A unique website forms a tapestry of creativity, functionality, and intuitiveness, inviting visitors into an immersive experience that's both distinct and memorable. What sets a unique website apart are stunning visuals, bold color schemes, and captivating layouts, complemented by clever navigational aids, menu designs, and engaging content.
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Zarla checks that sites meet basic web standards for mobile and desktop. We also use Google's PageSpeed Insights, and WAVE, a service that evaluates accessibility for individuals with disabilities. PageSpeed scores and accessibility are important factors for search engine rankings. PageSpeed scores may not match user experience and can vary substantially.
Kirribilli, New South Wales, Australia
Colin Moy, an Australian-based designer with nearly a decade of experience working in publicity and marketing, offers a website that's both distinct and memorable. Serving as an online portfolio, it compellingly showcased his projects and creative style, with hover-activated functions and multimedia content demonstrating his expertise.
The website opens with a unique rendition of Colin's name, featuring motion graphics and googly eyes that brought the captivating hero image to life. This memorable introduction immediately drew me in, while the concise menu ensured accessibility and efficiency were always prioritized.
The eyes in the hero image are motion-activated, providing an engaging twist that I found fun to play around with. Although the home page does not require much scrolling time, I liked the arrow pointing downwards, as it helped steer my attention away from the hero image. Moreover, Colin's email is clearly visible, and access to social media is swift.
Although the concise home page simplified browsing, I would have appreciated seeing more of Colin's designs there, especially as a newcomer unfamiliar with his work. Moreover, the website is missing trust elements, such as customer reviews. While WAVE only found four contrast issues on the home page, it also flagged a few linked images missing alternative text.
The desktop website's hover-activated functions captivated me right away, making navigation a playful experience. The vibrant color scheme and whimsical graphics truly shine on larger screens, adding a lively touch. However, I found that the portfolio's images don't quite pack the punch I was hoping for and could use a size boost. Impressively, the site scored a solid 80/100 for accessibility and 91/100 for overall performance on Google's PageSpeed Insights.
In contrast to the desktop version, the mobile site does not offer the same visual flair, with no hover-activated functions keeping things interesting. That said, the mobile site is great for on-the-go browsing, providing me with everything I need without endless scrolling.
The portfolio's square, structured look on the mobile site adds a formal touch, but I found its images are more impactful on smaller screens, and the exit button helped streamline navigation back to the home page. Despite my positive experience navigating the mobile site, it received a modest 55/100 in the performance category. However, it retained the desktop version's solid accessibility score.
https://www.pajamasandjam.com/
Strand, Western Cape, South Africa
Pajamas & Jam Eatery, a family-owned eatery in Western Cape, South Africa, presents an inviting website. The home page opens with an immersive hero image of the owners in a kitchen, their passion for cooking radiating from the screen. In a unique twist, this tableau forms the entire home page, providing a concise and refreshing glimpse into their offerings.
While high-quality images bring their culinary creations to life, the website's neat and simple menu allowed me to appreciate the finer details without visual distraction. Moreover, the home page's integration of essential details, such as the address and social media icons, helped streamline accessibility.
Upon entering the site, I was immediately impressed by the evocative and original images. It fostered a connection with the brand and its owners, who are cleverly featured to reaffirm their family-oriented ethos. I also appreciated the easy access to contact details, as well as the recipes, personal journal, and FAQ section, which helped enhance the browsing journey.
The options in the hero image streamlined my scrolling, but the lack of clear navigational aids caused me to mistake these for the eatery's slogan. While an accidental movement of the mouse revealed the hero image's hover-activated functions, other visitors may overlook it entirely. WAVE did not flag any contrast issues, but there were several empty links detected on the home page.
The home page's splash page layout captivated me straight away, with its full-screen images appearing especially immersive on desktop. Although this unique layout is concise, the high-quality images provided strong visual interest. In addition, the splash page design also helped me focus on important elements, such as the social icons, menu options, and essential details in the image.
Moreover, hover-activated options in the hero image and the multimedia content on separate pages stood out more effectively and added an engaging element to the desktop site. That said, the floating menu's options, though helpful, felt small when compared to the commanding visuals.
The high-quality images and video content translate well, even if some are clipped by screen constraints. The home page's splash page design cut down on scrolling time and made the main menu easily accessible. The floating hamburger menu is tidy and lets the images take center stage without distractions, but it lacked sufficient contrast and faded into dark backgrounds, which I found distracting.
While my browsing experience was enjoyable, the home page's performance score dropped to 30/100 on PageSpeed Insights. However, it received impressive results in accessibility and achieved a perfect score for best practices.
Stockholm, Sweden
Founded in 2006, Spotify has blossomed into a worldwide sensation, with nearly 240 million subscribers. The music platform's website dances to the rhythm of its users, keeping the beats front and center. Unlike traditional sites, which typically follow a similar narrative, Spotify's home page promotes the latest releases instead, seamlessly guiding me through a world of music.
While the footer menu includes many important options, including the "Contact" and "About" pages, it felt overshadowed by the website's main appeal. That said, I valued having access to this information, along with the focus on fostering connection through social media and support channels.
The fixed sidebar and floating menu followed my every move, keeping me tethered as I browsed through playlists. With a simple hover, I could track my choices and find the play button with ease. The search options were always within reach, and I enjoyed the personal touches, such as the "Create playlist" option. Moreover, WAVE only flagged one empty button and two forms missing labels.
The fixed sidebar, floating top menu, and sticky banner at the bottom of the screen felt excessive, as if they were competing for my attention. The floating top menu and sticky banner seemed to mirror one another, adding to the clutter. While the footer menu would also benefit from a size boost, finding contact information was more of a quest than I would have liked.
I was pleasantly surprised by how compact the music gallery was on Spotify's desktop site, fitting the screen perfectly and cutting down on scrolling. The hover-activated functions were my only source of entertainment, with the play buttons making it easier to dive into the music.
That said, the footer menu's options, including the social media icons, felt like an afterthought, almost hidden in the shadows. On PageSpeed Insights, the desktop site's home page scored 9/100 for performance and 87/100 for accessibility. Despite its low-performance score, my overall experience was still enjoyable and efficient.
Although most mobile users gravitate towards the app, I found Spotify's mobile site to be just as efficient and accessible. Unlike its desktop counterpart, the mobile site felt cleaner, free of fixed sidebars or sticky bottom-page banners that could overwhelm. The top menu is condensed into a hamburger icon, giving the site a streamlined and tidy appearance.
In addition, the floating menu felt more appropriate here, keeping everything within easy reach, and the footer menu's options are more noticeable. While the home page's performance score remained relatively low at 28/100, its accessibility score grew to 90/100, proving the website prioritizes efficiency.
https://www.nathalie-lete.com/
Paris, France
Nathalie Lete is a French artist and designer who blends various mediums, including illustrations, ceramics, and textiles. I loved that the website unfolded like a piece of parchment adorned with various enchanting drawings — flowers, dogs, and a quirky porcupine scattered across its aesthetic.
Each drawing serves as a portal to whimsical pages, which made me anticipate a surprise around every corner. Here, conventional features, such as a floating menu or hero image, are absent; instead, every click unveils a new and exciting canvas brimming with creativity. However, I would have appreciated an "About" page and links to Nathalie's social media.
The website's unique aesthetic and original illustrations immediately stood out, helping me form an instant connection with the artist's style. Additionally, the layout and parchment-inspired background felt innovative. While Nathalie does not operate an online store, the "Sales Outlet" page provided a thorough overview of where I could purchase her work.
On the mobile site, one of the page's titles appeared cut off, detracting from the overall visual experience. Adding to this, I found that the typeface, though fitting with the parchment theme, was initially hard to read, and some of the titles lacked clarity. WAVE detected multiple linked images on the home page that were missing alternative text.
When a charming cat beckoned me to enter, I knew I was in for a treat! This intriguing splash page welcome immediately piqued my curiosity and set the stage for the unique layout of the home page, where stunning illustrations guided me to new worlds. However, I felt like some titles were unclear and would benefit from some clarity.
While I barely noticed the absence of hover-activated functions on the home page, I did appreciate that the gallery web pages offered this feature, as it helped enhance my browsing experience. On PageSpeed Insights, the home page scored impressively, receiving 95/100 for accessibility and 94/100 for overall performance.
Unlike the desktop site, the mobile version skipped the landing page, a welcome change for those of us who prefer efficient on-the-go browsing. Notably, one of the home page's options appeared cut off, which disrupted the visual harmony of the site.
That said, the compact layout of the home page kept most of the options visible, minimizing the need for excessive scrolling. Additionally, I found that I enjoyed the gallery on the mobile site more. Continuing with the desktop site's solid PageSpeed Insights scores, the mobile version's home page received 75/100 for performance, 95/100 for accessibility, and 100/100 for best practices.
Poole, Dorset, U.K.
Founded in 1995, Lush is a beauty and skincare brand known for its handmade and environmentally friendly products. When I landed on the website, I was immediately captivated by the high-quality images — all designed to immerse visitors and facilitate a memorable browsing experience.
Unlike conventional sites, Lush's home page features several full-screen images that cover different offerings. This resulted in a visually captivating scrolling experience that I found unique and memorable. I also appreciated the convenient "Search & Shop" tool and floating categories, as these made it so much easier to find what I wanted without digging through different pages.
I valued the website's floating menu — it's a handy feature that kept navigation at my fingertips. As I scrolled down, the menu vanished, allowing the full-screen hero image to command my attention even more. The sticky chat box's friendly face made me feel like I had a helpful companion by my side, while the polished images were a testament to the brand's quality.
Although the home page's footer menu includes a "We Are Lush" section that delves into the brand's mission and goals, the absence of a visible "About" section or trust elements, such as customer reviews, gave the home page an impersonal feel. Despite my positive experience, the website is not compliant with assistive technologies.
Browsing through Lush's website was quite a visual treat, with the vivid, full-screen images coming to life on desktop screens. However, I found this stunning visual experience waned due to the home page's lack of text and a clear narrative, which would have helped anchor my interest.
The hover-activated effects on selections added an engaging element and helped me track my choices. Despite this, I couldn't help but wish for similar functions on the images, as this would have made the browsing experience more interactive. While my experience was positive, the home page scored a modest 59/100 for performance on PageSpeed Insights.
The images on the mobile site retain their high quality and, like the desktop version, they create a striking and immersive introduction. However, scrolling through the image-heavy site felt a bit laborious, as the visuals didn't quite match the impact they had on the desktop site. Adding to this, the need for excessive scrolling made the lack of a back-to-top button more noticeable.
Furthermore, there is no indication that the top menu's options extend beyond the visible area, which could result in the off-screen options being overlooked. On a more positive note, the home page scored a solid 62/100 in the performance category on PageSpeed Insights.
A unique website stands out immediately, with its distinctive layouts, custom graphics, and bold branding, leaving a memorable impression.
We've curated a list of unique website examples, complete with in-depth reviews of their pros and cons. Among them, Colin Moy's website is a prime example of a unique website, as it seamlessly incorporates creative motion graphics, a unique layout, and a lively color scheme to showcase his work in an engaging way.
Explore our curated list of unique website examples, which includes Nathalie Lete's portfolio site. Her website stands out with its unconventional layout and distinctive design. Rather than following a typical website structure, the home page showcases custom illustrations that guide visitors to separate pages.
