Posted on 20. Oct, 2009 by bmackler in Inspiration
One of the fastest growing web design styles has been grunge. You will notice it right when you see it…Characterized mainly by irregular and crooked visual elements, textured and gritty backgrounds, jagged edges and faded out elements. This style is in direct contrast to the Web 2.0 craze, which maintains very straight lines along with shiny and glossy edges. As opposed to the sleekness and sterility of Web 2.0, these designs are inspired by urban surroundings.
Some purists may write of the grunge trend as simply sloppy work, but if you look carefully at all of the nuances and attention to detail, you will recognize the high level of skill and time it takes to create a design such as these 20 below.
Open Door Super Site

Open Door Super Site - Grunge Design
Bridge 55

Bridge 55 - Grunge Design
Decades Rock Live

Decades Rock Live - Grunge Design
Mind Twitch

Mind Twitch - Grunge Design
Remedy Drive

Remedy Drive - Grunge Design
Spoon Graphics

Spoon Graphics - Grunge Desgin
Gary Nock

Official Gary Nock Website - Grunge Design
Corvus Design Studio

Corvus Design Studio - Grunge Design
Juxt Interactive

Juxt Interactive - Grunge Design
Revolution Church

Revolution Church - Grunge Design
Jeremy Zevin

Jeremy Zevin - Grunge Design
Andreas Hinkel – Celtic Football Club

Andreas Hinkel - Grunge Design
WETA Workshop

WETA Workshop - Grunge Design
Spodek

Spodek - Grunge Design
Elan Snowboards

Elan Snowboards - Grunge Design
Tim Kadlec

Tim Kadlec - Grunge Design
InTrozo

InTrozo - Grunge Design
Richard Linao

Richard Linao - Grunge Design
Matt Mullenweg

Matt Mullenweg - Grunge Design
Cogitatur

Cogitatur - Grunge Design
Tags: best of the web, Inspiration, web design, websites
Jay
20. Oct, 2009
hmmmm, on a ‘do they rock my boat’ scale – i would say this collection is a very light breeze with moderate to low swell.
[Reply]
bmackler Reply:
October 21st, 2009 at 5:04 am
That is a curious statement. Is it that you do not like this style of design or you just think that this list is not representative of the best this genre has to offer? I would love to hear more about your opinion
[Reply]
Gopal Raju
21. Oct, 2009
Great list, but do you think ‘Elan Snowboards’ is a Grungy website?
[Reply]
bmackler Reply:
October 21st, 2009 at 10:14 am
Glad you like the list. I would say that it straddles the grunge / hand drawn style. Its definitely not as grungy as some of the others, but I think it has several elements that would put it in that category
[Reply]
20 Grunge Style Websites that Rock | Web Design Tutorials and … | JOHNDAVE DECANO
21. Oct, 2009
[...] original here: 20 Grunge Style Websites that Rock | Web Design Tutorials and … [...]
uberVU - social comments
22. Oct, 2009
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by lizardgirl: 20 grundge sites that rockhttp://bit.ly/TyyAk…
Polprav
22. Oct, 2009
Hello from Russia!
Can I quote a post in your blog with the link to you?
[Reply]
bmackler Reply:
October 26th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Yes, happily. where are you posting it to?
Ben
http://www.designtutorials4u.com
[Reply]
edale
31. Oct, 2009
Thanks for taking the time to put this list together!
I like these because they fire me with ideas. I’m not about to knock off anything I see here, but I am definitely inspired to try out a few of the texture/shape combinations I see here in my own work. I really like it when people break out of the static “all objects parallel—rounded corners—matching color scheme which means lots of white, maybe some lime green, a little cyan and some orangsicle” web2.0 mold.
It takes a great deal more artistic skill to assemble a balanced composition that appears to be falling apart than to slap together something that aligns perfectly in all axes and dimensions.
The standards the web is built on have changed to accommodate much more artistic expressions of texture, color, shape, line, and form; why aren’t more designers rushing to take advantage of this? Maybe it’s because many of them are afraid to take the time to push the envelope out and really bend the rules of webdesign to the breaking point.
For all the haters: It’s much more engaging to ask the question “Why ISN’T the web a more vibrant place, and how can I help it become so?” than “What snarky criticism comes immediately to mind and how do I spin that to make myself look cool to my Myspace pals?” You should try putting more time into your own work rather than taking cheap shots at people who clearly put the work in.
Keep up the good work, bmackler.
Thanks again for putting this together. It inspired me!
[Reply]
20 Grunge Style Websites that Rock | Web Design Tutorials and Journal …
25. Nov, 2009
[...] More: 20 Grunge Style Websites that Rock | Web Design Tutorials and Journal … [...]
SEO FAQs - SEO Frequently Asked Questions
02. Dec, 2009
The websites are looking good
[Reply]
Design That Rocks
15. Jan, 2010
A great collection of websites. I can totally get the feel that you were going for in this compilation, and agree that they rock! The ‘grunge’ style of design is implemented well with these designs, and together form a good resource list for inspiration. Nice work.
[Reply]