30 Websites with Photographic Backgrounds

Tuesday, 16 March 2010 20:41

In design, the simplest of options are often among the best. Using a photographic background is an easy way to make your site beautifully eye-catching. Below you’ll find 30 examples of sites from all over the world using strong photographic elements as background pieces. Some use pure photography while others mix in illustrations, Photoshop effects, and text. Use these as a leaping point for your own ideas the next time you need a fresh design.

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Landscapes and Nature

Landscapes and natural elements have an inherent beauty that most people can’t help but appreciate. Incorporating these effectively into your designs is a great way to increase your wow factor.

Wilderness House

Casa Do Canto

Christina Lauer

Dar Ogrodu

Grow Media

Food Inc.

Fellow Creative

Ask.com

Hoddows-Gastwerk

People

When looking at a two dimensional image, your eyes will naturally be drawn to faces, especially strong eye contact is present (i.e. when the subject is looking directly into the camera). Incorporating people into your designs is a great way to make a page seem instantly more friendly, personal or even dramatic. The quality of the photography here is especially key when using humans in your site design.

Start Fitness

Rich Brown

Consulta Bern

Leah Haggar

Rebecca Barry

Demotive

Club Juicy

Seth Said

Pizzaza

Kashmir Creative

Tolingo

Radiant Photography

Interiors

Even the plainest of interiors can add a lot of visual interest to a page. Odds are users will expect a traditional web interface when navigating to your site and a real world interior look can often be a pleasant surprise. Choose the photo carefully as it will the tone for the entire site. Notice how much different each website’s general mood and impression is based on the photo selected.

Mets del la créme

Kitchen-Label

Gdruk

Bonterra

Misc

Obviously, you aren’t confined to the categories above. Food, abstract textures, and material macro shots can all make great website backgrounds. The final example shows that a digital portfolio can often be improved by incorporating photographs of live print samples.

Culinaria

Davy Kestens

Faith Fashion

MonkeyNuts

Sven Kils

Conclusion

Use the comments below to tell us which is your favorite example. Also be sure to post a link to your own site if it uses a photographic background.