
Wow :) thanks for including 2 of my designs, I’m loving the Bertelli and Capital G sites loads :)
My website is pretty clean and simple, http://www.damianherrington.co.uk gets away from white minimalism.
Thank you so much for the kind words! :) Really appreciate being placed among these beautiful examples!
Some lovely sites there although I’m not overly keen on Flash only sites, but that’s just personal preference.
My personal site (http://www.iandevlin.com) is also quite minimalist, and like Damian’s above, is not black and white only.
Thank you so much! I love all of these, and are much better than some of the simple websites I’ve been seeing. Definitely inspirational, and making me want to simplify my design even more.
I am glad you are showcasing simple design, it seems that most sites are really pushing to show off sites with heavy textures and a scrapbook feel to them. I wasn’t as successful at simplifying my site as some of the sites featured but I think it is close. http://www.bethquirie.com Thank You.
Very nice selection, the toughest part is choosing the best ones to show!
Absolutely awesome designs!
Mine is http://www.zivmeltzer.com :)
My site’s pretty minimalist: http://martineau.tv
Really great collection. I love all. Thanks!
Good work.
Here is another great example… http://www.robertomarzola.it
if you want to see and nice clean, minimalistic, and texture site, take a view of http://www.bo.lt and let me know your comments on @acearaujo (twitter)
“Life is not complex. We are complex. Life is simple, and the simple thing is the right thing.” — Oscar Wilde
beautiful, thanks for sharing!
Gorgeous – truly inspirational! I’m looking for someone to redesign my site. Perhaps it’s one of the designers you’ve showcased. Thx!
Great article I liked very
It is unfortunate that some files are already outdated. But there is something to look at. thanks