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Web fashion

Friday May 6, 2005

A bit of news before I begin...

Well, it's been a rip roaring couple of months I have to say. Traffic has gone through the roof, I have, virtually at least, met and talked to some wonderful people, and managed to insult a few along the way, always a bonus! So, thank you for coming along, you are most welcome.

I took a very interesting phone call this afternoon, which leaves me both shitting myself and very excited; it's a bit of a dream come true for me and that's all I will say for now. What it all boils down to though is that I am not going to have any time to post over the next month or two.

Before I go though, I want to sneak in one last post that I meant to do last week, and was reminded of thanks to Nathan's post about Birds on logos. It's about web fashion and how design ideas seem to spring from nowhere and dominate the scene for months at a time. I often wonder where they spring from, who are the people behind these great ideas? Then I load up Fireworks and try to re-create them for myself, usually failing miserably.

Anyway, what I wanted to do was present you with five fashionable web items (well my feeble attempts at re-creating them anyway) and following that ask a few questions:

Faded drop shadow borders

I can't remember where I first spotted these but I wish I could, because the day I saw them I knew I simply had to have them, darling! Twice now I have redesigned Joshuaink using these borders, and I have had to make myself a promise never to use them again.

Faded drop shadow borders

Bargain star

I really love these, and they seem very fashionable at the moment. In many ways they remind me of the stickers used in bargain shops, where everything has a big shiny star attached in order to highlight it as a great deal!

First spotted at: patrickhaney.com

Bargin star

Highlighted chunky button

I know I am going to get hooked on big and chunky at some point soon (that's web design you filthy minded lot!) and these buttons are just too damn sexy I think.

First spotted at: hicksdesign.co.uk

Highlighted chunky button

Plastic bar

The first place I saw this was on the Skype interface for PC. I have since seen it used on various websites to great effect.

Platic bar

Blocky navigation buttons

Another very fashionable item at the moment and very nice they are too, though not to my taste personally, but then what do I know about anything!

First spotted at: subtraction.com

Blocky navigation buttons

What I don't want to do here is start any kind of flame war about who was first to come up with these ideas. But I thought it would be interesting, or maybe not, to ask you where you have spotted these fashion items recently and/or where you think you spotted them first.

Alternatively, you could re-create another fashionable web item that I haven't featured here, upload it to the comments for us all to see and tell us where you saw it first.

Finally, if you are feeling really ambitious, create a new fashion item, right here, right now, upload it to the comments and lay claim to it, so we may all pronounce you a genius in months to come (now why do I know I am going to regret this last call).

Well there we go, I'll be doing the email thing and watching the comments but from here on this blog is gonna be a bit quiet for a while, ta ta for now :).

  1. Jaakko Knuutila

    1203 days ago

    First of all congrats for what ever you’ll be doing, sounds nice and big. You managed tto gather quite a collection of “hip” interface designs. When it comes to plastic bar I think it’s haunted web designers more or less since the launch of Mac OS X. n addition to that plastic look, Tiger (10.4) seems to use subtle gradients especially in Spotlight and Mail. Sadly I really can’t remember the mother-of-all-gradients website.

  2. Alex B

    1203 days ago

    I believe I’ll have to agree with Jaakko on the trendy plastic bars originating from, no other than, Apple. And boy, do the do one hell of a job with it.

  3. jordan

    1203 days ago

    Now the real thing is to keep this post in a safe place, come back in a year or so, and use some of these things. Don’t use ‘em when they’re `all the rage with the kids!`; save ‘em until everybody else has forgotten, and you’ll be `reinventing the past` or some artistic crap like that. :)

  4. mat

    1203 days ago

    Let’s not forget the colour blue. Originally conceived by Neubix.

  5. kamicane

    1203 days ago

    The next fashion item will surely be:

    GLOSSY ORBS!



    ahem..

  6. Jolo

    1203 days ago

    Cool tidbits of design, they’re all fashionable! Fireworks also rocks… congrats john.

  7. Sebastian Schmieg

    1203 days ago

    I’ve two of those stars on my frontpage (sometimes one, depends on). As with many other items I’ve taken the inspiration from print design (fashion catalogues etc) where it’s been around for a while now.

    @mat: neubix??

  8. G Bancroft

    1203 days ago

    This corner thing also seems popular at the moment.

  9. Graham Bancroft

    1203 days ago

    Supposed to be an image there but I couldn’t get it up upload it.

  10. Andy Stones

    1203 days ago

    Good luck in your new job John.

  11. Graham Bancroft

    1203 days ago


    Ah, there it is.

  12. Nathan Pitman

    1203 days ago

    Reflections... they’re in too…

  13. Denis Radenkovic

    1203 days ago

    Green, flowers, nature, organic, leaves etc… all have been around for a while, but are still in. Lots of it, as Sebastian mentioned, comes from fashion designs and graphics.

  14. Thomas B. Aschim

    1203 days ago

    Oh no! You’re not serious, are you? What will we do without the daily life-supporting witty content you provide? Well OK, it might be a good time to finish my website ...

  15. Gabriel Mihalache

    1203 days ago

    OMFG!
    You’ve just deconstructed the site I was GOING to make! You’re evil! Now I have to think for myself…

  16. Rob

    1203 days ago

    Reflections are cool I first saw them at monc

    And bargain stars are ace too!

    What about a circle with condensation and the words “Fresh”. Am I the first?

  17. Karl

    1203 days ago

    Ooh, the mystery! Good luck on your adventure…

  18. Rob

    1203 days ago

    Oh yeah Good Luck.. unless you got a job with google or apple. That job was supposed to be mine :P

  19. Rob Mientjes

    1203 days ago

    I won’t echo the other thoughts about the design stuff, just wanna wish you good luck with the job. Enjoy it man, all the good things (should and do) come to the good people.

  20. Roan

    1203 days ago

    I can’t believe no-one has mentioned diagonal stripes yet.

    A few years ago it was scan-line city but now the whole world has been tipped 45 degrees.

  21. Matthew Pennell

    1202 days ago

    Yeah, diagonal stripes… and pastel-rounded-corner boxes a-go-go like here.

  22. Benjamin Jackson

    1202 days ago

    Yeah, everything seems to be about the pastel rounded corner boxes – thanks again Apple!

    Subtle Gradients are dominating big time too.

    Congrats on whatever is gonna be consuming your time John, I hope it all goes well for you.

  23. Chris McLeod

    1202 days ago

    I lay claim to “Fading Borders Around Rounded Corners”...



    Other current fashions doing the rounds include styling em tags as plain text with a light yellow background (highlighter pen effect?), headings as big as yo’ momma, and that yellow fade thing started by Basecamp.

  24. Eric Irvine

    1202 days ago

    Yes diagonal stripes ////////, I was just about to say. And how can you forget white? or red, or brown, or pink. Any color really, it just depends on the month (except for white it seems).

  25. Anton

    1202 days ago

    Carbon fibre will be mine!

  26. Daniel

    1202 days ago

    Will there eve be a chance you tell us, what you are doing now?

  27. Patrick Haney

    1202 days ago

    Ah yes, the “bargain star” on my site, as you so put it. I was wondering where all that extra traffic was coming from today.

    I’m not sure what gave me the idea to use that, but I’m fairly sure I saw something similar on another site (something resembling the OS X look as well) and had to give it a try. It came out quite well thanks to Fireworks.

    And you’re right, I have seen a LOT of birds on logos lately. I’m not sure why that seems to be a big trend, but I noticed it. Odd.

  28. nikki

    1202 days ago

    Well, we’ve seen before how you’re able to post even under difficult conditions, so this really must be serious.

    Still, if it’s pant-soilingly exciting then I wish you all the best :)

    Two whole months of it though? Tell me: in your absence should we be organising a community effort to fundraise for fresh undies for you?

  29. Marko

    1202 days ago

    Don’t forget input fields and textarea drop shadows :)

  30. Ben

    1202 days ago

    Best of luck John. A dream come true has gotta be a good thing.

  31. Jason

    1202 days ago

    Asterisk is now rocking those big blocky nav buttons. I dig them and I like the layout, but I have to say, I miss the old one. I’m comfortable saying that the old layout was a big influence on me.

  32. David Jones

    1202 days ago

    LOL Go the glossy orbs!!!

    Good work kamicane.

  33. Morgan Knutson

    1202 days ago

    I like the bargain stars a lot. Though I highly prefer the chubby ones. like this.



    A new trend might be css text-shadows (only works in Safari, yes? no?) like http://www.acquisitionx.com/ (the heading and big buttons too).

  34. Jens Meiert

    1202 days ago

    It is most challenging to pack information so that it is usable, accessible, and appealing. I like some ideas presented here, there are concepts which add a certain flavor (really enjoy the plastic bars).

  35. Kosmo

    1202 days ago

    I think one of the nicest things in fashion today are the ornamet decorations which monc uses, I love them and I could make them like that.

    Monc

  36. Tom Woolley

    1202 days ago

    The reason most of these design elements are so popular is because they work so well and are kind of becoming web conventions.

    Drops shadows frame a site in a subtle fashion without being too overbearing and boxy.

    Bargain stars attract the eye to information because people instantly know stars = special, exciting and new.

    Chunky buttons look clickable and interactive and improve usability. Blocky navigation works in the same way – they look clickable and important.

    The majority of these elements aren’t just fads – they improve websites and will be around for a long time.

  37. Sebastian Schmieg

    1201 days ago

    C’mon John, what is it?

  38. Julian

    1200 days ago

    Let’s go John, tell us what happened! Which company hired you?

  39. Andy Hume

    1200 days ago

    “I am starring in a porn film!”

    John “Bum full of stiffies” Oxton.

  40. Seba

    1199 days ago

    Good luck with your new job!

  41. Terry

    1199 days ago

    I lay claim over Anton’s claim on the carbon fiber effect claim! Right here (launched October 05).

    Good luck Joshua! You deserve whatever it is you’ve just made us all so curious about.

  42. LukePDQ

    1199 days ago

    Thanks for all the techno-geekery stuff.
    Do remember to come back after your new adventure, please.

  43. Pierce

    1199 days ago

    I don’t think you can lay claim for stuff you plan on releasing in 6 months Terry. (october 05).

  44. Graham Bancroft

    1199 days ago

    When are animated gifs gonna come back?



    Sorry!!

  45. Graham Bancroft

    1199 days ago

    Dear Mr Oxton,

    Please accept my sincerest apologies for the above, I’ve been at a Christening all day and may have had one two many of the black stuff. I know there are no excuses for littering you beautiful site with that sort of trash.

    Thank goodness for the developers tool bar.

    Sincerely,

    Graham Bancroft

  46. Terry

    1199 days ago

    Oops, sorry I meant to type 04! This site has been online since October 04. Claim remains staked.

    I guess it was a little too early in the day for me to be posting. Thanks for the heads up Pierce!

  47. kusaeni

    1198 days ago

    nice design , r u want to redesign your blog?

  48. Mat Harden

    1198 days ago

    Bugger! I’ve got stripes and drop shadow form fields. I feel a re-design coming on.

    I like your ‘bargain star’ btw. Very nice.

  49. mohodin

    1198 days ago

    Well, I love the blastic bar. It could have many variations and thus many uses.

    However, that effect that they have on the front page of www.stopdesign.com is just captivating beyond description. It is one of those design tricks that you wish you had. You just later the skin and it never tires the eyes. Always looks fresh.

    John, Good luck with your next endouvor. or whatever the spelling. You will be massively missed here. You are amassing a quite a following in this blog. Please come up with some interesting topic ideas to blog when you come back.

  50. MocaLoca

    1194 days ago

    Funny, right after I visited your site from www.eyepunch.com, I went to this site:
    https://www.magicfundamentals.com/secure.php

    and there I found… the “Order your Magic Johnson copy NOW!!! ” damn it.

  51. Anton

    1186 days ago

    Terry – fine. You can have that claim, since it apparently means so much to you…

    John – Good luck in whatever it is you’re doing…

  52. Nice Paul

    1183 days ago

    My wife is trying to convince me that bargain stars are out and triangles are the new big thing. In fact, last year she tried to convince me to build her a triangular website. She insists it must be possible to have diagonal scrollbars. I’ve said it isn’t, but I can’t think of a viable reason why… someone either explain this to her (use short words) or build a triangular website to prove her right please!

  53. Terry

    1183 days ago

    Oh boy, thanks Anton. I’m just trying to have some fun though, it’s really not that big a deal!

  54. Mitternacht

    1158 days ago

    Just a word to say that your design is… Oh My God !!!

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