2. Allstate Insurance Company

3. AT&T

4. Best Buy

5. Bob Evans Farms, Inc.

6. Borders Direct, LLC.

7. Cabela’s Inc.

8. Caterpillar Inc.

9. Chevron Corporation

10. Circuit City

11. Clinique Laboratories, LLC.

12. The Clorox Company

13. Coach, Inc.

14. The Coca-Cola Company

15. Cottonelle

16. Craftsman

17. Crayola LLC.

18. Dick’s Sporting Goods

19. Marc Ecko Enterprises

20. ESPN Internet Ventures

21. Exxon Mobil Corporation

22. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

23. Ford Motor Company

24. Frito-Lay North America, Inc.

25. Hasbro

26. Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.

27. JCP Media L.P.

28. JetBlue Airways

29. Limited Brands

30. Lowe’s

31. Macy’s, Inc.

32. McDonald’s

33. Motorola, Inc.

34. Nike, Inc.

35. Nintendo

36. Office Depot, Inc.

37. PepsiCo, Inc.

38. PetSmart Store Group, Inc.

39. Pixar

40. Six Flags Theme Parks, Inc.

41. Snapple Beverage Corp.

42. Starbucks Corporation

43. Steelcase, Inc.

44. Target Brands, Inc.

45. Time Warner Global Media Group

46. Geoffrey, LLC., Toys “R” Us

47. Under Armour

48. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

49. Whole Foods Market IP, L.P.

50. Yum! Brands

I’d love to know, which corporate Twitter page is your favorite?

Inventive Interaction

Check out any of these sample sites, and you’ll be drawn in right away by the interactive relationship between you (the user) and the site. I think we’ll see more of this as web design becomes more sophisticated and as old browsers (IE6) die out. As time goes on, web design won’t just be about making the page look pretty and a user-friendly navigation. It will also be about engaging the user by creating a relationship between the user and the site.

80s Inspired

The 80s are back, in a serious way. Movies have been feeding us 80s flashbacks for years, and now it’s finally hit full-force in the fashion industry. You hear 80s inspiration in new music, and see the makeup, jewelry, and hairstyles returning as well. Why wouldn’t design be part of this revival? Look for diagonal lines, simple shapes and patterns, and bold color statements in 2010. Whether the overall look is punk or yuppie, it won’t matter — as long as it’s totally 80s.

Video

Video is going to be huge in 2010. You’ll see it used as an effect (like in the samples below), and also as part of the site content. Videos will be integrated to illustrate a point, demonstrate an action, or explain a complex idea. Especially creative designers will use video to engage and interact with the user. Having no video experience myself, I’m especially interested to see how this trend develops.

More Interesting Typography

It’s a beautiful thing. Little by little, web designers are giving exceeding time and attention to typography within their designs. And as coding languages evolve, designers will have even more opportunities to be creative with their type. Not only do I think creative typography will be a huge trend in 2010, I also think that text-only sites will be in vogue this year.

Full-Screen Images

As far as images are concerned in 2010, the bigger, the better. Images are stretching all the way across my 24″ monitor, creating a lovely work-around for varying screen resolutions, and packing a big attention-grabbing punch. I’m expecting to see a LOT of this trend in the coming months.

3D Elements & 3D Text Effects

3D effects will blow up in 2010. Expect to see plenty of 3D type effects, and also 3D elements within the web page. Three dimensional shapes, wrapping elements, and tilted edges will give users the feeling of space and depth. Flat is out — stacking, layering, and popped or pushed elements are in.

Organic Layouts

I predict that 2010 will be the year to break out of the grid and create more organic web layouts. I think we’ll see some literal “outside the box” thinking as web design starts to take on some of the characteristics of print. There will be a long trial-and-error period, with some designers finding success, and others moving back toward the traditional grid-based design, but there will be an obvious growth toward a freer, more organic page.

Minimalist

Another trend that I expect to take off in 2010 is minimalist design. These designers will choose to focus on the content by giving it space to breath, rather than dressing it up with color and graphics. Although they appear simple at first, minimalist site design is actually quite sophisticated — a delicate balancing act between content and white space.

Other Random Predictions:

• Headlines will grow even larger in 2010 than the super-sized headlines we saw in 2009
• With websites becoming more commonplace for every field, every industry, every company, people will begin to be more casual about their sites. Expect to see more humor and personality injected into sites as time passes.
• With the extreme success of Twitter, we’ll be seeing more and more experimental projects. And, with the ongoing battle between Google and Apple, we’ll be seeing more application development. Now is the time for you upcoming developers — jump in there and create something amazing!
• jQuery, CSS3, HTML5 will continue to grow in 2010 (yes — that was too easy). I wish I could also predict the death of IE6, but with many of my clients in large corporations, I fear it will live on well into 2010.
• Illustration and scrolling sites will continue to be popular in 2010, as will one-page sites. Expect everyone to have a one-page social networking site with links to Twitter pages, Facebook profiles, etc.
• And, I’m going to end on some long-shot predictions. I’m seeing tattoo and graffiti inspired designs in 2010, as well as fish and hummingbirds stepping in for butterflies and flowers (which are definitely out for 2010)

So what do you think? What are your predictions for design in 2010?

What is a trend? I’m not going to quote the dictionary. I’m going to just tell you my interpretation. Once a design style starts to seep into usages beyond it’s original purpose, it has become a trend. For example, a wood background on a camping website makes sense. When the local bank is using a wood background on their website, it has become a trend. An illustrated mascot on an illustrator’s site makes sense. Now that everybody with a face has an illustrated version of themselves on their website, it is a trend.

So, what were the biggest trends of 2009? Here are my top 10 (in no particular order):

1. Grunge

I think this one is fairly obvious. Dirty textures, torn photos, and worn type ruled the web in 2009. I think we all took to the texture and interest of this trend because it was so far from the squeaky clean glossy buttons we had been looking at for years prior.

What’s next for Grunge? As much as I love a well-done grunge-inspired website, I have a feeling it’s time is almost up. I’m sure that there will be plenty of latecomers taking on the grunge look for themselves, but most innovative designers have moved onto something else. When something hits as hard as this trend, it spreads fast, and disappears almost as quickly.

2. Collage/Texture

Collage was EVERYWHERE in 2009! Some sites have been extremely creative in their use of collage (I think that WebDesigner Wall was a big inspiration to many designers), but others of us have fallen into the collage pit-of-shame. If your website or twitter background includes a photo (most likely Polaroid), paper-clip or thumbtack, and coffee stain (with no other creative elements), please try again. I know it was awesome the first time you saw it — but now it’s the official twitter background of the “Social Media Expert,” and its creative time has passed.

What’s next for Collage/Texture? I don’t think collage is going anywhere. I think we’ll still see a lot of it, but I have faith that we’re going to progress past the Polaroids and continue to find innovative ways to build on this trend.

3. Big Headlines

Oh, yes, I’m on board with the big headline trend — as you can see by the large headlines on Creative Opera. Again, I feel this trend is in response to the tiny fonts that have been in vogue in the past. Remember those flash sites with the teeny-tiny text? Well, no longer! “The bigger, the better” seemed to be the theme of 2009.

What’s next for Big Headlines? I don’t see big headlines going anywhere. I think they will continue to be a strong trend in 2010. In fact, toward the end of 2009, headlines seem to be growing — not shrinking — so say it large!

4. Introductions

Hello! My name is Manda and I make websites. Apparently I am not alone. There are people all over the internet introducing themselves. I’d like to blame the talented Jason Reed for this. His website was so well marketed and so well designed, that designers all over started introducing themselves on their homepages. This trend is so strong, that even portfolio templates are including the hello line.

What’s next for Introductions? I think we’re going to continue to see introductions. Let’s face it, it’s a great idea to tell your audience upfront what you and your site are all about. But, I do think we’re going to break away from the standard “Hello, my name is blank and I blank,” and start to see some more creative interactions (as demonstrated on the Kidd81 site below).

5. Nature/Wood

I’m a nature girl. I grew up on a farm, and still prefer to walk through the grass in my bare feet. In 2009, I didn’t have to look far to find nature. There were trees and grass and blue skies everywhere online. It doesn’t matter if the company manufactures sock puppets or sells office furniture — a wood background and grassy hills work for everyone. So it seems anyway.

What’s next for nature-inspired web design? I think there will be plenty of nature in design in 2010, but I think that the wood trend will die down a bit. It is a wonderful answer for some sites (check out the Outlaw Design Blog), but it just doesn’t have the same pop on a banking site.

6. One-page Scrolling Sites

One-page sites exploded online in 2009. Moving horizontally or vertically, scrolling sites gave an added element of animation to website navigation. Check out some of my favorite scrolling one-page sites here.

What’s next for one-page websites? I think that this trend is going to continue to grow in 2010 – with more and more people taking advantage of the ease and simplicity of a one-page website. I believe we will even begin to see more non-scrolling one-page sites. With everyone building profiles across the social network, why waste time with web pages when you can just provide links to your Facebook, Twitter, and FlickR pages?

7. Exaggerated Grids

Grids were hot in 2010. Balance and symmetry were everywhere – exaggerated by perfectly aligned elements in table-like form. And why not? It’s a great way to visually organize large amounts of content.

What’s next for exaggerated grid layouts? I think we’ll continue to see grid layouts in websites that must provide a lot of content in a small area (CSS showcase sites, for example) however, I think that the trend for most new sites in 2010 will be toward more organic – less structured layouts.

8. Content Sliders

This may be the most overused and abused trend of 2009. It’s hard to even find a site that isn’t using this technique on their homepage. I totally get it — it’s an attractive, attention-grabbing way to showcase lots of information and images in a small space. But, I’m already bored with it and can’t wait to see how this trend evolves.

What’s next for content sliders? I don’t think we’ll see this trend die out in 2010. I am crossing my fingers, though, that we’ll see some real variation this year in both the design and functionality of these sliders. Already, there has been a lot of improvement. I’m afraid, though, that we’ll probably still be seeing the basic numbered 4-screen slider on corporate sites for many years to come.

9. Illustration and Paint

In another fabulously successful backlash against Web 2.0 design, illustrated and painted web elements were all the rage in 2009. Maybe it’s because I started my design training in print – and still love the look of raw pencil on paper – but I love these colorful, sketchy, arty sites. Check out some of my favorite illustration websites from 2009.

What’s next for Illustration and Paint? I think we’ll continue to see this trend in 2010 – although because sites like these can be so time-consuming and costly to create (so much original artwork!), we may see less of this in corporate sites, and continue to see it mainly in our own design circles.

10. The Official Layout of 2009

It seems to me that if you created wireframe drawings of all of the websites created in 2009, a gigantic percentage of them would use what I am calling “The Official Layout of 2009” A large rectangular graphic at the top of the page (often a content slider!), with three or four sub-categories beneath. This layout has been tweaked here and there, but the concept is still the same. This is one category where I didn’t have to search long for examples. The hardest part was deciding which of the hundreds I found to include. I tried to include interesting designs — despite the common structure.

What’s next for the official layout? This trend has already started trickling down. The template designers have used it. The copy-cats have copied it. People have created their first websites using it. I hope it’s almost over – we need an official layout of 2010!

SO WHAT’S COMING IN 2010? WHAT TRENDS AM I PREDICTING FOR THIS YEAR?

Find out in part 2:
Web Design Trends: Predictions for 2010

I’d love to hear from you! What do you think was the biggest trend of 2009? Is is going to stick in 2010?

As as a designer, I can’t help thinking of the design of it all. How do you promote breast cancer awareness at a football game? How do you work the symbol of the fight against breast cancer — the pink ribbon — into the design of the NFL?

As I watched the games this weekend, I was surprised by the details, and I was impressed by the overall effect. I know there were many challenges here, and I think that those challenges were met successfully.

This is why I love the way the NFL integrated breast cancer awareness into the game:

The pinks they’ve used are strong. They work well with the team colors and they pop on a football field.

The items that are pink draw just enough attention to peak curiosity and start a conversation. They’ve avoided draping the stadiums, players and fans in pepto-pink.

The players have been given choices. They’ve managed to introduce pink items into the player wardrobe without affecting any player’s comfort. The players have been allowed to choose which items they would wear during the game: gloves, shoes, wrist bands, arm bands, wraps, towels, stickers, etc. It adds interest, and keeps the players happy.

Designs were varied to add interest, and to satisfy player needs. More than one type of glove, more than one type of shoe, and various hat designs were seen on different players and teams. It made each person’s choices seem more personal and purposeful.

Subtleties added beauty. There were tiny details everywhere — an obvious attention to quality in design.

The support is carried throughout. Coaches, refs, players, fans, waterboys — everyone is part of this.

You know how I feel about it, now check out the designs for yourself. Below is a collection of photos that show the beauty of the design behind the new, pinker NFL. For many more photos and larger uncropped versions of the photos here, visit NFL.com. What do you think? Would you have done anything differently? Share your opinion in the comments below!

This was a challenging post to put together. I googled logo and identity designers, and clicked through pages of websites to gather these logos. I thought it would be really interesting to see the logos of logo designers. I thought, who better to learn from? Who better to inspire us? Logo designers should have the very BEST logos, right? Well, not exactly. Like anything else, there are some extremely talented logo designers out there, and there are some who are not so talented.

Here are a few things I learned by looking at so many logo designer logos:

1. A creative company name does not have any connection to the quality of the company logo. I would get excited to click on the links of companies with fun or creative names, assuming their logo would be equally compelling. Not usually.

2. The quality of the company logo does seem to accurately reflect the quality of the logos each company provides for their clients. If the company had a clean, creative logo, their work was equally good. If the company had a clip-art logo filled with gradients, their portfolio was filled with the same muddled work.

3. Some logo designers should accept the fact that they are not web designers and hire a professional. I saw some very nice logo work, presented quite poorly online. I have a feeling these designers decided to experiment with web design. Perhaps not the best decision.

4. A surprising number of logo designers don’t have logos. Um. What?

5. Many many (many) logo designers are missing the boat completely. For a nice, quick explanation of logo design 101, check out these fantastic posts: Good Logos Are Flexible: Tips to make sure yours is, from The Design Cubicle and 10 Common Mistakes in Logo Design from Smashing Magazine.

6. Some of my least favorite fonts are still alive and well, and being used in professional logo design.

7. There are a lot of not-so-good logo designers out there, and they are somehow managing to get paying clients. If you have a talent for logo design, don’t be discouraged by the sheer number of logo designers out there. QUALITY logo designers seem to be few and far between, and the market doesn’t look to be that overly saturated with talented designers. I’m sure that we can use a couple more good ones

Now that I have that out of my system, just a few more words on the logos in this collection:

1. I did not choose these logos because I thought they were mind-blowing or the best logos I’ve ever seen (although some are simply fantastic). I wanted to give you a real-life sense of what professional logo designers are doing with their own identity – good or bad. I’m hoping that you will decide for yourselves which of these are good, and which of these logo designers need to go back to the drawing board.

2. I did have to leave some good logos out. They just weren’t presented in a way on their website where I could get a good screenshot. Some were tiny, some were animated, and some were on a completely distracting background.

3. I had to draw some lines. I didn’t include any logos that made my stomach turn. Even though it might have been fun to see them for shock value, I just couldn’t bring myself to include those that made me sick. I also left out the completely mundane or boring. If you just typed your company name in Times New Roman, you didn’t make this post. Finally, I skipped any company with a stock photo of a call-center lady willing to answer my questions 24-7 or with a price list in the same range as the drink prices at a concert. I don’t think I need to explain why.

4. I’ve linked each of the logos back to the logo designer’s logo portfolio. I thought it would be interesting for you to see their other work, and also to see how they presented their work on their website.

Okay, enough of my babbling, here are the logos, each and every one designed by a designer or company specializing in logo design.

So, what do you think? Which of these designers would you hire? I know some of these designs are excellent. Which are your favorites? On the other hand, are you surprised that any of these logos belong to professional logo designers? I’d love to hear what you think!

To really get an idea of how varied the skill range is in professional logo design, google “Logo and Identity Design” and check out some of the companies. If you find anything you would like to add to my list above (#8?) please share it in the comments below. Also, if you are a logo designer yourself, and you would like me to add your logo to this post, please leave your url in the comments below.