Know of any pleasing looking static web sites?

[ChooChoo]

I know many of you design sites and use flash. Lots of these are awesome and I wish I could do the same, but for now, I'm just trying to create a pleasing looking site (which I know is relative to who's view it is) which is just static html. I'll get to flash later on.

 

I'm not really looking for anything in particular, just the layout and style. It doesn't have to be any certain topic. My site will be mostly geared towards residential design and maybe a little 3d visualization. I'm not looking to copy anything, just trying to get some ideas.

 

Ant help or direction would be appreciated.

 

I'm asking you guys and gals here just because I think you all have very decent visions of what looks good. Like I said, I've seen many of the flash sites and am blown away at the creativity. My hats off to you.

[Fran]

Hi William,

 

I'm not sure if my website meets your criteria for aesthetics, but it's plain with no flash.

 

http://www.surrealstructures.com

[TheAllusionisst]

In the past when I was looking for fresh ideas I would check the American Design Awards http://www.americandesignawards.com/winners-annual.html

 

Lots of pretty good stuff at one spot. Not that they are strictly static, but interesting viewing in my opinion.

[mskin]

i find flash web sites annoying. specifically those with "please wait...." loading bars. i cant tell you how many pages i've backed out of or cancelled because they were telling me to "please be patient". im sorry, but my boss is breathing down my neck because the client has called four times this morning.... i dont have time to wait.

 

fran,

i think your type of web site is ideal. simple and clear. what the hell else could you ask for. i also hate web sites that leave you wondering," what in gods name does this company do".... i think designers get caught up in showing off with flash and forget about the message.

[ChooChoo]

Yeah, I kinda agree after a little investigating that flash site, while very cool on the wow factor, some I'm like WTF are they actually selling or showing or doing or??? It's basically to get right to the point "this is what my business does"

 

thanks for the responses. I like your straightforward look fran. I'm gonna keep looking, but sometime I gotta stop and start making LOL.

 

I actually had a good laugh when I came across this site that listed the 10 worst sites of the year. OMG some of them are really, really awful like a child made them.

 

http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/10-worst-web-pages-featured-on-web-pages-that-suck-in-2006.html

[alexg]

I always like the simplicity and clarity of the stock photography websites

all important info on one main page like this one http://www.inmagine.com/

 

Maybe check out EBIII's http://www.acmedigital.com as well. It shows all information and samples on one page, which makes it easy to navigate.

Our old web http://www.3designarchitect.com/index2.html is also still in html version.

 

BTW Fran, nice looking website you got there.

[mskin]

another thing you might try is to google "web page templates". a lot of sites sell templates. they often have samples.... why not use those for ideas? obviously you shouldn't rip them off, but they can definately give you some ideas to create a site that is both aesthetic and to the point.

[Hazdaz]

So what do you guys use to make your pages?

I really like the look of Frans, but would be interested in something a little more 'bling-bling'.

[ChooChoo]

For my existing site I have, I used a free template that you really didn't need any software at all. Just a little knowledge. And for free it didn't turn out too bad.

 

Then my wife got Dreamweaver to do hers and jesus what a difference! Drag and drop, write some stuff, hit enter, post, done. I spent weeks on mine LOL. I really hate it when she's right.

 

That's a good point mskin, thanks.

 

bling would make me think Flash. but for business, I honestly think alot of people don't like that, especially if it's confusing. I've heard if you can't tell a customer in a few seconds what you are selling, they leave. And many have a weird plugin needed, or they have flash turned off which makes the site useless to that particular potential customer.

[TheAllusionisst]

The one angle you might want to consider is a Content Management System (CMS) like Mambo or Joomla, which have lots of templates availble and once set up, you don't need a program like DreamWeaver, you just sign in as administrator and use the WYSIWYG editor and Media Manager to update or add content. Food for thought, you can update your site from any computer that has Internet connection. It can be used for sites from personal to corporate.

 

Example used for community:

http://www.3dallusions.com/

 

Example Mambo Sites:

http://mamboserver.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=94&Itemid=123

 

Mambo Foundation:

http://www.mambo-foundation.org/

 

Mambo Server:

http://mamboserver.com/

 

Might be more involved than you want, there is an initial learning curve, but I thought I would mention it It also seems that a lot of the blogs out there have decent galleries so that is another approach.

[sterealkey]

Go to demo.rockettheme.com

 

Theres a toolbar at the top of the page so you can change the theme. 90% of them are really nice. I think this is the latest collection of Joomla templates.

 

Cheers

[mahorela]

I love the template monster templates.....I think it's www.templatemonster.com but if not it would be easy to google, they create flash and standard html templates (usually there are versions of both) and there are soooo many templates on there you will find some inspiration somewhere.

[brianzajac]

We've created many different sites that have a mix of HTML, Javascript, & Flash. The HTML allows most to see your site (and is great for the search engines to find you) while the Java/Flash offers the bling-bling to keep the interest.

 

In creating our website, http://www.3das.com, I looked for inspiration from a site like http://artisansguild.net & modified it so that it's architecturally-based. My suggestion for you is to look at sites like Template Monster (thanks for the link mahorela) & find something that suits you. Keep in mind that the look is only 1/2 the battle. Don't forget to create a site map to lay out how your entire web site will flow. For me, I do this with a flowchart system (programs like Visio are great for this) & design with that in mind.