Photo Centric Web Design – Simple, Efficient and Effective

Who needs a web designer when you have great photography right? OK, I don’t necessarily agree with that, but having great photography is a huge step in the right direction and can easily make or break a site. While it’s not always the appropriate design direction to go, a site that features and relies heavily on quality photos can be very effective and visually stunning.

Many photo centric sites are minimalistic, which makes perfect sense since the designer chooses to reduce and focus on the content. That main content could be the photo itself (functioning as a main product image, selling point, gallery, etc.), or it could be a message or call to action that is layered on that image.

Featured Photography

It’s not uncommon to have a single product to feature on a webpage. Giving it a good amount of space and presenting it cleanly is no different than a museum placing a painting in a nice frame and keeping it well lit.

This really is like a museum gallery. The Gatorade is treated like an installation piece.


I like the way this blog chose to feature their latest entry. If a site only has occasional posts, why not feature it or treat it different than the older posts.

Background Photography

A big background image can serve as a great canvas to let your typography and layout really shine. The following sites demonstrate how the large background image can serve as a feature image but also provides a theme and feel for the site as well.

I don’t really know what this site does, but it sure looks cool. Anyone speak Russian?

This background image gives an urban feel to the site which harmonizes well with the products they sell.

This trip guide uses different large photos for pretty much every page.

This is a bit of a spin from the others in that they overlay a pattern over the background image.

The revolver illustration gives a very distinct style and attitude to the site.

Grid Photography

Stores and portfolio sites often have quite a few listings to feature. Sometimes the most effective way to present those listings is to display them in some sort of grid. Since the product/client often speaks for itself, it’s an effective way to show lots of information and let the user choose what they want.

Conclusion…

Many of these sites are Flash based, and while Flash has its place in the web, I can’t help but notice that a good amount can be accomplished with javascript. Many of these large scale image sites are associate with Flash design, but it’s great to see that the line between design styles is fading away.

Many of these sites could be seen at a glance and users would be able to quickly determine a style and direction for the site. Because these sites rely so heavily on their images, it’s vital that they be quality images; not snap shots taken from an iPhone. Using images to dictate the direction of the design is nothing new, but it’s nice to see how elegant, effective and simple designs can be with great photography.