365 Awesome Designers is a WordPress site with a minimalist design that still wows. I’ve seen nothing like it – love the slider, the use of the Infinite Scroll plugin, the tidy way the author info drops down and the dirty-chalkboard background. No element is gratuitous, no space wasted. The site’s author, Matthias Mentasti, thoughtfully chooses content which will inspire anybody who enjoys beautiful, well-crafted things. One of my favorite featured designers is No. 49, Jens Windolf, a print, type and web designer. His logos are incredible and you can download a free typeface from his dribbble page. The designers featured in 365 Awesome Designers are all on dribbble, which is another website worth checking out!
Archive for Sweet Site
The Pioneer Woman
There are few things in life I enjoy more than eating. I struggle to think of something to post to Facebook that does not discuss something 1) I want to eat 2) I just ate or 3) I just ate All Of that I should not have eaten At All. In my favorite pictures of myself (those in which I look the happiest) I am usually eating. So it should come as no surprise that I like to look at cooking blogs. My favorite is by Ree Drummond, AKA The Pioneer Woman. Her blog is wonderful. Her recipes are To Die For. These are the kind of recipes that make my husband want to marry me all over again when I serve them up. And she doesn’t just stop at creating delicious recipes – she also has stunning step-by-step photos of her recipes, which I find makes me a much more courageous cook.
But here’s the thing – she does so much more than cook! She’s so funny that I’d read her blog posts even if I wasn’t hungry all the time. I’ve spent hours on her site studying her photography, her writing style and wondering what hair products she uses. She also has a new show on Food Network. I hope my husband doesn’t find out about that because along with all her other great qualities, let’s just say The Pioneer Woman is easy on the eyes. She cooks, she’s funny, she’s a red-headed beauty – can you blame me for being a little worried that Mike might find out about her TV show? It’s like food porn!
Please check out her site at http://thepioneerwoman.com. Just make sure you have a few hours to spare.
Etsy Rocks
I love Etsy.com. and not just from a web designer’s perspective. I mean, the site looks great, is easy to use and has many fun add-ons to get the user involved. But what I really love about Etsy is the way it creates a community. Etsy is not just a sterile marketplace. In fact, it’s the complete opposite! I’ve connected with a few of the store owners I’ve purchased from. Two of my absolute favorites are Kajal, of Kajal’s Malas and Sara of StoneSource. These ladies are amazing artists, terrific businesswomen and genuinely nice people!
It’s so nice to have the ability to purchase unique, hand-made items from small business owners – items that would typically only be available to people living in a big city or a funky little town – when I live out in the middle of nowhere. Whoever came up with the idea for Etsy is a genius.
design*sponge
What can I say about one of my favorite websites getting a brand new look? I like it! The site stayed close to its crafty roots by holding on to the rickrack design elements. The site background now a neutral gray so that the ridiculously pretty images show up even more brightly, and no longer compete with the background. Aside from the content, the images are one of my favorite things about this site. The photography is always fantastic. I see that the designer changed the navigation a little bit, so more content is now available right on the homepage. Nice!
Check it out at design*sponge, but I gotta warn ya – it’s more addicting than Facebook!
Life + Times
Life + Times, a blog written by Jay Z, uses an image-laden homepage to draw us in. Rollover the thumbnails to see a title, publication date and category. Click to read the post.
The site is gorgeous, easy to navigate and whoever’s writing it is deep, funny and is possession of an amazing vocabulary. It is rich in content and frequently updated. The individual posts are loaded with great images. I find it hard to believe Jay Z could be doing this himself. My only prior knowledge of Jay Z is the song “Empire State of Mind” and pictures of he and Beyonce on people.com, but his post on Gil Scott-Heron shows his reach. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that a world-famous songwriter can also write a beautiful, thought-provoking blog, but somehow the sophistication and philosophy serving as the backbone of this blog takes my breath away.
Chris Coyier is My Hero
I just want to say that everything I know about WordPress, I’ve learned from Chris Coyier. He’s taught me a lot about semantic HTML and CSS, too.
His sites are incredibly informative, well-written and beautifully designed, plus he seems like a nice guy. Wow, right?