The web is a goldmine of fantastic websites and inspirational designs to keep your mind motivated and creative.

Many sites are overall ‘pleasing’ to look at which give you that “ah, this is nice” feeling but what is in the detail which makes you come back for a second look? Great design is something that sticks without even being sticky - a little flare, light or edge which either brings you back to that site and inspires you to create.

These designs recently caught my eye and have inspired me to create.

It’s the little things that count

At the point at which you decide to take that box and give it a lift, an edge or just a little colour will give it life to make the page have more of a feel then that is eye catching.

ACS SEO - Eye catching simplicity

Beautiful paper style design with a soft organic feel. Navigation is clean and easy to understand without being left with the feeling of “where am I?”. A great example of “light” design promoting ease of use.

Web Fruits - Eye catching colours

A design which uses dark grey and slate blue to create easily readable content. Header, menu and content is well defined even though it is only separated by space and minimal graphical details. Colours are strong on important elements which catches the eye.

This Web Host - Clean lists and content

Simple design with well formatted content - whole site feels “complete” down to the last detail. Lists and points easy to read and are well defined using plenty of padding and the use of large bullets/numbers.

DesignReviver - Organic “complete” feel

Well designed structure with a strong focus on usability. Very inspiring Web 2.0 grunge style throughout the site with a nicely styled “featured” post on the home page which draws attention.

Mollom - Bright and clean

Clean, crisp and clear design. The flash banner is a bit of a distraction and plays havoc with my FireFox causing the script to ‘lock’ the window - otherwise an interesting design.

Karim Zurita - Soft almost touchable feel

This is a well designed portfolio site. The message is clear on the home page, it is easy to work out where you are and what this site is about. Icons make the navigation clear and simple to use.

Icon Kits - Smooth descriptive navigation

Simple navigation and well designed content. Suitable use of headers and short paragraphs.

David Costales - Nice floral background

The floral background of this site adds a small memorable detail to an otherwise simple design.

Avalonstar - Awesome Grunge 2.0 design

This site has all the workings of a web 2.0 blog under the hood but carries a whole new revised image over to the web. A perfect example of dark eye candy.

Colin Grist - Beautiful header image

This could of been a average banner image with a bright photo but the shadow, gloss and curve pick this up off the flat and make it so much more interesting.

Kevin John Gomez - Effective initial impact

The scribbles in the header contrast against a very structured clean site.

Oypro - Eye grabbing header illustration

Large header vectors can hold a users attention but can feel bolted onto a site. Creating an image which weaves and integrates into the site structure can make it feel like it was always there.

Swaylo - Bright, colourful and clean

Good use of vectors and illustration can improve a websites visual quality but too much can throw the visitor off the message. This site has a good balance and presents his portfolio in a easy to find/easy to read block.

Ivan Pik - Effective background image

The detail in the background image can grab attention even away from the screen.

Inkblot Creative - Bright and clean

Clean design promotes a clean image and this site, along with it’s personal approach, is very welcoming. The flash is also subtle enough not to intrude on the experience.

Ayush Saran - Awesome and clever design

Simple site with a simple message backed up by one very clever vector design.

Really Wild Flowers - Eye catching background

Brian and Ariana - Small, pretty and ideal

This is a beautiful little site to promote a wedding but just the little fine details make it a really inspiring design.

Web Design Beach - Colourful header and soft details

Good integrated vector design can make your site “pop” and stick.

Mostly Eating - Beautiful backgrounds

The ripped paper menu is just like all those scribbled recipes my other half leaves around the kitchen! Very fitting for the content.

Ivan Pik - Websites at dusk

A soft organic design backed up with subtle photography.

Chemistry Recruitment - Everyone loves sketches

Adding your unfinished design ideas to a finished design through sketches is a popular eye catching technique.

River Nene - Simple memorable design

A nice design which is easy to use and navigate. Using the site you will find water paint/paper style sketches to illustrate options and links.

The last detail

There you have it; A top list of inspirational designs and all their little details.

The best motivation for creating is looking at someone else’s work, appreciating it and then finding out how to be better. Taking a great design idea and working to improve it can be a real challenge, be it only with yourself, but it can yeild very satisfying results.

With hand fulls of CSS/design showcase websites there is plenty of inspiration for everyone but with the best designs you will be able to go back and pick that design out from the crowd.

Don’t forget

That icon you put next to a link or the slight gradient of colour you put on that button can transform a common experience, like clicking a link, into something visually pleasing - be it very small - but keep up the small details and they soon ammount a great design which will leave a lasting impression on your visitor.