Finding Website Design Inspiration in Nature

Website design inspiration can be found in any number of places, from art galleries and instruction books to online showcases and portfolios, just to name a few. But to tap into one of the most profound and limitless sources of timeless design ideas, you must put down the books, step away from the keyboard and walk outside. For any and every aspect of design, nature is the true master. After all, what human artist could surpass nature in its ability to mix colors, create textures, evoke emotion and balance form and function?

Color

The challenge of striking the right balance of color and tone can test the mettle of even the most seasoned designer. There are many resources online that can help you experiment with color and try out palettes, but there is no better source to guide you than nature. Nature has an uncanny ability to blend just the right tones and hues to achieve visual harmony. In the world around you, you can find a perfectly balanced palette to match every emotion, every mood and every purpose. Drawing upon nature’s palettes can make your website just as unique as the landscape from which it takes its inspiration, providing a distinctive feel that will be a welcome breath of fresh air in comparison to the cold corporate websites your customers have grown tired of. One of the best ways to use the colors found in nature is to create a palette based on a photograph. There are several web-based tools that allow you to do this. Simply upload an image, and these tools will automatically generate a palette that you can apply in your design. Resources: PHOTOCOPA: http://www.colourlovers.com/photocopa Color Hunter: http://www.colorhunter.com/ Image to Color Palette Generator: http://www.cssdrive.com/imagepalette/

Texture

Nearly all textures found on the Web are designed to emulate real textures found in nature. When implemented in conjunction with typography, color and lighting, these textures create a browsing environment that feels more organic and engaging to the end user. Textures also play a key role in interface design. Applying natural textures to page components such as buttons, sliders and forms can make them feel more tactile and provide important visual cues to guide users as they interact with your site, especially on touch-based platforms. Resources: Bittbox: http://www.bittbox.com/category/freebies Zen Textures: http://zentextures.com Image*After: http://www.imageafter.com/textures.php

Mood

Nature can provide inspiration for any mood or mindset your web design strives to create. When it comes to tone and emotion, nature covers the full spectrum. Fog and rain reflect sorrow or melancholy. Bright sun and blue skies convey joy, hope and purity. Wide-open landscapes and the infinite cosmos evoke a sense of adventure and excitement. And what says tranquility and peace better than the white sandy beaches of a Caribbean island? Using natural scenery is an effective way to create an aura for your website. By employing large-scale images of beautiful landscapes as a focal point, you grab the user’s attention and immediately engage them emotionally. As soon as a visitor lands on your site, they step into an enticing virtual environment that compels them to explore deeper.

Utility

There’s much more to good website design than finding the right combination of colors and textures. At its best, website design solves problems – finding the most effective ways to communicate a mission, to capture the essence of a brand, to tap into the psyche of a customer and to create want and desire. Nature is unmatched in its capacity for solving problems. Nature designs things to work efficiently within the many particular nuances of the surrounding environment. Everything found in nature – from the tallest mountain to the tiniest microscopic organism – is designed in a specific way to accomplish a specific goal. To attract or to blend in. To shelter, to protect or to evade. The same rules apply to good web design: every individual element must be planned and implemented to serve a specific purpose. In this way, nature serves as inspiration not only to designers but to architects and engineers as well.

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Gallery of websites inspired by nature

huxleyprairiefest.com

blueridgeparkway.org

eastpoint.org

enneasportswear.com

garnierbody.com.br

helpyourhabitat.org

imaginamos.com

raisetheroofproductions.com

sproutlet.io

swissside.com

traderjoes.com

whitelotusaromatics.com

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How Warby Parker Conquered Social Media (And You Can Too)

Warby Parker is an eyewear company on a mission. In 2010, co-founders Neil Blumenthal, Dave Gilboa, Jeff Raider and Andy Hunt set out to revolutionize their niche by creating boutique-quality, classically crafted eyewear at a revolutionary price point.

Today, they sell frames and lenses together for a flat low price of $95. Not only do they produce a high-quality, affordable product, but they also do so with a conscience: for every pair of glasses sold, a pair is given to someone in need.

It’s an indisputably great concept. But how did they skyrocket to success so quickly? Well, they had a little help – from the community of followers and evangelists they’ve cultivated through their activities on key social media networks, specifically Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

While their business model may be unique, their approach to community building offers great lessons in social engagement that you can implement to fast-track the growth of your business:

Facebook

How they did it: Warby Parker is currently just shy of 100,000 followers and still growing daily. The strength of their appeal on Facebook lies in their prolific use of images through status updates, albums and user engagement campaigns.

Since the arrival of the Facebook timeline, images are more important than ever. According to Facebook Marketing, “photos and videos get 120% and 100% more engagement respectively.”

How you can do it: The equation is simple: more images means more interaction, so it’s time to get visual.

Here are a few simple ways you can amp up your use of photos and videos on Facebook:

Attending an event? Snap a photo or video and post it to your page. For greater convenience, install the Facebook Pages app on your smartphone so you can share on the spot without needing to be near a computer.

Published a new blog post? Share the photo you used in the post, then caption it with a catchy hook followed by “Read more here:” and the URL.

Just released a new collection of products? Create an album featuring a photo for each new item in your link along with a quick description and a link to your e-commerce site to drive sales.

Twitter

How they did it: With nearly 28,000 followers to date on Twitter, Warby Parker (@WarbyParker) has a well-branded page and a strong team of community-builders behind their tweets. One of their strongest assets is their consistency in responding to customers, potential customers and fans.

Take a quick peek at their Twitter page, and you’ll instantly notice an unending list of tweets in direct response to another Twitter user. According to Carol Rozwell, vice president and analyst at Gartner, “The dissatisfaction stemming from failure to respond via social channels can lead to up to a 15 percent increase in churn rate for existing customers.”

While it’s impossible and impractical for a growing company to respond to every mention on Twitter, it’s an important practice to engage as much as possible with the community. From my own personal experience I can say that I’m much more likely to be a loyal customer of and an evangelist for a company, product or service that responds to me than one that doesn’t. Not surprisingly, my personal choice of eyewear is, in fact, Warby Parker, and much of that has to do with the responsiveness and excellent customer service they provide through Twitter.

How you can do it: Responsiveness is the name of the game. You should try to over-serve your customers at every turn.

The most efficient way to do this is to assign a specific person — ideally a customer service specialist who is also socially savvy themselves — to monitor your Twitter feed on a daily basis. By delegating the task to one person, you can ensure that your responses are consistent, timely and safeguard the value and reputation of your brand. With the pace at which the social media world moves, if a comment or concern from a follower lingers for even a few hours unanswered, people will take notice and will perceive that you have ignored their tweet.

One important cautionary note: if a follower brings up a problem, acknowledge it publicly, then resolve it privately via phone or email.

Pinterest

How they did it: Much like they’ve done with their Facebook presence, Warby Parker has used the power of images to connect with their customers on Pinterest. They currently have over 6,000 followers, 27 boards, 1,800 pins and more than 1,600 pin likes.

It’s worth noting that they are using Pinterest in exactly the right manner – not as a tool for shameless self-promotion but rather as a vehicle to provide greater value to their customers and to create an overall image for the brand that people gladly want to identify themselves with. For example, one of their boards is called “Jasper: A Vintage Outlook,” and simply features vintage-inspired images that echo the brand’s look and feel.

Another technique they use is cross-promotion. On their “Bespectacled Bloggers” page, they feature bloggers wearing Warby Parker frames. This serves to not only add credibility to the brand, but also to increase traffic to blogs that support Warby Parker. It’s a win-win.

How you can do it: Focus on providing value first and foremost, and allow promotion to happen organically as your followers take your great content and run with it.

Self-promotion need not be avoided completely; however, it’s important to do so in a tasteful fashion and not to let your social media sites be solely focused on you. This will allow you to generate a real community around your brand, product or service, because you’ll become a source rather than a salesperson.

Much like Warby Parker has done with their Pinterest page, think about the kind of things your consumers are interested in (other than your product), and provide valuable content based on that. People will be more inclined to engage with what you post when it’s valuable to them, rather than when they feel like they’re being sold something all the time.

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