take a little design trip...

I was searching for some resources for a talk on Practical Design that I'm refreshing for CFUnited in DC this June. I've given this basic "Design for Developers" talk many times before, so some of the sites are a little stale. Time for some new samples.

One of the topics addressed in the talk is the use of color in websites. Color use is a very common tool in the "real" world when you want to reinforce themes. Analogous or even monochromatic colors (if you have a color wheel) can be used to reinforce similar characteristics between objects.

Many of you know of this as "color coding". You've seen it in grocery stores, doctor's offices, and parking decks. There's a reason it's used so widely. It works!

My example of this, was a website: N-Design Studio


Nick La is an amazing illustrator based out of Toronto. His lush, multi-layered illustrations and designs contain an amazing amount of detail. In a previous iteration of his site (see inset), he uses color as a theme to reinforce his site sections.

This is not really necessary on a small portfolio site, but for large commercial and information sites, it's very useful, but little used.

Nick has since built two subsequent versions of his personal website, and those lovely case studies in color are gone. So, I've been searching high and low for sites that utilize color coding for a fresher example. To no avail...

Have you seen any sites that use color to reinforce content types? Shout out and let me know.

BTW...take a little trip to N-Design. Follow some of the links to his side projects and collaborators. It's a fun little trip you won't forget.