Ornate Elements Part 3
3rd edition — by Patrick McNeil — Sep. 21, 2006
The Design Element
Ornate elements are one of those things that may gain more trendy status from time to time, but on the whole will never go away or be out of style. Ornament has always been really beautiful and will always have a place. What I find truly wonderful is when people use it in ways that feel fresh, new, and just look beautiful. Not just beautiful in a victorian old school sort of way, but when the element is morphed into an uber modern and stylish element.
A prime example of this is the
Tubatomic Studio
site. The site could have easily fallen into the old fashioned corner very easily. They have avoided this however. How they did this exactly is somewhat elusive. For starters I think using it with a mostly black background avoids the typical earthy connotations. More then anything I think the company logo does it. It is more of an icon, almost pixel style, and it seems to prevent the site from becoming to old fashioned. That actually amazes me, I don't think I have ever seen so much power in the logo in shaping the feel of the site. This is a beautiful site you won't want to miss.
Another site that gives a whole new feel to the element is the
Brainfood
site. The site is a joy to look at. In this case two things clearly give the element a fresh feel. The color pallet for one is far afield from the typical ornamental connotations. Secondly the modern glossy feel the site has. This is another one of those, I wish I had made this moments.
Enjoy the links and don't forget to make this style your own. Morph it into something special, beautiful, and distinct.
Sample Usage
Free Ornaments
Briar Press (eps format)
Printers Ornaments (font file)
The Grammer of Ornament
Ornaments For Sale
MyFonts.com (Loads of ornament fonts)
IStockPhoto.com (Wide variety of ornaments for sale - very cheap)
Golden
Era Studios (Beautiful stuff, but at a price)
