Ive really been attracted to web designs recently that have a fix background image. I think its probably just because you get that nice little surprise when you start to scroll where you say – “hey the background isnt moving” and it sort of acts as a trigger to help you to pay attention.

I think that fixed background images make sense in web designs that have all the action at the top because they help to keep the page well framed and the action well focussed. The Sketch Blog design here makes good use of this with some simple angular vector shapes that contrast well with a well laid out minimal body.

As a follow up to the Dustin Curtis post here is another amazingly creative blogazine. Each page mixes up the style and the content is decidedly unique with some really engaging stories, reflections and anecdotes. Well worth the read.

I love the simplicity in this design – it proves that there is a case for shiny webdesign in 2009/2010. The icon for pastebot has that mactastic feel to it and the rays shooting out from behind it add a nice depth to the header area avoiding the cliche of the sun ray design style that was sort of overdone in early 2009.

This site is an absolute gem. The tagline at the bottom of the site says that the site is a blogazine which should give you some idea what you are in for here. Each page is completely different and impeccably put together. There is such a range here from page to page that each blog post deserves its own spotlight. The copy is brilliant too – well worth the good hour or so it takes to read and digest his writing.

This site is just simply amazing. The main photo on the front page really gives it amazing depth and character with a hint of nostalgia thrown in. The general layout really is clean and sparse but it feels like a really rich website it just makes me want keep clicking.

Im much more drawn to designing minimal kind of layouts and although this design still has a minimal feel the concept is pretty bold. I like the way the page is framed here – The velvet of the curtains is really very beautiful and helps to soften and strengthen – while the grid layout for the folio below tends to pull everything into place.

I love the way that this site pulls together. The footer is really beautiful and I love the depth achieved with the monitor, coffe cup and pot plant up on top of the shelf. Their work looks great too …

I like the treatment on this page especially the header area and the way that it contrasts against the slightly cleaner main content area. There is some nice attention to detail here that really helps to give this site some depth.

Im a massive fan of grid layouts (like everyone else at the moment it seems). I am attracted to the horizontal and vertical alignments and the sense of order they purvey, especially if there is a lot of space in between the columns and blocks.

The daily design inspiration for today certainly has the vertical alignment covered but there is a wildness to this design that you just cant get with traditional grid based layouts. You could probably call it a magazine or newspaper layout but Id prefer to this of this type of design as the evolution of the grid.

Im downloading this twitter app now too.