Today, Imaginary Landscape launched a new website to welcome 2021. Codenamed "handwoven," this most recent iteration is website #7 in Imaginary's history and makes use of many emerging trends in website design and usability.
Dark Mode
Long the realm of gaming and mobile apps, the ability to switch between light mode and dark mode is a prominent feature of the new site. A descriptive toggle for large viewports and a sun/moon icon for smaller viewports allow users to quickly switch between modes (if you'd like more information on how this was implemented, please ask).
Hand-drawn Illustrations
We ditched the smiling, happy, beautiful people imagery and went with hand drawn art. All custom and drawn in-house, it allowed us to inject personality and warmth that better reflects Imaginary as a company. As an added bonus, it is awfully convenient to say, "Draw me something that says 'news'" as opposed to scrolling through an endless array of overused stock images or clip art.
Minimalist
We decided against both the weight and the reveal of many current website designs. Yes, the pipes are bigger and faster these days, but it's still the Internet and in most cases the mobile Internet. A lean design makes sure the message gets out widely and quickly.
Many modern designs include a full screen homepage with a large background image or video. Often they require the user to take action in order to reveal the site content and purpose. While this is certainly dramatic and appropriate in certain contexts, it isn't for us. We don't think we should put barriers between site visitors and content. Besides, we want to immediately answer the question, "Am I in the right place?"
Subtlety
Our straightforward approach belies a wealth of modern touches, but they are subtle in presentation. They are meant to be in support of our content, not distract from it. Movement is a useful tool in this regard so there is animation in the way pages are assembled when scrolling. The top navigation disappears only to reappear when you scroll upward. There are lots of other easter eggs to uncover as well.
Overall, we are excited with the new design as it best represents who we are as a company. More importantly, it was a cathartic and metaphorical exercise to close the book on 2020 and start anew for 2021.
Happy New Year!