Biola Undergrad

I liked this site for its particular blend of graphical styles (hand-drawn illustration, vector and photography). The design successfully delivers on style while still respecting the need to remain usable.

Visit them here.

Redbrick Health

This is a fairly dramatic departure for a health insurance provider in that they’ve done away with the typical corporate look and feel in favour of a more consumer-oriented aesthetic. Browse though the various sections and you’ll see that the designer carried the theme consistently throughout the experience. one feature you might want to check out is the parallax scrolling effect you get when you resize the browser window (pay close attention to the clouds).

Visit them here.

Edit Studios

A UK based web company, Edit Studios’ website offers some interesting features that caught my attention. I particularly liked the rotating portfolio that breaks up the standard grid, as well as the playful hand-drawn details peppered sparingly though the design. While this isn’t the most ground breaking of sites, I do like it for the fact that I get almost everything I need to know about the company right from the get go.

Visit them here.

It’s also about the same time each year that I start to feel a little burned out.

One of the things I like to do at the end of every year to keep a little spark of inspiration alive so this burn out doesn’t carry over into the next year is revisit my bookmarks. I collect a lot of sites, and half the time I never recall that I’ve come across it (or revisited it). Some of what I’ve collected no longer appeals to me, but there are a few gems in there that make me glad I hoard bookmarks.

Here are a few:

ConceptArtWorld.com

ConceptArtWorld is a collection of the industry’s leading concept artists from around the world. The site is a great example of of WordPress’ publishing capabilities can be extended to create sites such as this. The overall design is understated to give prominence to the high-quality work of their featured artists.

Visit it here.

Designsensory.com

From their profile page: “The Designsensory team comprises well-rounded, imaginative and meticulous individuals practicing across a wide range of disciplines…”. This is the blog of an agency located in Knoxville, Tennessee. The rest of their site follows the same aesthetic; however, what attracted me to their blog in particular was just the sheer, unadorned simplicity of it all. The reliance on blocks of solid color, coupled with great use of white-space really makes this layout attractive for me.

Visit them here.

Viewzi.com

From their homepage: “Viewzi is a whole new way to experience search. Instead of one big list, you get nice visual Views tailored for the content you are looking for…”. Innovation is always fun to watch (and be a part of if you’re lucky). What I like about this site is that it immediately convey’s their message, “It’s all about the views!” — while not really wanting to jump on the Web 2.0 bandwagon, this site has some wonderful layouts such as their blog and about page.

Visit them here.

That’s it for now. I’m working on a nice little Christmas present for visitors this year — keep checking back.