Design Galleries Need A Refresher
Monday I brought up the idea of a redesign for this site and my good friend Mike Papageorge just wanted more content, which makes perfect sense. Eventually the design goes to the background and you come to the site to see one thing: content. However, sometimes the design is what inspires the author to continue to write. Seeing the same design every single day can grow tiresome for someone like me. Kind of like visiting the 99 CSS design galleries and seeing the same kind of designs day in and day out.
When I started the CSS Vault I wanted to showcase great designs coded using CSS. Initially it was a great time because there were so many great designs coming out that used CSS, but then the gallery clones started to pop up and we all began to compete with each other over who could post a design first. It grew boring and troublesome so I sold the site and moved on (and has since been sold again for a whopping $100k). We are all pretty good with standards based designs now and know that many beautiful sites are done using CSS, however it is time for a shift.
When looking for design inspiration is your only source CSS sites? Have you ever come across a beautiful site done in tables or Flash? Maybe if you want some ideas you go through a magazine. When you first saw the iPod did it inspire you to design a little bit differently? See design galleries need to back away from finding quality design in one subset and start to incorporate the beautiful designs in everything that we see.
I’m not sure if there is a site like that around and sooner or later 9rules will release one, but I’m surprised one hasn’t come around already. Instead of creating another CSS gallery site why hasn’t anyone taken it to the next level at all? I know this community is better than the generic Web 2.0 copycat community so what prevents someone from taking that step and raising the bar? Maybe if we are lucky history will repeat itself and we will set the tone for the next couple months/years with regards to design galleries, but if someone beats us to it then more power to them.
Here is what I was working on in my free time last year: 9rules Design Gallery. As you can see it never got completed because I had to focus more on getting Ali and all its great features out the door, but I hope some time soon I can revisit it and bring in the social features that Ali has brought to 9rules and make design galleries fun again.
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“sometimes the design is what inspires the author to continue to write”
Oh yeah, I hear you there.
As far as design galleries, it would be cool to have the ability for people to bookmark inspiration.
Like this bit that inspired the colors for a previous design of 5411, it would be neat to be able to provide a site that acts as a container for inspiration beyond the web. I imagine that copyright issues would stifle this (unless you sold it to Google :)…
By Mike Papageorge on March 30, 2007 6:20 am
“However, sometimes the design is what inspires the author to continue to write. Seeing the same design every single day can grow tiresome for someone like me.”
That is my exact problem with Not Too Geeky. The design should fit my personality, fit my words, and “me”. A woman scared in a corner is the opposite of me. The limitations of the layout doesn’t fit what I want to do with my site. When I think of writing the thought of drawing people to a site that doesn’t represent me sucks the life out of wanting to do it. My sites thrive when I like the design because I’m proud of it. *shrugs
By Tyme White on March 30, 2007 7:43 am
Build in a style-switcher
By Peter on March 30, 2007 8:30 am
I think what is needed more than a new showcase site is a site that provides inspiration and different examples of elements of a page. For example screen grabs of different types of: navigation’s; comment form; footer; date display; etc.. with descriptions of the merits and pitfalls of each of them. Then it wouldn’t matter what format the screen grab came from be it flash, standards based design, magazine’s etc. Something like what Garrett Dimon did but on a larger scale. Perhaps its just me but I would find that a lot more useful to look at for inspiration for a new design than just another showcase site.
By Eddie Sowden on March 30, 2007 9:39 am
I’m pretty shocked in the fact that people still create more CSS galleries like it’s something new. CSS is nothing new anymore and should be a standard to developing sites.
I think there is still a good use for design galleries, but the focus needs to shift away from CSS.
It’s definitely time for something new. I usually look in design mags for inspiration.
By J Phill on March 30, 2007 9:47 am
Papa G: Love that idea.
Tyme: It’s a problem that will never be easy to solve.
Eddie: That’s exactly the kind of stuff I’m talking about.
JPhilly: Copycat syndrome will never die. As long as people think they can create a better CSS gallery they will continue to do so.
By Scrivs on March 30, 2007 12:30 pm
A great example of such a gallery is Notcot:
http://www.notcot.org
This is a golden resource for early adopters and tends to cover the best of design in every industry.
By Travis on March 30, 2007 4:34 pm
How many CSS galleries do we need?
I agree with J Phil that magazines can be a good source of inspriration and ideas.
By Steven on March 31, 2007 3:27 pm
CSS galleries where great when people where looking to see what could be done with CSS.
Now that you can pretty much anything with CSS, people are back to looking for great designs. Isn’t everything in CSS now anyway?!?
The number of niche galleries is on the rise, as people looking for design ideas in particular industries or using specific techniques.
This is where the future lies in my opinion.
By Mubashar Iqbal on April 1, 2007 5:33 pm
webcreme.com (which is down as of me pressing post) is the gallery I most often visit for that exact reason. It is still a web gallery but it’s about design, not the technology or structure behind the design.
My “gallery” site for non-web inspiration (similar to notcot) is Better Living through Design (http://www.betterlivingthroughdesign.com/)
By sunshine on April 2, 2007 12:09 am
I couldn’t agree more. I have been contemplating a redesign of my site, because I’ve noticed my lack of posting in result of me getting tired of the look of my site. While others may read it via RSS, I still have to visit it to post that content through my site, and some things just get old.
By Ryan on April 2, 2007 2:36 am
What, none of you have been to Design Snack (http://www.designsnack.com)?
It’s a community-based gallery of all sites: CSS-based, Flash-based, or *gasp*, even some table based. All the sites are voted and ranked by the community. Members can keep a favorites list, too.
By Justin Scheetz on April 2, 2007 6:16 am
We’re seeing a lot of this sort of thing on flickr these days (not that I know anything about that sort of thing). There are sets and groups for web design inspiration, print design inspiration, disk image design inspiration, and much more. The CSS “gallery” idea is played out, though I do find some good examples of inspiration in them at times, but you really have to dig for it.
By Patrick Haney on April 2, 2007 11:13 am
There are more design inspiration sites out there, I wish I had links for you but trust me on that.
And I have to say, if you do decide to do something with 9rules, you have to make it a community thing (heck, build on the one we already have). Something where everyone can propose and share examples of good design. It’s more rewarding than a one-man show.
By Montoya on April 3, 2007 9:27 pm