Web design isn't about flashy graphics and features. The best sites appreciate the value of simplicity.
Web Awards: Design
Effective Web design is not about creating flashy graphics and piling on the features. The best sites appreciate the value of simplicity.
Three very different Web sites took top honors in the Design category this year. One, a scooter manufacturer and marketer from New Hampshire, got the judges' attention by creating a strong brand image and an easy-to-use format. Another, a Massachusetts-based information portal for network-storage professionals, got high marks for its clear organization. The third, a ceramics wholesaler in Boulder, Colo., won praise for its warm color palette and minimalist display of its product line.
A scooter retailer, a techie news site, and a ceramics catalog. These very different companies had the same philosophy when it came to creating a Web site. Each followed the golden rule of Web design: Keep it simple. That's an important message for growing companies to think about as the Internet enters a new phase in its evolution. People are starting to rethink what "Web design" means, taking the time to be thoughtful about design rather than just getting the site up and running. The bottom line: there's a lot more to good Web design than just images, colors, and fonts.
FIRST PLACE: Nova Cruz Products LLC
Our judges gave high marks to the Web site of Nova Cruz, purveyor of the Xootr brand of scooters, for its strong identity and judicious use of Flash animation.
"Talk about user-centered design. These guys rock. The whole site felt both useful and fun. Well-designed menu structure, great legibility, effective use of space, and a prominent call to action. (They have a big Buy button.) The Flash movie of the Xootr was useful and entertaining. I loved the photo gallery and the poetry. It felt like sincere fan fare, not affected." --Harley Manning
"This may be one of the better uses of the splash page -- to show the product in large size. Nice color and design for the navigation menu across the top -- edgy, yet bright and readable." --Bill Demas
"The home-page design does exactly what it is supposed to do: it guides the user toward scooters. The scooters are positioned in a clean, fun, urban environment -- perfect for this product. I like the recurring urban-transport motif, and the fact that the design drops out of the way on lower-level pages (while remaining absolutely consistent with the look and function of the home page) is actually a plus for me." --John Hartnett
SECOND PLACE: TidalWire Inc.
TidalWire's informative site for the network-storage industry won points with our judges for making its rich content easy to navigate.
"A superb example of simplicity of design accomplishing realistic goals. The simple, clean icons and color combinations easily divide the page into the three main product areas. In this case the icons actually have something to do with the content, unlike some other sites. Simple, clean, and effective." --John Hartnett
"As far as a portal site goes, this one is quite pleasing to the eye. It seems like they actually considered the overall design and didn't just hack it together like most info-driven mishmashes. These concise nuggets of information are just right for the Web." --Jeffrey Harkness
"Generally well-thought-out design, with good use of color-coding tabs and grouping information together into the most important high-level categories." --Bill Demas
THIRD PLACE: Mosca
A wholesaler of Italian ceramic dishware, Mosca garnered praise for its simplicity and its beautiful color palette, all complementing the company's product line.
"Beautiful, good catalog site. Very clean. Great color palette, which goes with the Italian motif." --Jeffrey Harkness
"Saying 'thank you' before a visitor registers, explaining what you will do for registrants in exchange for their information, having an opt-in check box for the mailing list, and having a brief, optional survey with an open-ended question -- all those features convey the impression that the company treats its customers with respect." --Bill Demas
"A minimalist, design-oriented site. This site accomplishes its goals very well by placing the products in a gorgeous 'upscale' setting. Great use of color. Simple, effective navigation that works exactly as it should." --John Hartnett
State of the Art
Design guru William Drenttel, a founding partner in the new-media design firm Jessica Helfand-William Drenttel, in Falls Village, Conn., spoke recently with Inc reporter Kate O'Sullivan about Web design.
Inc: What do you think about Web design in general these days?
Drenttel: I think we're at a regrouping phase after the mad rush, where half the stuff didn't work very well because it was getting built so fast. Now companies are trying to retool things to make them work right. Most companies these days are not investing a lot in new design. They're trying to make the sites they have work better.
Inc: For a small business with a limited budget, what are the most important elements of Web design?
Drenttel: I think that people need to limit their ambitions and make sure they build something that they're able to maintain and service and run. The biggest problem people have is that the scale of their sites quickly gets out of hand. It's easy to build a Web site that's bigger than you are.
