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I am continuing Top DeviantArtist worth watching series and now I stopped to the best web designers I could find. I only listed those artists, whom layouts I found to be really unique and inspiring, taking classical web design actually to the next level.
These layouts are really artworks with amazing details, You usually don’t see browsing through the web. Consider this article as inspirational article now and if You choose to watch those artists, then inspiration blasts in long term. At first I wanted to pick only 2 website examples from each artists, but there was several so amazing webdesigns, where I couldn’t stop and picked 3 or 4 examples. Enjoy this list, hope this will help to get inspired in regular basis!
Consider checking also crazy designer portfolio roundup from year 2012 for even more inspiration.
1. Elusive – (22), from Canada.
2. ECP-Pro – Kim Roar Dag Steen Trollsås (18), from Norway
3. Fel1x – Felix Valentin, from Germany
4. Nikeos – (19), from Israel
5. JK89 – Justinas Krasuckas, from Lithuania
6. blind91 – Sebastian (18), from Germany
7. kakkr – from United Kingdom
8. mindfuckx – Jan Van Lysebettens (24), from Belgium
9. nodethirtythree – from United States
10. tehacesequence – Marcin (25), from Poland
11. Pixelbudah – Oasim Karmieh (28), Romania
12. TIT0 – Alexandr (24), from Russia
13. depthskins – Damian Madray (23), from Canada
Very loooooooooooong and beautiful website artwork – be sure to check it out in fullscreen.
14. sone-pl – Krzysztof Kolatorski (32), from Poland
15. Gregbike – Grzegorz Gawlik (22), from Poland
16. l-a-m-p-e – Philipp Lampe (20), from Germany
17. alexdesigns (19)
18. Frostenblade – (19), from Singapore
19. Jedi88 – Dennis, from Germany
20. Jimmybjorkman – Jimmy Björkman (18), from Sweden
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21. Ld-sign – Sascha Zemke (20), from Germany
22. Pho3nix-bf – Lucas (28), from Poland
23. JuliusX – Ali (20), from United States
24. Osec – Daryl Ginn (19), from United Kingdom
25. Nas-Wd – Nasir Wadood (24), from Pakistan
26. zee7 – Zulal (20), from Pakistan
27. Zhyphyr – Paris Miguez (28), from Spain
28. Pazdan – Tomek (22), from Poland
29. G30dud3 – George English (16), from United Kingdom
30. TurokFreak – Evertt De Sousa (25), from Brazil
31. Frose – (20), from Germany
32. Uribaani – Miika Ahvenjärvi, from Finland
33. CC-Designs – (18), from Germany
34. Carl06 – Carl (19), from Germany
35. Koenigpersoenlich – (16), from United States
36. Nonlin3 – Martin, from Poland
37. Rheyzer – Reynan Alibuyog (23), from Philippines
38. Outlines – Dimiter Tzankov, from Bulgaria
39. Sansana – Daria Michalska (20), from Poland
40. Niponwar – Vladimir Chernov (19), from Canada
Ok, so this is pretty much it – at least for me this collection is in gold value, I just love web design, though I am lacking time, but in future, I’m sure I’ll release some good templates,themes and so. Enjoy, get inspired and watch those artists!
Add some more links, if You know very good web designers, who are not on this list!
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Dainis Graveris is 23 years old blogger and designer, founder of 1stWebDesigner, now more silently managing everything behind the scenes. He usually hangs out in Twitter tweeting design related links and chatting with people. If you have any questions or feedback that's the best place to start! Cheers!
Sunday, March 4th, 2012 07:26
Thanks for the post, I like a few of these sites, but Alot of them are themes? just saying.
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012 17:47
Awesome websites
Friday, September 30th, 2011 17:14
@mike
Is the bird your work? If so I think you sould contact them!
Wednesday, August 24th, 2011 13:26
good gallery
Thursday, August 18th, 2011 09:25
it’s superb and it’s very helpful for me. so thanks
Wednesday, May 25th, 2011 13:19
great collection, Thanks.
Tuesday, April 19th, 2011 21:26
the designs are so cool :D
wish i could make one someday !!
Friday, February 25th, 2011 11:46
nice collection…… and its inspire me alot.. thanks..
Friday, July 30th, 2010 09:08
Nice :D. Thanks u
Monday, July 12th, 2010 12:07
really a good gallery..
Thursday, February 25th, 2010 12:42
thank u for the great collections … it is always guide for me
Monday, November 2nd, 2009 01:48
7. kakkr – from United Kingdom .
The bird was stolen from http://sattu.deviantart.com/art/iv2-services-44268978
Even from previous version http://sattu.deviantart.com/art/iv-website-2-1-40788653
Saturday, September 26th, 2009 00:27
Wow, these are just extraordinary. Breathtaking. Fine art. Thank you for sharing.
Sunday, August 9th, 2009 23:07
although he does a lot of other Designs, he still has some sweet webdesigns aswell…
Monday, June 1st, 2009 18:42
thanks for the feature :)
Tuesday, April 14th, 2009 21:31
Wow, that’s an awesomwe list ! :D
Anthonys last blog post : Extreme Makeover: WordPress Edition – Finding Inspiration
Monday, April 13th, 2009 15:00
its realy amazing never seen any of ‘em in anty template sites
really diffrent n fresh
thank you
Saturday, April 11th, 2009 13:54
woowww!! super
ysnozcns last blog post : Flash Mp3 player
Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 08:14
Hi..
Great list very inspirational, totally appreciate the time taken by you in collecting these designs and posting them on the web. Could be used as a source of reference.
Thanks..
john..
Thursday, March 26th, 2009 16:15
I just peed my pants. I’m overwhelmed by the quantity and quality here.
I know usability (and being plausible to build in the first place) is obviously very important, but these designs will still inspire the designs which will eventually get built.
Like the clothes on those fashion catwalks – no practicality at all. Yet, very important to the industry / trends.
Roy Nottages last blog post : Inspiration for the Week #1 – Environments
Thursday, March 26th, 2009 06:55
Thanks for the feature, although the last two were definitely far from being my best ones in my gallery. Still, very much appreciated. :)
Thursday, March 26th, 2009 05:56
Thanks for featuring. It means a lot :)
Sunday, March 22nd, 2009 03:59
definitely unique designs, but i agree with one of the comments about usability thinking in terms of a blog, would anyone even look at the writing, could they get past the absolutely beautiful designs?
Dee Langdon – BloggerNewbies last blog post : Annoying or Helpful?
Sunday, March 22nd, 2009 02:00
yes, some of them are visual appealing designs, but other than that,…nothing is good besides colors etc. Usability sucks, for online proposes, would be sucky.
No good for the loading time, no good for seo ++++. So most of them kinda sucks if you think it trought. About none of them are online, besides what what depthskins makes. He’s a true web designer:)
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 23:11
Some of these designs are really awesome, although not all of them can be actually put into use. I agree that designers must know XHTML/CSS. This can help them to know what works best on web. But I also understand that designers are creative people, not objective code monkeys. And a more professional designer once he understands the basics of XHTML/CSS can concentrate on creating web friendly artwork and get high quality code developed by web front end developers. Its easier for code monkeys like us to deliver high quality code that works rather then designers wasting there time in figuring out why their web page isn’t working on IE6!
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 01:13
Dang, those are some nice pieces of work. Maybe someday I can do things that crazy.
Davids last blog post : Lauren and Mark’s Wedding in Miami Beach
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 00:39
great design, wonderful art :)
Heri NXIs last blog post : Holiday Glass Frames From Zenni Optical
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009 21:28
WOW these are all amazing pieces… Speechless!
Soh Tanakas last blog post : New Gallery Site: Design Bombs
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 01:18
me thinks you like dark meat
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009 22:05
Awesome … apparently, cutting edge web design = sexy and possibly half-naked women on the home page! I’m up for that!
Saturday, March 14th, 2009 02:58
They are monsters :-)
It would be nice that devianART would share tutorials or ressources ;-)
Thank you for these links
Thursday, March 12th, 2009 05:51
Great showcase! Very inspirational and worth watching–all of them!
Kaylas last blog post : Web Design PSD Photoshop Tutorials
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 07:02
This is freaking huge.great list!!
Naldz Graphicss last blog post : 40+ Most Amazing Wallpaper Tutorials in Photoshop and Resources
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 03:44
Wow those are some nice websites, great inspiration
Tylers last blog post : 3D Text On Fire
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 16:01
Great list … but i would love to see some of those websites css’ed :) It’s all about layouts …
great never the less! :)
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 05:10
Very inspiring. Thanks Dainis!
Johnson Kohs last blog post : 40 Amazing Infrared Photography Images
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 09:50
wow.. another great list.. :)
thumbs up!
aravinds last blog post : Valentines day special Freebies: Heart and Cupid Illustrations
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 07:28
Really gr8 stuff watching designs, creation through inspirations YES i can think more after looking these designs… Best of Luck for all the creators..
Monday, March 9th, 2009 23:18
very nice!!!!!
they are all very appealing!
AthenaEmilys last blog post : March Wallpaper: when life’s alive in everything
Monday, March 9th, 2009 16:33
I would like to thank you for being part of this post, is always very good to have the work recognized.
Thank you and congratulations on blog
Monday, March 9th, 2009 15:51
Great list! There are some great designers out there. Thanks for sharing.
BeyondRandoms last blog post : 20 Free WordPress Themes That Will Rock Your Socks!!
Monday, March 9th, 2009 14:47
Sure some of the artwork is cool, but just about NONE of these sites would be effective in the real world. They’re all mockups with greek text. Show me where they would sell product, or promote business services, or gain a regular user base.
Unfortunately the future of the web is not glamor, it’s usability and a clear message. Design style comes (albiet a still important) second.
Jack McDades last blog post : ExpressionEngine Patterns & Best Practices: The Genesis
Saturday, August 8th, 2009 00:30
You’re not right at all, it’s true most of the designs you see here are just mock-ups, but some of them are working in the real life.
But wait, how you will keep the user stand in the website if your website is ugly?
The design and usability is the key for the website, but don’t forget the other important point, as attractive text, good quality images and something cool to interact to keep you user busy, after what he can come back to the web, and then you will increase your visitor timing.
Thank you
Monday, March 9th, 2009 17:20
Thanks for the list, it’s a good resource for inspiration.
@Jack McDade, I agree! While a lot of these site are pretty to look at, they aren’t very usable. This is one of the reasons why I believe Designers should do their own HTML/CSS/JavaScript. Usability sells!
Monday, March 9th, 2009 16:35
Good inspirational list! It’s nice to see non-recycled layouts in a website showcase for once. I like the ichibo is super original, those large background layouts are being popularized and get better all the time
Monday, March 9th, 2009 00:21
Your list has some very unique and inspiring designs, my personal favorite is the one named Increase by frose. Thanks for sharing this!
Sunday, March 8th, 2009 16:58
all of you great.. but anyone not tutorial :( BY THE WAY :D
thanks….
Oktighs last blog post : 30 Deviant Digital Artists, Painters, Illustrators Worth To Watch
Sunday, March 8th, 2009 14:23
@James De Angelis, I was about to say the same… You can’t be indifferent to these designs but the information vs noise ratio is awfully low in most cases!
Sunday, March 8th, 2009 11:41
Great list of well designed websites, tx.
Sunday, March 8th, 2009 10:42
wow ! gr8 list … i love all themes… i am ready to develop in real world… :)
saurabh shahs last blog post : saurabhshah: AMAZING : #Web Design Artists and 102 #Websites Worth Watching http://tinyurl.com/csku8x
Sunday, March 8th, 2009 05:37
Very good selection, I could spend hours looking at all the details. Those are very talented people!
Saturday, March 7th, 2009 21:11
Wow! great list…
Sunday, March 8th, 2009 00:25
This post illustrates both what i love about deviantart and hate.
On the one hand you have these incredibly visual and creative designs that have a lot of flair and character. Yet on the other, most of the designs would be terrible as websites and seem to be all visual with no thought to structure or how the thing might actually be used.
It would be great to see more press for designers who actually consider their user and have a graphic punch to the work.
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James De Angelis
Sunday, March 8th, 2009 00:25
This post illustrates both what i love about deviantart and hate.
On the one hand you have these incredibly visual and creative designs that have a lot of flair and character. Yet on the other, most of the designs would be terrible as websites and seem to be all visual with no thought to structure or how the thing might actually be used.
It would be great to see more press for designers who actually consider their user and have a graphic punch to the work.
Dainis Graveris
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 09:18
Thank You people for all those comments! And great to see several artists I listed also checking in – I feel actually honored :)
And about usability – I agree every designer should code his own design, at least Html, CSS. I know many sites should be very hard to code, but don’t forget also about Flash.
At least I enjoy those ideas and excellent presentation – while those sites could be hard to code, I consider these as excellent inspiration pieces for my own works!
Not all of the sites think so much about usability than presentation like designer portfolio, showcase sites, where the main option is – To Stand Out From The Crowd! One way or another I think almost all sites do this job!
(from my own experience – if You design something cool, but not very usable, You always can code and simplify everything – like optimize design, but I don’t agree (at least not fully) with people, who say that none of those sites won’t be effective in the real world.)
Good looking ( stand out) + Usable is very hard task to complete, but I think it is possible and it will be even more with CSS3 in future.
Tyler
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 03:44
Wow those are some nice websites, great inspiration
Tylers last blog post : 3D Text On Fire
Pedros
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 16:01
Great list … but i would love to see some of those websites css’ed :) It’s all about layouts …
great never the less! :)
Jan Van Lysebettens
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 14:46
thanks for the feature :)
aravind
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 09:50
wow.. another great list.. :)
thumbs up!
aravinds last blog post : Valentines day special Freebies: Heart and Cupid Illustrations
Johnson Koh
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 05:10
Very inspiring. Thanks Dainis!
Johnson Kohs last blog post : 40 Amazing Infrared Photography Images
Naldz Graphics
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 07:02
This is freaking huge.great list!!
Naldz Graphicss last blog post : 40+ Most Amazing Wallpaper Tutorials in Photoshop and Resources
brian
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 01:18
me thinks you like dark meat
Soh Tanaka
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009 21:28
WOW these are all amazing pieces… Speechless!
Soh Tanakas last blog post : New Gallery Site: Design Bombs
Rafael
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 00:28
good designs , amazing
David A
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009 22:05
Awesome … apparently, cutting edge web design = sexy and possibly half-naked women on the home page! I’m up for that!
Kayla
Thursday, March 12th, 2009 05:51
Great showcase! Very inspirational and worth watching–all of them!
Kaylas last blog post : Web Design PSD Photoshop Tutorials
Djerba
Saturday, March 14th, 2009 02:58
They are monsters :-)
It would be nice that devianART would share tutorials or ressources ;-)
Thank you for these links
JK89
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 08:34
Thanks for feature, I’m honored. ;)
Laks
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 07:28
Really gr8 stuff watching designs, creation through inspirations YES i can think more after looking these designs… Best of Luck for all the creators..
Thibaut Allender
Sunday, March 8th, 2009 14:23
@James De Angelis, I was about to say the same… You can’t be indifferent to these designs but the information vs noise ratio is awfully low in most cases!
Oktigh
Sunday, March 8th, 2009 16:58
all of you great.. but anyone not tutorial :( BY THE WAY :D
thanks….
Oktighs last blog post : 30 Deviant Digital Artists, Painters, Illustrators Worth To Watch
Multidesign
Sunday, March 8th, 2009 11:41
Great list of well designed websites, tx.
saurabh shah
Sunday, March 8th, 2009 10:42
wow ! gr8 list … i love all themes… i am ready to develop in real world… :)
saurabh shahs last blog post : saurabhshah: AMAZING : #Web Design Artists and 102 #Websites Worth Watching http://tinyurl.com/csku8x
Navdeep
Saturday, March 7th, 2009 21:11
Wow! great list…
Jeremy
Sunday, March 8th, 2009 05:37
Very good selection, I could spend hours looking at all the details. Those are very talented people!
Dennis
Monday, March 9th, 2009 00:21
Your list has some very unique and inspiring designs, my personal favorite is the one named Increase by frose. Thanks for sharing this!
Thomas
Monday, March 9th, 2009 12:31
Great Selection, I love G30dud3 design
evertt de sousa
Monday, March 9th, 2009 16:33
I would like to thank you for being part of this post, is always very good to have the work recognized.
Thank you and congratulations on blog
AthenaEmily
Monday, March 9th, 2009 23:18
very nice!!!!!
they are all very appealing!
AthenaEmilys last blog post : March Wallpaper: when life’s alive in everything
BeyondRandom
Monday, March 9th, 2009 15:51
Great list! There are some great designers out there. Thanks for sharing.
BeyondRandoms last blog post : 20 Free WordPress Themes That Will Rock Your Socks!!
Jack McDade
Monday, March 9th, 2009 14:47
Sure some of the artwork is cool, but just about NONE of these sites would be effective in the real world. They’re all mockups with greek text. Show me where they would sell product, or promote business services, or gain a regular user base.
Unfortunately the future of the web is not glamor, it’s usability and a clear message. Design style comes (albiet a still important) second.
Jack McDades last blog post : ExpressionEngine Patterns & Best Practices: The Genesis
niponwar
Saturday, August 8th, 2009 00:30
You’re not right at all, it’s true most of the designs you see here are just mock-ups, but some of them are working in the real life.
But wait, how you will keep the user stand in the website if your website is ugly?
The design and usability is the key for the website, but don’t forget the other important point, as attractive text, good quality images and something cool to interact to keep you user busy, after what he can come back to the web, and then you will increase your visitor timing.
Thank you
Timothy
Monday, March 9th, 2009 16:13
Nice list. Not a big fan of Alexdesigns
Robin Bastien
Monday, March 9th, 2009 16:35
Good inspirational list! It’s nice to see non-recycled layouts in a website showcase for once. I like the ichibo is super original, those large background layouts are being popularized and get better all the time
Dan Olsavsky
Monday, March 9th, 2009 17:20
Thanks for the list, it’s a good resource for inspiration.
@Jack McDade, I agree! While a lot of these site are pretty to look at, they aren’t very usable. This is one of the reasons why I believe Designers should do their own HTML/CSS/JavaScript. Usability sells!
Heri NXI
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 00:39
great design, wonderful art :)
Heri NXIs last blog post : Holiday Glass Frames From Zenni Optical
David
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 01:13
Dang, those are some nice pieces of work. Maybe someday I can do things that crazy.
Davids last blog post : Lauren and Mark’s Wedding in Miami Beach
Ennerit
Friday, July 30th, 2010 09:08
Nice :D. Thanks u
dalandanz
Sunday, August 8th, 2010 19:55
nice referrences…
neveen
Monday, July 12th, 2010 12:07
really a good gallery..
rejith
Thursday, February 25th, 2010 12:42
thank u for the great collections … it is always guide for me
Mike
Monday, November 2nd, 2009 01:48
7. kakkr – from United Kingdom .
The bird was stolen from http://sattu.deviantart.com/art/iv2-services-44268978
Even from previous version http://sattu.deviantart.com/art/iv-website-2-1-40788653
Karın Germe
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 02:21
Thank you.Wonderful…
chris
Friday, February 25th, 2011 11:46
nice collection…… and its inspire me alot.. thanks..
jerald
Tuesday, April 19th, 2011 21:26
the designs are so cool :D
wish i could make one someday !!
Drew
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012 17:47
Awesome websites
RichardC
Sunday, March 4th, 2012 07:26
Thanks for the post, I like a few of these sites, but Alot of them are themes? just saying.
kaj
Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011 17:02
Inspirational designs, thx.
Isak
Friday, September 30th, 2011 17:14
@mike
Is the bird your work? If so I think you sould contact them!
tanaji
Wednesday, May 25th, 2011 13:19
great collection, Thanks.
aida
Thursday, August 18th, 2011 09:25
it’s superb and it’s very helpful for me. so thanks
indra
Wednesday, August 24th, 2011 13:26
good gallery
Anne Marie
Saturday, September 26th, 2009 00:27
Wow, these are just extraordinary. Breathtaking. Fine art. Thank you for sharing.
ümit
Thursday, August 13th, 2009 10:35
This is a very beatiful.. Thanks..
Ali
Thursday, March 26th, 2009 05:56
Thanks for featuring. It means a lot :)
alexdesigns
Thursday, March 26th, 2009 06:55
Thanks for the feature, although the last two were definitely far from being my best ones in my gallery. Still, very much appreciated. :)
vishal
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 13:04
Nice collection of sites.
Dee Langdon - BloggerNewbie
Sunday, March 22nd, 2009 03:59
definitely unique designs, but i agree with one of the comments about usability thinking in terms of a blog, would anyone even look at the writing, could they get past the absolutely beautiful designs?
Dee Langdon – BloggerNewbies last blog post : Annoying or Helpful?
Dipesh Batheja
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 23:11
Some of these designs are really awesome, although not all of them can be actually put into use. I agree that designers must know XHTML/CSS. This can help them to know what works best on web. But I also understand that designers are creative people, not objective code monkeys. And a more professional designer once he understands the basics of XHTML/CSS can concentrate on creating web friendly artwork and get high quality code developed by web front end developers. Its easier for code monkeys like us to deliver high quality code that works rather then designers wasting there time in figuring out why their web page isn’t working on IE6!
Svendsen
Sunday, March 22nd, 2009 02:00
yes, some of them are visual appealing designs, but other than that,…nothing is good besides colors etc. Usability sucks, for online proposes, would be sucky.
No good for the loading time, no good for seo ++++. So most of them kinda sucks if you think it trought. About none of them are online, besides what what depthskins makes. He’s a true web designer:)
Roy Nottage
Thursday, March 26th, 2009 16:15
I just peed my pants. I’m overwhelmed by the quantity and quality here.
I know usability (and being plausible to build in the first place) is obviously very important, but these designs will still inspire the designs which will eventually get built.
Like the clothes on those fashion catwalks – no practicality at all. Yet, very important to the industry / trends.
Roy Nottages last blog post : Inspiration for the Week #1 – Environments
john milton
Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 08:14
Hi..
Great list very inspirational, totally appreciate the time taken by you in collecting these designs and posting them on the web. Could be used as a source of reference.
Thanks..
john..
valek
Sunday, August 9th, 2009 23:07
http://fers.deviantart.com
although he does a lot of other Designs, he still has some sweet webdesigns aswell…
Dominik
Friday, June 12th, 2009 01:01
great list, another one cssarena.de
evertt de sousa
Monday, June 1st, 2009 18:42
thanks for the feature :)
ysnozcn
Saturday, April 11th, 2009 13:54
woowww!! super
ysnozcns last blog post : Flash Mp3 player
Preeth
Monday, April 13th, 2009 15:00
its realy amazing never seen any of ‘em in anty template sites
really diffrent n fresh
thank you
Anthony
Tuesday, April 14th, 2009 21:31
Wow, that’s an awesomwe list ! :D
Anthonys last blog post : Extreme Makeover: WordPress Edition – Finding Inspiration