Ah the lovely gradient. This is certainly a trend right now, gradient backgrounds are all over. This is another one of those easily abused trends, but as usual we will focus on the sites that implement it in a smart way.

One thing all these sites share is a soft feel. They aren't hard edged or rough. The ones with a gradient background mostly have a misty or atmospheric feel to them. Giving them a sort of light emitting quality. I would have initially thought that these gradients were just an arbitrary decision, that there was no concept or big idea behind them. But I think that many of these sites are going for a soft safe comfortable feel and they have employed the strong usage of gradients to accomplish this.

I really believe the thing to remember here is that no element or technique should be considered a quick or easy fix. Each element of a design should be thought through and planned, and if gradients such as these accomplish your goals then it is the way to go. The Nulog site is a perfect example. The gradients on the site are subtle and soft giving the site a warm feeling. In contrast the Rokkan site which uses the gradients to establish an elegant designer feel.

This is certainly a simple element but it is good to see a bunch of sites that put the same tool to use.

Sample Usage

Links

Photoshop gradient tutorial
Adobe Illustrator gradient tutorial

Comments

Carlos Bernal

3/16/2006 10:59:02 AM

You're forgetting the site that started the gradient trend ---Macromedia.com

Brian Ritchie

7/5/2006 10:47:04 AM

I disagree that it's a trend to use gradients. I think that gives the wrong impression to the readers. Gradients are a key to most design (web, print, tv) as it is simply the gradation between colors. Perhaps the abuse or overuse of gradients in backgrounds is a recent trend. I think the best application of gradients is when they aren't noticable (by non-designers), because they are subtle enough. It takes skill to apply gradients in this way. Then again, it also takes skill to employ a noticable gradient that doesn't look wrong in the design. Perhaps it takes even more skill to do that? I dunno. I do know that it is less common for a noticable gradient to look decent. It is very easy to create an obvious gradient that doesn't look right. It is best to aim for subtle. Just my thoughts. I just found this website and the articles on it are very well written. Good job!

Dale

4/6/2007 8:04:30 AM

I´m a big fan of gradients as they make pages look more three-dimensional - they give the pages more depth. This effect, of course, can only be achieved is the difference between the colours used in the gradient is fairly subtle. Gradients can look awful if used incorrectly (a la Word Art Gallery´s default styles). I believe the well executed gradients we are seeing in sites nowadays is definitely a trend. Sure, gradients have been used on the web since its beginnings, but it´s only been within the past 6-7 years that designers have perfected the way they use them, and this in turn has prompted more and more designers to follow that style. There are more sites using gradients today than ever before.

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Table of Contents

Helpful Books

Gradient Madness

Editions:

The Design Element

Sample Usage

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