Last week the winners of the 2010 Webby awards were announced. Jennifer Farley, one of the staff bloggers at SitePoint (where I work), recently posted a breakdown of five of the winners in design-related categories, along with her impressions of the sites in question. I think that’s a great idea, so I’m going to write my own version of that post, examining the same five winning sites.
Best Homepage/Welcome page
This category was won by Male Copywriter. Here’s what that site looks like:
I like the understated aesthetic and the use of black to convey authority.
Best Structure/Navigation
The winner in this category was HBO/Imagine. Here’s a screenshot of that site:
Again, a simple, clean design that really speaks to the modern web audience. I love it.
Best Use Of Animation/Motion Graphics
The winner in this category is The Pop Shoppe. A very interesting design, shown here:
Best Use Of Photography
This category was won by The Economist: Thinking Space, with a stark design that really lets the photos speak for themselves:
The Best Visual Design – Aesthetic
Finally, this coveted category went to Nike’s Jordan: History of Flight site:
Again, a minimalist style makes this website a clear winner.
Conclusion
I think the Webby awards have done a fantastic job highlighting the best of web design in 2010, across the full range of available technologies and adhering to the open principles that give the Web its true strength.
3 Comments
I can’t click “share” enough, this is brilliant! Take that Webby’s!
Seriously though – Do you think the W3C put 2022 as a date HTML5/CSS3 would be fully implemented because that’s how long it’ll take general consumers to recognise that there’s a LOT more out there than flashy…uh…Flash “websites”?
*applaud*
Flash does seem to take a strong presence in popular web design competitions … I would consider it Flash design in my opinion.
Flash was forced upon my whole class when I was doing Multimedia at TAFE … if it wasn’t Flash then you didn’t have a chance on passing with above a “Competent”.
When did web design become all about the visuals and nothing else? Usability and accessibility should rank way higher. As well as the “WOW” factor, and maybe “logo size” to make up the 5th category.
The good thing about Flash websites is that when I click my back button it always takes me straight to my google results page. VERY convenient.