Commercial Category Winners
Thursday December 15th, 2005
One of the keys of great design is the use of the right idea at the right time. Kutztown University's design department seem to have hit this mark precisely with their scrapbook-inspired website.
All of our judges were impressed at how the tangible textures and well-worn artwork evoke so well the craft and tradition of design which often seems to be missing in our digitally-defined world, and yet still balances this intrigue with a usable interface. An excellent blend of form and function.
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Reviewed by Cameron Adams :: Comments (10)
Sunday November 20th, 2005
You want proof that you can make a CMS site with plenty of content completely Standards compliant? This site is it.
The folks at Pixelworthy have beaten the Ektron Content Management System into submission, allowing them to produce this hard rockin' magazine's site entirely in XHTML 1.0 Strict validating code.
And the design's pretty nice too: good whitespace for actual reading, just the right amount of angles, and some decent photography. However, that doesn't necessarily save the writing :P I'm still trying to figure out whether this guy liked the album or not.
Reviewed by Cameron Adams :: Comments (5)
Sunday November 20th, 2005
When I first saw this site, I *so* wanted to award it, but a look under the hood revealed pretty much all divs.
I'm pretty certain the semantics have now been updated (or maybe my standards have just fallen in the interim) but now the code resembles something respectable. But that's all by-the-by. What you really get here is a fine execution of grunge to the nth degree. And where better than on a snowboard site?
The Subtotal team have really created a coherent experience that mightn't be your cup of tea, but should hit the bullseye for the target market.
There's the usual Flash validation errors, and also a strange reluctance to put input tags inside a fieldset. But don't worry guys, I'll award now and let you correct later :P
Reviewed by Cameron Adams :: Comments (6)
Monday October 31st, 2005
If you don't have Flash on you'll miss a chunk of this site, but it's still great Standards development.
This site is a perfect case of designing for your target audience. Here, the bullseye is kids aged 5 - 13, and the site caters for them perfectly by deftly using elements from the source material and combining them into a bright and lively interface.
As its focus is a children's animated series, the use of Flash throughout the site is warranted, but not overused; giving the kids enough interaction to get them hooked and make the site an extension of the TV series, rather than an afterthought.
A few validation errors, mainly because of the Flash inclusion method, but that's as good as you're going to get.
Reviewed by Cameron Adams :: Comments (7)
Friday September 30th, 2005
Remember when you were a kid and you liked to dress up and pretend that you were someone else? It doesn't really matter what you pretended to be, perhaps a fireman or a cowbody. Perhaps a superhero? (Perhaps you liked dressing up in your sister's clothes? It's OK, we won't tell.) Now, I want you to cast your mind back and do some more pretending today.
I want you to forget that you find the subtle nuances of XHTML and CSS interesting. I want you to forget that you think that you know all there is to know about markup and semantics. I even want you to forget that there is this stuff we call code underneath what you see on screen and just look in awe at a terrific design.
Poptones, one of the most distinctive site designs I have encountered in a while, and by UK based designer Simon Collison and the team of talented chaps at Agenzia.
Reviewed by Andy Clarke :: Comments (18)
Wednesday September 7th, 2005
When this site came to my attention this week I was keen to see how a major brand like Sony had implemented a new site with standards based methodologies.
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Reviewed by Andy Clarke :: Comments (15)
Thursday July 7th, 2005
What do you get if you cross Cameron Moll with Patrick Griffiths? An old dog with some new tricks... Ahem!
A crisp, clean design combined with lush colours is enough in itself to make this site an attractive prospect. The fact that the whole thing is (invisibly) liquid, and a perfectly executed example to boot, is what really sets it apart though. It is a true joy to explore and that's what I am off to do now, explore some more.
Reviewed by John Oxton :: Comments (67)
Saturday June 4th, 2005
I'd always associated feathered black and white images with bad wedding montages, but the designer of The Paumanok Review has used it perfectly to lay the setting for the fictional writing contained on this site.
The stark coldness of the scene -- paired with paper textures -- make it the perfect compliment to the prose and poetry that is the focus of this site and puts me in mind of the writings of some emigre Russian author.
Reviewed by Cameron Adams :: Comments (7)
Thursday May 12th, 2005
The Web Standards Awards are all about the combination of design and code. While we see many pretty faces with dubious structures, Markus Stefan knows just how to get it right.
His latest project -- folietto -- blends light, airy graphics with rock solid semantics, to give a great looking, accessible website. The only thing I can fault is the contrast on some of the text, sometimes dark on light is the only way to go.
Reviewed by Cameron Adams :: Comments (8)
Saturday January 29th, 2005
Malarkey's awards are like buses. You wait for ages, then two come along at once ;). And this one makes me wish I'd paid attention in German classes.
A muted colour palette, interesting Flash menu and an unconventional layout combine to make a site which feels well crafted. A quick look under the hood (and the nifty PHP style-sheet writing) leaves you feeling good too.
No more to say except this one is a must see!
Reviewed by Andy Clarke :: Comments (9)
Friday January 28th, 2005
After the success with éS Footwear and ThirtyTwo you'd think the hotcrew would have earned themselves a permanent Hawaiian surf vacation. Instead they seem to be working harder than ever and can now almost call WSA their second home.
Etnies is a sleek blend of flash spots and well organised xhtml strict where the main layout is used with a different colour theme on each section. And yes, I'm really trying to avoid calling it a template... :)
I also really like the design of some of the sneakers. The tanned Arto for example, US size 12, is looking mighty fine.
Reviewed by Johan Edlund :: Comments (4)
Wednesday January 26th, 2005
My first award for 2005 and one with a slight 'agenda'. There have been some designers who implement designs using web-standards who have recently been talking more about design and using standards as a 'means to an end', rather than 'an end in themselves'. I hope that this will be the year when stunning creative design and standards-based code become 'just the way that things are done'.
When creative designs are implemented using web-standards, everyone wins, and this site is a perfect example. Gorgeous visuals, clever touches and a (mostly) intelligent use of Flash. Sure, the navigation is visible only with Flash enabled, but this can be easily fixed with a little replacement content. Perhaps,
<ul id="nav-main">
etc.
</ul>
#nav-main {
position : absolute;
top : -10em;
}
There are some sites that make me think I wish I'd done that!
This site is one of them, what more is there to say?
Oh, a belated Happy New Year!
Reviewed by Andy Clarke :: Comments (10)
Thursday January 13th, 2005
Rammstein's performances are nothing if not dramatic, and in suitable fashion their web site made a lasting impression upon our judges.
Its finely wrought grunge and unusual interface won them over, though it only just managed to outpace the technical perfection of Subtraction and Etnies' inviting streetwear shopping. That the site was built for the music industry -- a sector notoriously overladen with Flash glory houses -- was also a point well noted.
Congratulations to bit_design on the first gold star of 2005!
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Reviewed by Johan Edlund :: Comments (9)
Thursday December 23rd, 2004
It seems that people other than dedicated web designers have something to bring to the Internet as well. Last month's gold star winner was designed by the Heads of State illustrators, and this month's winner was beautifully sketched out by Mr. Bearskinrug himself.
Artists such as Kevin Cornell bring a freshness to the Standards-compliant arena in which many of us have become weary. While it mightn't suit every site out there, Bearskinrug is a perfect match for its own purpose -- pure enjoyment of drawing and an insight into Kevin's world askew. Is there anything else it need do?
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Reviewed by Cameron Adams :: Comments (7)
Tuesday December 14th, 2004
Catch this Christmas edition while you can. Kansas City based designers Look And Feel have made a site worthy of the Lee brand.
Muted colour palette, clever (and very 'fitting') treatment of images and well structured XHTML Strict. It isan enormous shame that Look And Feel have chosen to opt for fixed font sizes within the CSS and a few too many links open in new windows, but every site must have room for improvement somewhere. And this one is still a belter.
Reviewed by Andy Clarke :: Comments (7)
Tuesday November 9th, 2004
With leading sports brands such as Nike, Reebok, and -- on the snow side of things -- Burton and K2 opting for an all Flash web presence, it's often tempting for similar companies to go down the same route. But sites like thirtytwo.com show that it's possible to compete in the same market using Standards, and still have a great looking and involving site.
The interface has the right amount of subtle angles to make it cooly off-kilter, but is still a cinch to navigate. And the beautiful shots of the product are showcased perfectly in the ever-changing header feature. Here's how to rock Standards in the snow!
Reviewed by Cameron Adams :: Comments (3)
Tuesday November 2nd, 2004
Pretty much a clean sweep for the Heads of State this month. It truly is a marriage of design and technical skills -- Jason and Dustin's retro illustrative style taking advantage of JSM and Shaun's web development savvy.
It's this kind of synergy which should be the way forward for Web Standards. Take the best of both worlds, stir, and serve.
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Reviewed by Johan Edlund :: Comments (12)
Thursday October 21st, 2004
Good design crosses the boundaries of language, and with the prevalence of english speaking "experts" and weblogs in the Standards world, it's good to see that the benefits are also being found outside our own small world.
The work done on Wasserwerke Zwickau was good enough to just pip Lousco's excellent site as this month's winner. The two took different approaches, but in the end the clean lines of WW Zwickau edged out Lousco's more intimate feel. With it's adherence to correct mime-type serving it could even be the first true Web Standards site awarded here!
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Reviewed by Johan Edlund :: Comments (6)
Sunday October 17th, 2004
I'm a geezer, I love big toys. Kymco is full of BIG toys!
The Kymco site screams attention to detail, from the well-targetted use of rollovers on the home-page, to the superb handling of detail pictures on product pages.
I might wonder why the developers have made certain code decisions, but what the hell, on a site design this complex and this well executed overall, I can forgive a few stray <br />'s. That is not to say that the code is in any way sloppy, it validates to XHTML Strict right off the line. Great stuff.
Reviewed by Andy Clarke :: Comments (5)
Monday October 11th, 2004
Awwwww ... what a cute doggie.
Good design can provoke emotion, and the Lousco Labradors site makes your heart melt when you see those big, floppy ears and innocent, little puppies. The high quality photography is used well throughout the site, amidst a subdued but interesting palette.
I'm not too hot on the JavaScript -- inline actions and a menu option that doesn't work without it, but hopefully that fairly easy change will be rectified once they read this.
Reviewed by Cameron Adams :: Comments (5)
Sunday October 10th, 2004
Once again, it has been a tough month picking.
Although I can't understand a word on this site, so thanks to Johan for explaining to me what it is about...), what shines about Jaerhagen is humour and attention to detail.
For those like me, (not blessed with a working knowledge of Norwegen), Jaerhagen is a shopping center, although on first glance I thought that it might be a designer's site. Almost every issue has been carefully considered and executed beautifully, tiling grass background, PNG transparancy, I could go on...
Design by Jan Petter Somme who's site for his wife won an award way back in May. This one is a corker!
Reviewed by Andy Clarke :: Comments (0)
Friday September 3rd, 2004
Ever since WSA started back in February I've been trying to find a well designed site that uses an elastic layout, i.e. a site where the content expands or shrinks relative to the text size (think of the way the zoom tool functions in an application). I always thought the first elastic design awarded here would be some obscure design blog or experimental layout depository, so imagine my surprise when I pull up the newly redesigned mozilla site to find out that it nicely scales according to the text size. At least in Firefox and Opera. IE doesn't understand min-width and max-width and therefore turns the elastic design into a fluid one.
The two main rules:
body {
min-width: 610px;
margin: 20px;
}
#container {
max-width: 70em;
margin: 0 auto;
}
More facts:
- The markup is not xhtml for once, just good ol' html 4.
- Both the style sheets and the markup are well organised and follows one of the best coding guides I've seen.
- The navigation doesn't display correctly in Opera (6 and 7.20).
The new mozilla.org feels very professional with a clear IA, good accessibility and a stylish surface. The site has been developed by a team from silverorange.
Reviewed by Johan Edlund :: Comments (12)
Sunday August 29th, 2004
Coinciding with bad metaphor month, Follow the Rhinos stampeded to the head of the pack with an almost unanimous vote of confidence. I think those sad looking creatures might have won sympathy votes, but there's no doubt that the site is finely crafted. Its beige tones match those of its charges, while the photos and graphics counterpoint the palette -- enlivening what could otherwise have been a dreary site.
This month we'd also like to welcome Andy Clarke from Stuff and Nonsense as a new judge. I'm sure he'll find plenty of Standardised goodies to award.
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Reviewed by Johan Edlund :: Comments (14)
Friday August 27th, 2004
It's good to see one of the leaders in the Open Source software movement also taking the time to embrace Web Standards.
Linux developer Red Hat's new site is a fairly complex beast, with plenty of sections, products and information. Good usage is made of plain text -- with a lot of the design working only with whitespace and typographic treatment -- but the odd graphic differentiates pages just enough to remind you of where you are.
Reviewed by Cameron Adams :: Comments (3)
Saturday August 21st, 2004
"We've recently redesigned chevy.com into XHTML Strict and tableless CSS layouts. Navigation is comprised of accessible definition lists. The homepage alone plummeted from a modem-crushing 1MB to a svelte 17k. I hope you like what we've accomplished."
Dave Linabury of
Campbell-Ewald describes the new chevy site and yes, I certainly like it. Most of all I like the fact that another really large commercial site adopts web standards, but the design isn't all that shabby either. The layout could use a little more white space and a softer colour palette to accentuate the pictures of the cars. In my mind at least. The world of hardcore
ROI will probably disagree. :)
Reviewed by Johan Edlund :: Comments (11)
Wednesday July 28th, 2004
Forget the slightly low quality header photographs and the fact I don't know the language. This site has some real edge, and really well organised content.
Google Translator says that this site is aimed at promoting youth initiatives, and its dirty, street look seems to fit well with this. However, probably the best thing about this site is its layout. Easy to understand navigation, chunking of information, good division between areas, and the text resizes well (in Firefox) while retaining the grungy effects.
Reviewed by Cameron Adams :: Comments (3)
Friday July 16th, 2004
Thankfully, the monthly judging panel is totally independent, so hopefully no calls of bias can be levelled at Rapha's win in July. :o]
The Message team just edged out Pseudoroom's portfolio because of its rich content, commercial focus, and distinctive use of the colour pink. Their win shows that fantastic art direction isn't negated by Standards-compliance.
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Reviewed by Cameron Adams :: Comments (10)
Tuesday June 15th, 2004
Bad Religion's new site adds some refreshing grit to an otherwise too sterile web design scene. I can't help staring at the tilted text for the navigation. Would I have the nerve?
Twothirty media and Cuban Council have joined forces to produce a really good site and, as a long time fan, I hope the new album — The Empire Strikes First — can live up to this standard as well.
Reviewed by Johan Edlund :: Comments (2)
Tuesday May 25th, 2004
Here at WSA we've given out many awards to sites that put content first. The tasteful site for Norwegian illustrator Berit Sømme is no exception. By focusing on Berit's excellent illustrations, husband Petter has developed a site that feels very sophisticated and stylish despite actually being very simple.
Unfortunately, I noticed some problems with *jumping* content in Firefox (.. or, lo and behold, could there be a rendering bug in my beloved Firefox!). A quick spell check might be a good idea as well.
Reviewed by Johan Edlund :: Comments (5)
Thursday May 20th, 2004
Soft tones, big pictures, clean lines. Goppa Fireplaces' new site has them all, and gives you a thoroughly enjoyable browsing experience (should you be in the market for a fireplace).
Much like a good fireplace, the web site does not call attention to itself, but uses its structure to focus the user on the product. The product pages do this extremely well -- navigation, text and features providing an unobtrusive showcase for what users really want to see.
Reviewed by Cameron Adams :: Comments (10)
Friday May 14th, 2004
Okay, last award for a bloggy-looking site that uses a wallpaper pattern ... promise. But the monc agency has created a site with a unique colour composition that works well. The red, green and brown palette, combined with a patina of dirt gives the site a warm, homely feel; the subdued brightness of the main content drawing your attention like a lamp in the corner of a dusty room.
Those tabs look a bit familiar though. :o]
Reviewed by Cameron Adams :: Comments (3)
Wednesday May 5th, 2004
The vibrant colours of Yellowlane weren't enough to beat out the hand-crafted feel of Readymade in May's battle of the Standards.
The complexity of information presented on Readymade's site as well as its "real-world" application of Standards gave it the slightest edge over its compatriots. Congratulations Readymade and congratulations Fluffco.
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Reviewed by Andy Budd :: Comments (11)
Wednesday April 28th, 2004
Skating is all about attitude -- living your life, committing to the move. And eS footwear's attitude goes down smoothly.
The layout of each page is well structured and defined, separating navigation from the cool tones of the content, which itself perfectly frames luscious product shots alongside vital stats. Visitors to the site come for glossy pictures, and that's what they get, along with some tight code and edgy design.
Some of the colour contrasts on the text could be upped a bit, but given the target market of the site, the defaults are serviceable.
Reviewed by Cameron Adams :: Comments (8)
Monday April 26th, 2004
My first impression of "GUI Galaxy":http://www.guigalaxy.com/ was "slick". The colour scheme is pleasing, the design is tight and I love the subtle detailing like the icons and nav bar. Also you've gotta love the robot illustrations. Like many other "design":http://www.pixelsurgeon.com/ "portal":http://www.designiskinky.net/index_main.html "sites":http://www.surfstation.lu/, "GUI Galaxy":http://www.guigalaxy.com makes liberal use of iFrames. This would usually be a huge turn off for me, however, considering this sites target audience (tech savvy designers) I'm willing to let my gut feeling about iFrames slide this one time. So on the whole, this beautifully designed standards based site is well deserving a silver star. Great Stuff.
Reviewed by Andy Budd :: Comments (13)
Tuesday April 20th, 2004
Mulligans is following in the footsteps of the aged Victorian feel that made whatdoiknow.org such an influential site. It's a very well branded site with Guinness-like creamy colors, wood carvings, decorative borders and unusually good header photos; all in all, a site that fits the subject perfectly.
It's also interesting to see that the developers Asset Web and Massimiliano Sorrentini have used a PNG graphic for the bar sign to make it seemlessly overlap the header graphic. We only wish that the PNG format was better supported by IE/Win, so we all could take advantage of the alpha transparency without resorting to workarounds.
Reviewed by Johan Edlund :: Comments (7)
Tuesday April 13th, 2004
The Icelandic language must be a designers dream. Just take a look at the beautiful headers for Radio Reykjavik. You'd be forgiven for thinking that “FORSÍÐA” (frontpage) is an image even though it's just plain old text. Very old text in fact:
“Resistance to change is one of the characteristics of the Icelandic language, which explains the fact that a twelfth-century text is still easy to read for a modern Icelander. However, Icelandic has undergone considerable change in its phonetics. Another characteristic of the language is its uniformity, i.e. absence of dialects.”
Source: NAT
Could this “resistance to change” be the reason for the spelling of “rokk'n'roll”? Not even Lemmy of Motörhead could come up with such a great spelling!
Radio Reykjavik is developed by Andri Sigurðsson and his own personal portfolio is another great site.
Reviewed by Johan Edlund :: Comments (5)
Saturday March 27th, 2004
Sometimes a Web site isn't just about how good it looks. Sometimes it's about tying together an enormous amount of information into a useful, browseable site that you go back to everyday.
As a newspaper, the site for Northern Ireland's News Letter wouldn't be one of the most glamourous design jobs you'll ever receive, but the use of Standards to unify a large and ever-changing amount of information with a clean, quick, usable interface merits the award of this site as a good example of the applicability of Standards.
Reviewed by Cameron Adams :: Comments (6)
Tuesday March 16th, 2004
Tim Murtaugh and Mike Pick have collaborated to bring us an online art gallery for emerging artists. The site is designed to give ample room to the art work while at the same time "present the art in a friendly, somewhat whimsical atmosphere, as opposed to the black or white treatment usually given to online art galleries."
If the crop duster is a metaphor for the fertilization of creativity, I might add that Cloud King is not only an open canvas with plenty of room for artistic expression, but also a very well stretched and gessoed one.
Reviewed by Johan Edlund :: Comments (17)
Friday March 12th, 2004
Although it's not crammed full of pages, the information that nightsalive.net presents is beautifully spaced -- allowing all the elements to be absorbed comfortably by the viewer. Coupled with a glowing, clean visual design, the end result is a very nice, professional looking site.
There's only one curiousity: although the designers rightly do not shy away from using tables for tabular data, they have used heading tags inside td's when simple th's would be far more appropriate.
Reviewed by Cameron Adams :: Comments (9)
Tuesday March 9th, 2004
The first thing that struck me when viewing this site was how quickly it loaded despite having a lot of graphics and icons. The second thing I noticed was the vivid colors and artistic logo. Finally I realized that this is not an art magazine, but a very bold design for the staffing company Marquess and Associates.
Firewheel Design has created this site and I feel they deserve a "Silver Star" not only for the excellent design and valid code, but also for breathing new life into the corporate world of blue and white.
Reviewed by Johan Edlund :: Comments (11)
Friday March 5th, 2004
It's good to see a traditional graphic design body willing to support new techniques and standards. The Atlanta chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts has chosen a clean, minimal web site in XHTML that still manages to pull off the edgy look required of a graphic design institution.
CSS' ability to re-position content has been used to good effect on sub-pages -- allowing content to come before the navigation in non-CSS browsers, but with navigation still remaining visually at the top of the page; a good accessibility consideration.
Reviewed by Cameron Adams :: Comments (8)
Thursday February 26th, 2004
If this site popped up on your screen you could be forgiven for thinking it was an all Flash affair (or somehow related to a fishmonger). You'd be wrong on both counts. Underneath the crisp visuals and unusual interface of this small advertising company's site it's all div's, p's and li's.
It's definitely a heavy site -- the front page weighs in at around 375kB -- but that's the price you pay for the great detail contained in the textures and images. As a grisly extra, you even get an alternate stylesheet! ("freshness guaranteed")
Reviewed by Cameron Adams :: Comments (5)
Monday February 23rd, 2004
In a couple of days Ben Saunders will begin an incredible adventure that will take him from Russia to Canada via the North Pole. He intends to make this solo journey on skis and pull a sledge with all his supplies through the biting cold of the Arctic. "No dogs, no kites, no guides, no resupplies." And here I'm complaining about the unusually cold winter in New York!
Damien Du Toit has developed the website that accompanies this adventure. Not only does it conform to web standards and is very stylish using a table-free, "fluid" layout, but also provides Ben himself an opportunity to communicate with the outside world through cutting edge technology.
Congrats to Damien for a great site and best of luck to Ben!
Reviewed by Johan Edlund :: Comments (4)
Monday February 16th, 2004
Sometimes the least obvious makes the most sense. Big tiling wall paper (of the kind that my grandma liked) for a rock 'n' roll site?
David Hellsing (:monc) has developed this stylish site for an upcoming "indoors rock festival" and manages to keep it both sleek and grungy at the same time. The site also includes a simple, but effective, flash animation on the home page.
Reviewed by Johan Edlund :: Comments (4)
Sunday February 8th, 2004
This award goes to a site that shows CSS design isn't just the preserve of personal sites or big corporations. Designed by the excellent TwoThirty Media, this site can only be described as wildly sophisticated. But then, I'm a sucker for grid based layouts and big, bold use of photography.
Reviewed by Andy Budd :: Comments (21)
Monday February 2nd, 2004
Maybe I'm just deprived of Aqua looking icons on my Windows platform, but I love the clean, glowing interface of this site. Only one small validation issue on the home page.
Update: And now it validates!
Reviewed by Cameron Adams :: Comments (6)
Sunday February 1st, 2004
We were prepared for long debates and plenty of in-fighting over who would take the first WSA Golden Star (site of the month award), but the PGA Championship's beautiful design and high quality production made it an easy and unanimous choice.
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Reviewed by Johan Edlund :: Comments (11)