Illustrated
1st edition — by Patrick McNeil — Jun. 16, 2006
The Design Element
The samples collected for this category were chosen because they use illustration
as a means to make their site stand out. Many of the sites below would be
unmemorable if they had not included the illustrations. Others are completely
developed around the illustration. Only a few of them are for portfolios
which actually sell them, which I figured wasn't the most inventive
idea.
This is a fun set of sites to browse through though, each site has a distinct
feel to it, and it is the illustrations which set the mood. It seems that
design goes through general trends; moving from photography to illustration
based design. I think that we are currently in a photo phase, and the illustration
one will soon follow.
It is of course a more expensive and harder path to go down, but using illustrations
in your web design is a recipe for uniqueness. How corny would the
Intuitive
Designs
site be if they had used a stock photo of a chef! Instead, they have
a wonderful illustration that fits the design and message of the site; and
even better, the site stands out.
I believe this is a powerful tool to create a unique experience on the web,
where things tend to run together and are easily forgotten.
Sample Usage
