styl.eti.me

Just how do you pick from what must be a Zillion websites on the Internet, selecting only 30 of the very best designs?

Well, of course, at least 10 billion can be quickly discounted. The ones that are just plain bad. Another 5 billion cover the “were average” category. A mere 2 million are great. Only 30 are the creme of the crop. 30 of the best. The creme de la creme.

For sure, I’m going to be wrong. With such a small number of sites for my list, I couldn’t possibly mention every single one. And then, there may be some of you who disagree with me. Which, is totally fine. If you disagree with me, please tell me. its good to talk. But how can I honestly decide between 30 sites and pick a winner? Well, I couldn’t. The sites in this list are just too awesome. So, its a draw. 30 beautiful sites.

1. http://www.sifterapp.com/

A really simple, single column & subtle design, with pastel color scheme.

2. http://spadewerk.com/

There are so many sites out there that use leaves in their logo’s and design.Spadewerk does too. But the way its been carried it out makes SW very different. Great green color scheme, and I love the typeface. Very well designed site, with a unique style.

3. http://www.mailbuild.com/

Mailbuild merged with campaign monitor a while back. Their site now bear’s a single column notification about the merger and what clients are to do. But, this design really stands out to me. It uses a really deep purple shade and combines it with pure white, and some header detailing to make the content really stand out. Great use of icons too.

4. http://www.culturedcode.com/things/

Cultured Code make some brilliant apps. And their branding is just as good! I think they carried the overall theme of the site over several product pages well, whilst still giving each product page unique in itself. I really like the simplicity of the design, and use of colorful logo’s and screenshots.

5. http://uxlondon.com/

I liked the UX London site for several reasons. I thought the color scheme was particularly sophisticated. I enjoyed how the separate colored ‘bands’ break up the design and hold the content well together. Also try resizing your browser window. The site has a nice fluid feel to it, with the Polaroid style pictures overlapping and moving. A well built and accessible site for sure.

6. http://www.designcommission.com/

Has a modern, yet classy feel. A very light and airy design, but given more visual interest with a rock / stone texture background, and a bright red (with gradient) menu that sticks to the bottom of your browser. Very cool, and very unique.

7. http://www.youknowwhodesign.com/

A great design I’m sure you agree. Great color scheme, great logo typeface, and a wonderful sun-burst type fixed background image. All combines to make a very high impact and memorable website.

8. http://unblab.com/

Unblab have a very unique and special site. The design itself is very different, combining a dark background and white content area. To add more color, the designer has created a cool-bubble type background effect, and added some transparency for a little twist.

9. http://training.collectiveidea.com/

A great design with cool swirly background & silvery logo. I like the use of Javascript and fairly thick outline to the feature below the logo. Its a great way of cycling through a lot of content, but taking up less space.

10. http://macrabbit.com/espresso

Another site that plays with the contrast between shades of one color and then small embellishments of color. Mac Rabbit carry this off very well, creating appeal and guiding the eye around the page with a very simple yet effective design. I really like the large coffee vector illustration. Nice.

11. http://www.carbonica.org/

The Carbonica website is all about been eco-friendly by offsetting carbon footprints via various programs in Central America. Its only right then that the design conveyed the organisation’s stand on Green-liness. The use of card board textures, and scribbly drawn fonts create the impression that even the site design was recycled and lovingly hand-crafted. A great site with a complimentary color scheme.

12. http://thinkdesignblog.com/

Great textured site. Nice use of leather, wood & torn paper to spice up the blog’s design.

13. http://www.13creative.com/

At number 13 (no coincidence) is 13 creative. A really a terrific design that feels like it was hand stitched. Really cool use of textures and a great color palette. I really love the menu, with its double-layer approach.

14. http://www.friskdesign.com/

A sophisticated yet fun ocean themed website.

15. http://www.delugestudios.com/

The designers of 13Creative, Deluge studios site has a very interesting color scheme, good use of textures, and dashes. This design is very distinctive.

16. http://www.designme.sk/index.html

Marek Levak has created a great portfolio. Using charcoal colors and a grungy wood background, this portfolio is very dark, and well crafted.

17. http://nikolamircic.com/

This site initially appears quite simple. But a lot of thought has gone into the design for sure. Try hovering over the menu, or the design samples. Its very understated, but a great design nonetheless. The work takes priority here, as do client testimonials. A great site.

18. http://metalabdesign.com/

Meta Lab Design have taken their namesake, and personified it in design. The finished site manages to feel clinical (like a lab) yet friendly and inviting. Another light & simple design to grace this list.

19. http://www.pixelmator.com/

The wonderful pixelmator website, with a a very full & colorful website.

20. http://www.guilhermeneumann.com/

Guilherme Neumann has a fantastic and clear portfolio, with a mission statement heading up a sample of work. Good use of feint textures to add interest.

21. http://taptaptap.com/

A great oriental themed website, complete with sushi and soy sauce ( I think). I really like the background on this site. Great logo too.

22. http://www.djangoproject.com/

An all green design could be seen as a little dull. As could a site for a Web Framework, but the designers of the django project have done a very good job giving this site some more flavour and tasty bits. A great multi-column design, and a very well chosen color palette.

23. http://rawkes.com/

The Portfolio of Rob Hawkes, complete with space theme. An interesting slant makes this portfolio visually appealing, and actually invites you to look through the site.

24. http://www.winnielim.com/

The main thing that impressed me about Winnie Lims site is the typo graphics. I also love the book-style navigation area on the right, a very pretty design indeed.

25. http://nikibrown.com/

This site is ace. A really cool combination of orange, white and wood. The bright white content area really stands out, and is topped with paper like header complete with paper clip. Great little details that don’t distract from the content, but add interesting flourishes. Its like this site has been laid onto a desktop. Check that little cute mice illustration too!

26. http://www.fortyagency.com/

Forty Agency are amongst a wave of other web agencies offering a single page website. They manage to combine a lot of design elements into that page though! They have small radius rounded corners, lots of green, and post it notes all within the design. The result is a web page that delivers all information most clients will need to get from them, and then providing them with the ability to contact them easily.

27. http://www.silverbackapp.com/

What a brilliant design? Featuring a large guerrilla (created by John Hicks), a great parallax effect (try resizing your browser window) and lots of bananas. The design gives a hint of jungle atmosphere to the site, without interfering with the content.

28. http://www.31three.com/

The portfolio of Jesse Bennet-Chamberlain. Jesse’ site really stands out with a complimentary color scheme, wonderful ‘draping’ header and great use of typo graphics.

29. http://www.colingrist.com/

A very light design, but I love how Colin has featured his logo in the sidebar on the left and nothing else, and chosen some very calming colors.

30. http://hicksdesign.co.uk/

And finally, we have John Hicks site. The designer of many famous logos around the web, including none other than the Firefox logo. Johns site is simple, with a separate sidebar and interesting 2 column layout.

Have any sites you think should have been on the list? Do you agree with me? Are there any sites you think should have not made the list?