Extreme Theme
1st edition — by Patrick McNeil — Jul. 24, 2007
The Design Element
At times design can be the most frustrating of endeavors. Finding that great design can be so hard. One thing I have observed that always works is coming up with a theme. Perhaps this is obvious, but settling in on a theme as opposed to a design style can really get the ideas flowing. So instead of deciding to make a shiny or distressed site, consider themes that would work for the topic. Quiet often themes sound ridiculous, and they usually are, but after being implemented they are fun and really bring a site to life.
For example
Indigo 6
turned their basic black site into a clever theme based one. Instead of a normal content driven site, the airline theme creates a pretty silly atmosphere. The cool thing is that as a user you can't help but wonder what the site holds. The site becomes an experience. I can just imagine the design process for this site. Ideas like "lets make it nice and clean" might come up. But comments like that don't inspire. Then someone in a meeting said, "hey what if it was like your on a plane and there was a stewardess?" Surely someone scoffed at the idea, but someone else thought it sounded better then the otherwise void of ideas. Next thing you know everything about the entire airline industry is a source of inspiration.
And that is really the true power of a theme; to inspire. The company I work for is World War II themed, and we have so many ideas around it that we don't know where to start. So I imagine someone reading this is saying, sure that sounds nice, but that doesn't apply to my big stuffy boring corporate client. On the contrary! Any site can have a theme, it doesn't mean it has to be extreme. Extreme themes are good for showing the power of the tool. But even corporate customers have a story to tell. Even they need to communicate with and entice visitors.
Sample Usage
