So now that I’ve officially made the switch over to retail (from the oh-so-exciting world of mortgages), I now have an entirely new realm of websites to pay attention to. It’s been quite refreshing so far - especially since there are companies like Target around.

For as long as I can remember Target’s design has always impressed me. They are one of the few retail companies that truly "get" branding. Everything from print, to web, to in-store, to television just radiates "Target". They have achieved what all companies aim to achieve by having a logo fully recognizable alone without any name next to it. Needless to say, I have come to expect good design from them and am no longer surprized by it…

…until I discovered Club Wedd. Club Wedd is Target’s version of a wedding registry site, which they have incorporated right within their main template. The colors, painted illustration style, copy, and functionality all work together brilliantly to create a unique memorable user experience.

I especially love the center (or technically home) page. Registering for a wedding can be an overwhelming task and they have broken it down visually by allowing the user to click on various rooms of the house and ultimately create their list in a more organized fashion. Each category page after that is able to take on the style guide of the regular Target site, while still maintaining the crafty look and feel of Club Wedd by carrying individual category banners.

Club Wedd reminds me that you can still, in some instances, be completely and utterly creative while living within a major retailer’s website. It also shows me what a good balance of water color illustration (which I’ve been so drawn to lately), and web 2.0 style looks like. I guess opposites do attract…sigh…

For some reason - and maybe it’s just me - I instantly had a flashback of getting in trouble for painting on the kitchen table when I came across this design. It’s the "spill-like" illustration on top of the wood grain. The unknown artist did a good job of combining natural with the abstract. My mind is churning for ways I can incorporate a tad-bit of this into my next project.

It would’ve been nice if they made the edges around the wood a little smother since the textures are so very different.  I can see something similar to this being used for a print ad with some nice typography added right into the sun rays.