I’ve noticed a trend lately of websites that incorporate some pretty incredible photography as a central part of their design. We all know the cliche “A picture is worth a thousand words”, and not only is it true, but I’ve realized it’s especially accurate when it comes to current web design.
When photography is used well on a website it just naturally makes you want to interact with the content. To me, Apple’s website really set the standard in how they presented ultra-rich images of their products, and I think that’s one of the reasons they’ve seen such a dramatic increase in popularity and success.
Now, many companies don’t have the budget Apple does to produce these images (or the extraordinary talents of their artists), but the good news is just about every website can benefit from some well thought out, homemade photography.
Unfortunately, when it comes to the business-side of designing websites, and really any creative corporate material, the natural tendency is to use stock images from one of the big online warehouse-sized libraries.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that, stock photos have come a long way. Here’s just some of the advantages:
1.) Comparatively, they’re much cheaper then professional, custom photography
2.) Because they’re watermarked, you can preview them in your design for free
3.) There’s literally thousands of them out there so you have a lot of choices
These are all great reasons for using stock, but if I had to pick one word to summarize each one it’d look like this:
- Cheap
- Lazy
- Generic
Looking at it in that context, these are never words I like to use when making creative decisions. Conversely, here’s the advantages of using real photos on your website:
1.) Personalization, no other website on the web will have these pics
2.) Specificity, you’re getting the exact images you want the way you want them
3.) Quality, now there’s cameras under $1,000 that can produce amazing images
Now that list is more like it. The bottom line is, few other visual elements can have a more powerful impact on a design then awe-inspiring photographic imagery. Here’s some websites I ran across that got it right, if you have some examples you’ve found feel free to post links in the comments section.
I saw this site on a Best of Week over at Abduzeedo.com and was instantly drawn to it. Not because of the vibrant color scheme, slick use of typography or naturally smart grid-based layout. Nope, it was that big ‘ol beautiful bottle of beer that immediately caught my attention.
With the drops of condensation lazily rolling down the bottle and big-enough-to-grab-a-hold-of presentation, that beer IS the design. It amazes me when product-based websites don’t give the product the proper visual billing it deserves (and requires).
50Back is a perfect example of the right way to do it, the image of the beer bottle is incredibly clear and sharp and it seems as the page was designed around it, not the other way around. Not to mention, the cause it represents is a great one and if I ever have the opportunity I’ll be proud to take a good long swig of 50Back.
This site was listed in a showcase on Tuttoaster and caught my eye for the simple fact that I love everything about food. Eating it, cooking it, you name it, if it has to do with food I’m down.
Not to mention, food makes for some killer pictures. Whenever I’m in a restaurant reading a menu description I think about not only how a dish will taste, but how it will look on the plate and this is a great example of that on the web.
Restaurateurs will tell you that you eat with your eyes and that’s why plate presentation has become as fussy as it is now. But at the end of the day, high quality images of well prepared, appetizing food will always create a strong visual effect.
This website, much like 50Back, does a great job of letting the product speak for itself. It just does the simple things right, the photos of the food are bigger then anything else on the page and the designer clearly went out of their way to make the textures and details of all the food in the rotator stand out.
This one was posted on Six Revisions as part of a showcase and I bookmarked it right away. I love music and try to play guitar but aside from Margaritaville and the first few bars of Stairway to Heaven I can’t play a lick.
But I think guitars are awesome looking, there’s something iconic about them and they just make great pictures. Such is the case here, and all it takes is one glance at that stunning Les Paul you can practically hear how it good it sounds.
Using full width hi-resolution images isn’t a new web design trend by any means, but seldomly do designers leave the photo alone and let it speak for itself. I’ve seen countless websites that crowd a beautiful product image with taglines, buttons and other distractive stuff that dilutes its overall effect.
Aside from the small, monotone call-to-action button tucked away in the bottom right corner of the pic, this design let’s the guitar do it’s work. And trust me, a Les Paul guitar can do a lot of work.
Saw this one over at webdesigndev.com and after initially scaring the bejesus out of me I realized how well executed the design is. I’ve noticed zombies are a trend now and a pretty overdone one in my opinion but this site manages to pull off the undead imagery frighteningly well.
Images like this, when used correctly, create a strong emotional reaction that good designers are able to leverage into engaging experiences. Which I guess is a fancy way of saying that when you see something like this you don’t easily forget it, and for a lot of us that’s a goal with all our work.
Not to mention, incorporating people (or half-dead people in this case) into a web design has proven to be a successful way to attract the eye. Usability studies have shown that our eyes are drawn to faces before anything else.
With that in mind, it’s easy to see why this design is so successful.
Is your website photogenic enough?
We’ve taken on some new projects where we’ll be using custom photography and it’s been exciting to push the creative boundaries of what can be done with it.
Here’s some links to a few photography showcases that inspired this post, and if you’d like to chat about adding some unique appeal to your website with photography let me know.
Smashing Magazine: Showcase of Beautiful Photography
Abduzeedo: Beautiful Black and White Photography
Naldz Graphics: 30 Amazing Examples of Waterscape Shots in Photography
