Nowadays virtually every company tries to stand out with the help of a website, so it may be challenging to build something really unique and special. However, everything is possible — just check our tips for creative web design and use them for your own project! So, here they are.
5 Recommendations on How to Make Creative Website Designs
There are more than enough ways to create a creative website design, but we are going to provide you only with the latest trends. We want your website to be not only creative and unique but also modern. Therefore, take a look at our recommendations to keep pace.
1. Make the starting page intriguing
It is always important to provide your users with valuable and interesting content, but it doesn’t mean you have to put it all out right on the starting page. No, be laconic and a bit mysterious — design the starting page of your site in a way to make users scroll down or press a button to discover more. For instance, you can use a catchy full-screen picture or video as a background, and equip it with a button saying something like “Click me”.
This seems to be simple, but there are still several things to keep in mind. First of all, images and videos of low quality are not allowed. That’s an obvious fact. Then, an image or video should be intriguing, but logical at the same time. For example, using pictures of kittens for a website devoted to auto parts is not really a good idea. So, when being mysterious, remember two main rules: high quality and logic.
2. Go for Parallax scrolling
Parallax scrolling means that a website changes as users scroll down, and this method is very popular nowadays. That’s obvious because it has a lot of benefits. Here are some of them:
- Parallax scrolling keeps users entertained and, therefore, engaged, so they spend more time on the site.
- Parallax scrolling allows users to explore your product or service better. Videos and animations are a great thing, but Parallax scrolling is an innovative and vivid way to present your offer and let users interact with the site.
- Parallax scrolling is a great way to tell a story, as users are able to discover it at their own pace. Video content has no advantage like this.
- Parallax scrolling can lead to the call-to-action button. Just place it at the end of the scrolling way, so that users won’t miss it. If your site and Parallax scrolling, in particular, are really creative and special, they will definitely press it to discover more.
- Parallax scrolling looks much more interesting than traditional design, so your website will have pretty high chances for standing out from the crowd.
3. Use gamification
Gamification means integrating game mechanics into your website. It is a reliable and fun way to motivate users’ participation, and increase engagement and loyalty. Gamification often involves rewarding users for taking certain actions. It works exactly like in video games — they “complete a level”, get a reward, and go to the next one. As a reward, users usually get discounts, upgrades, etc.
However, rewards are not something mandatory — you can simply use gamification to tell your users a story, they will just go through it in a bit of a different way. We will give you some examples of creative website designs, so you will see what a really cool gamification should look like.
4. Use animation
A website filled only with text is extremely boring, and users won’t spend a lot of time there. That’s why it is important to use videos, images, and other interesting types of content. Animation is another great option, as adding a bit of movement to the image helps to attract users’ attention, and inspires them to stay, at least for a while.
You can use both constant animations and those which are triggered by scrolling or hovering over an image. Both options are good, but don’t fill the pages only with constant animations. Movement everywhere around is likely to distract users from the content and, what is even worse, irritate them.
Another important recommendation related to animations is filling them with a purpose — let the animation support a message you want your users to understand! Animations with no sense also work sometimes, but be careful with them — they can work as a useless distraction.
5. Keep the navigation special
Hamburger menus and search bars are classics that always work, but if you want to impress your users, you should go further. Here are some variants for you:
- Use horizontal navigation — this trend is getting popular nowadays. It is a nice choice for portfolios and other things like this.
- Create a catchy stylized menu instead of a traditional hamburger one.
- Design a huge one-page website and let your users explore everything on their own. However, in this case, it is important to make sure that such a site is convenient and easy to use.
- Try Metro style — it is splitting a homepage into several blocks, so users can choose one and then move across the site. It is a nice solution for portfolios, online magazines, product pages, etc.
5 Best Creative Website Designs
Now it is time to show you the best creative web designs! We have collected 5 nice examples for you, so keep reading to gain your inspiration!
In Space We Trust
In Space We Trust is an amazing website devoted to space exploration, and its design includes several of the elements which we mentioned before. So, first of all, the navigation. There are several buttons at the bottom, but the “Learn more” button appears only when you hover over a certain space event. In this way, the website is not overloaded.
Secondly, gamification. To learn all the details, you will have to use your arrow keys and “run” through the history. There is no reward waiting at the end, but you will gain some knowledge and have fun.
Besides, the graphics here are just amazing, and you will hear pleasant music while exploring the website. By the way, In Space We Trust is a good example of horizontal navigation. Another interesting thing is that you can run in both directions.
The Boat
The starting page of the boat looks as intriguing as possible — it is virtually impossible to guess what this site is about until you press the “Click to start” button. After this, you figure out that The Boat offers you a story and a very interesting way to discover it. Here we have some cool animations, Parallax scrolling, a stylish menu with chapters, and some suitable sounds in the background.
The website also offers an auto scroll option, which is a good idea to make your users feel as comfortable as possible. The full-screen mode is also available, and this is great for a website which tells a story. Keep this trick in mind in case your site is going to have the same mission.
Drip Pop
Drip Pop is probably the most unusual website devoted to ice cream and one of the most curious creative website designs ideas we have ever seen. The starting page with all those animations looks amazing and mysterious. There are no buttons, so you will have to scroll a bit to discover what this site is about. By the way, Drip Pop is another good example of Parallax scrolling. Horizontal navigation is also here, just as cool fonts and catchy colors. Actually this site inspires you to make a purchase even if you don’t like ice cream at all. So if you are planning to use your website for selling something, use Drip Pop for inspiration.
Send Message
Send Message is another site which looks very intriguing. Just take a quick look at it. What do you see? Exactly, that’s a fist. Looking at it, it is very hard to guess what the website offers. But if you scroll down a bit, you will see that the site offers a very special service. Using it, you can send a personalized message — just choose a gesture, enter a name, and then send it to that person. The recipient will enjoy a very realistic animation! So, the design of this doesn’t consist of an enormous number of components, but it is still very cool and memorable, so you will definitely show it to your friends. And this is exactly what you want your own users to do, right?
The Wild Honey Pie
The Wild Honey Pie offers some curious videos, music playlists, and information about diverse events. Designers of this site chose really nice colors and fonts, but we mentioned The Wild Honey Pie, not because of this. No, this website is a great example of constant animation usage. The animation is not irritating at all — it just perfectly fits the overall style of the website. Check it out, and you will understand what we mean.
Creative Web Design: Go And Make It!
You already know the coolest tips on how to make a creative website design, so you can get started working on your project. However, if you have any additional questions or don’t know how to realize your amazing idea, feel free to get in touch with us. We deliver creative web designs services of the highest possible quality, and we would be glad to help your project succeed.
