I’ve been searching lately for a good example of clean, fresh design that really perfects the simplicity and complexity of whitespace.  Believe it or not, this is a very hard balance to achieve.  Although I wouldn’t call Healdsburg’s new tourist information site perfect, it does represent this style I’ve fallen in love with lately. I’d like to call it "modern basics".

I know, I know…"modern basics" sounds like a bedding line at K-Mart (in fact, now that I think about it - it very well might be).  But, it really encompasses that look of beautiful typography and crisp open pages.  It combines that feeling of the old school basics with some modern touches.  You have to really take a look at the entire site up close.  This small image doesn’t do it justice. 

What I love about Robinsson Cravents portfolio - besides that it is in Spanish - is how it doesn’t feel "flat".  Instead, it feels layered, movable, and almost 3D. Although this particular design was built using Flash, it is possible to create the same effect with HTML and CSS. 

I’m going to try this technique. Maybe it’s by using thread and fabric, or hands holding paper, or fishing line hooked to…well, something. 

I’m also a big fan of his color scheme. Though I seem to be attracted to everything lime lately…especially when it’s a flavor in beer.  View it for yourself here.

Although today my profession is in Interactive Design, my first passion for the arts was drawing…specifically people. I would cut out photos of the most interesting characters I could find from magazines and newspapers, and spend hours drawing them. It’s easy to get caught up in the templated world of web design and forget about these natural organic shapes of the human body. One shape used to break through the boxes can add so much life to a page.  This is what instantly attracted me to Fray.

Fray uses large watercolor images and great typography to test the limits of what templates can look like. It still feels extremely organized and professional, but in ways, you almost feel like you aren’t looking at a website.  This could work as an amazing print piece as well. 

I love how the hand is protruding from the top of the screen.  It’s as if it’s really reaching down into your computer. The defined line created by using the tan on top and white on the bottom adds some structure to balance out that large image overlapping it.  Check out Fray up close here: fray.com.