Everybody knows that, basically, business cards are pieces of paper bearing information about a company or an individual. It is also known that this “business accessory” ties the first knot in a relationship with a client, so it is sufficient to say that it is vital element for making a good impression.

As a matter of fact, these days, the websites are taking over the responsibilities listed above, therefore the main target for the modern business card has had to be changed to meet a different perspective.

In this article we’ll see how the modern card looks like in the food business department, also revealing the new purpose of the business card: graphic advertising.

The designers who created these cards have focused mainly on the aestetics and the concept of the business card, instead of the information presented in the booklet. This is a great way to captivate the client, catch his eye, and determine him to look over the informations listed on the card. You’ll notice that the designers have used a great variety of methods of modern graphic design for these business cards, and in some cases they’ve even chosen different fabrics to enhance the visual experience. Continue Reading

In our previous post we discussed about tips to making efficient and professional looking single page portfolio sites. Just to help you put those ideas into practice, this article will bring some excellent examples of single-page websites which will surely inspire you! They are extremely relevant because of the original, unusual or creative means they’ve used in the site design and functionality. You can pick up new ideas from each of these links and, why not, apply them to your own portfolio or use them as a starting point for creating your own original designs! It would be a good idea to analyze the way all these sites manage to obtain balance between the background and the work displayed, the very professional way of structuring information and the very fluid navigation displayed there.

They prove a point about efficiency, outstanding creativity and carefully studied graphics. In terms of the technique preferred for this type of sites, using the HTML (with CSS and Javascript) would be the most suitable, as it can easily be adapted to the desired functionality of such a site and, most of all, is easily indexed by Google. However, one must admit that the most spectacular results are usually obtained with Flash and, as in most of the cases, the designer also intends to sweep you off your feet, this can be a preferable variant. Especially as such a spectacular site can get a lot of publicity coming from the experts in the field (magazines, web design prizes, blogs etc.). Of course, a middle way is also possible: a HTML site with extremely ingenious use of Javascripts (Moo Tools,  ProScroll, jScrollPane, LightBox and so on) can kill two birds with one stone - and in this case, the project would be all the more challenging for you!

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In this article we’ll be checking out some truly inspiring graphic designer’s portfolio sites. You’ll see a collection of sites that literally catch your eye in all the ways that you could possibly imagine! The landing page becomes a moving, layered, multi-faceted space that you are welcome to wander through and where you can be sure that you won’t be bothered at all by monotonous or cliché graphics. On the contrary, spontaneity, fresh ideas and amazing designs are absolutely guaranteed in this case!  Some of the portfolio sites have a personal touch and let you catch a glimpse of the designer’s character or personality. Some others concentrate on a certain type of graphics that the designer prefers - from bold minimalism to luxurious, dynamical graphical compositions. The Flash sites are, of course, a favorite medium, but also the xHTML sites made with CSS and animated with Javascripts, for a better Google positioning or as a proof that they master these techniques as well.

In all cases, the site structure seems to have been playfully dismantled and then put together again in a new, extremely creative and astonishing way! In fact, it would be a good idea to look not only at the web-designs in this collection but also at the portfolios - you’ll surely find cool stuff that inspires you, there too! But go ahead and see for yourself!

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In this post you will actually find two sources of inspiration: photography (which you must admit is indispensable to any graphic artist), and a specific type of design: that for photographers’ portfolios websites. Right from the start you will surely notice that the photographer’s sites are quite different from all the other creative portfolio sites that we’ve looked at so far. For a photographer, the site should be an almost invisible, in any case, non-disturbing, frame for his photography. This is why extremely minimalist design is preferred or photos tend to expand all over the screen and create the graphics of the site in themselves. Probably because of the nature of photography, which is like capturing frozen memories of fleeting, shifting moments in time, most photographers seem to have a preference for static websites, where you can take your time to concentrate on individual frames or pictures.

No more will you find bewildering, shifting backgrounds, that seem to slip through your fingers or that you need to explore step by step! In photographers’ sites clear, global vision is preferred, with a strong focus on the pictures themselves, which become the leading actors on the scene.
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In this post I would like to show you some cool mind blowing website designs. You can see web designers use maximum creativity in terms of graphics and concept. One cannot help notice that originality is a must in this area, which is more than welcome, as it pushes design to its limits and leads to discovering new possibilities and unbelievable new solutions for the graphics and functionality of a site. Most of the music sites are, of course, built on themes that are either related or allude to music production, or to music in general. Some websites (such as LoopLabs) allow you to turn the knobs and play with spontaneous musical compositions, to CD albums that you can check out or a musician’s house that you can wander through.

Some other websites utilise spectacular visual compositions or use extremely unconventional photography, but in general, as a designer, you are free to be as creative as you wish, as long as the design of the site is closely related to the type of music that it promotes.

Actually, in this case, a successful web design would be the one that manages to convey the same atmosphere as the music it refers to. It should complement it in a certain way and even help you see it more vividly, capture its feeling! In technical terms, the Flash sites are again preferred. You will get to see, therefore, a selection of dynamical, graphically rich web-designs! In any case, you’ll have guaranteed entertainment!

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Previously we looked at 33 very original illustrator’s website designs and we came to the conclusion that they were the result of the great collaboration between the illustrator and the web-designer. We are going check now a similar situation, with just as spectacular a result! This time the ones who give a hand to the web-designers for creating unconventional site designs are the animators and the outcome is absolutely unbelievable! Again, like in the illustrators’ case, the sites reflect perfectly the style and personality of the animators but this time the main element used in their design is, of course, animation. This is why, in this case, the Flash sites are preferred. The sites become living, moving realms which you’ll die to explore and where you can let you imagination run wild! The general trend is to step into the world of the artist’s famous animations, to walk among the animated characters, which is a great feeling, especially if you’ve already seen that film or short at the cinema!

Our article looks not only at personal animators’ sites but also at animation studios, so go ahead and check them out –not only will you enjoy the amazing site graphics but you’ll also get to watch a lot of the thrilling animations displayed there!

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More and more extremely talented illustrators are emerging on the web these days, which is marvelous, because they are an inexhaustible source of inspiration for all designers out there! We all love their work but we are also starting to be taken aback by the way it is displayed! An illustrator’s personal site can be a visual experience in itself, and it’s becoming a means to entering that artist’s world and vision. In this article we are going to look at some original, fresh ideas for illustrators’ portfolio sites. The secret recipe seems to be a site graphics in tune with the illustrator’s own work and personality, which can only be obtained through his/her collaboration with the web-designer. The result: extremely original, unconventional web design which you surely won’t find elsewhere! The artist’s work is inspiring to begin with but now we are witnessing an extremely creative and jocular presentation which usually invites the user to participate, enjoy and explore.

The trend seems to be the interactive Flash sites but that’s not the only solution; a simple static website with unexpected, exquisite graphics can do the trick as well. Usually, for an emerging artist with a small budget to allot to his personal site, the second is the preferred solution. Other artists choose the Html site for SEO reasons, which does not mean that their creativity will be set back! On the contrary, there is a flood of original ideas in terms of web-graphics and style! The secret seems to be the fresh interference of an artist coming from another medium (illustration) in the field of web design. So enjoy the results of this great collaboration! As a bonus, you will get to see some wonderful collections of illustrations displayed on each of these sites!

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