Hand Drawn Elements in Web Design
Its interesting that Smashing Magazine have just published an article on the use of hand drawing style in modern web design because its been on my mind lately too. Now that web 2.0 shininess is everywhere and I’m starting to associate slick with the marketing spiel approach to web design its refreshing to run across good examples of hand drawn design elements.
One example that I came across while teaching late last year was the Biola University undergrad site - which has appeared on several lists of the top 20 websites for 2007 and appears in this Smashing Magazine article. The mix of illustration with hand drawn elements differentiates Biola from the web 2.0 approach (or even the corporate one).
The difficulties in approaching web design from this perspective are the inherent pitfalls of the web delivery medium (a cautionary note in the article warns not to use Comic Sans).
The real art of this approach is breaking some convention while maintaining overall convention, making sure the site provides a usable experience and remains accessible. But if these elements are used with skill then the benefits of getting it right should be obvious. After all, a large part of what you want your site to achieve is an individual connection with the user and some level of creative branding.
