Summit is an Oregon based design company that creates cutting edge websites… or at least really good ones. Their portfolio is an impressive display of great designs and solutions. Before I get ahead of myself, let me say that I prefer some of their sites over others, my statements apply to most of their sites, but not all. I don’t agree with every solution they have used, but most of their sites primarily contain design elements which I am eager to appropriate.
I am stunned by the aesthetic appeal of their sites; which are sometimes for high end customers and sophisticated, other times they are fun and casual. Tastefully bright colors enhance richly colored backgrounds. Their sites always look like the products that they display.
Tahoe Mountain Resorts looks like Tahoe; it’s designed in greens and tans with a lot of textures, big blocky areas, and outdoor pictures. The only thing missing is a pine scent. Nike Golf has a variety of background pictures, see others by refreshing the page. Another good element of their sites is the navigation; you always know where you are, how to get somewhere, and where you’re going to go if you click on something. There are a lot of roll-overs, images fading in and out, and creative ways of presenting information. One of my favorites is Norweigan Cruise Line's Slide Show, if only I had thought of that. On some of their sites you can even use the back button to return to pages, though occasionally it behaves unexpectedly. More variety could be used in their font choices, but I like that their fonts are typically small but readable. I suppose that all of those things combine to make a good site, but not a cutting edge site. Summit either creates new solutions to common problems or they know where to appropriate ideas from. As your average consumer and site viewer, I don’t know which it is that they do, but I like their sites and will leave the technicalities to lawyers. Hopefully those same lawyers won’t notice that my final project might bear some resemblance to a Summit website.
If you need to commandeer ideas:
Norweigan Cruise Line's Slide Show, how cool is that?!
1 comment:
NCL's site is incredible! Will we be able to turn sites like this by june? :-} ???
The simple use of the fish movie clips were a well designed touch. One white fish among the school of orange is a statement. And the color theme was consistant throughout the site.
Good inspiration!
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