Overview
Web design trends come and go. You should be very wary not to jump on the latest ones that have no real staying power. An over abundance of glossy-iconed 2.0 sites are sure to look really outdated, real soon. I’d argue they already do. However some trends, can look awesome long after the trend has peaked. I think watercolor designs, when done right, are one of those trends.
Recently, I’ve spotted more and more gorgeous watercolor effects in web design. I’ve created this post to serve as a bookmark for inspiration, resources and tutorials on designing these effects.
Inspiration Web Designs
Here is a showcase of some beautiful examples of watercolor effects in web design.
Agami Creative
Brad Candullo
Viget Labs
Platin
Matt Mullenweg
Billy Hughes At War
Squawk
Webstock
Happy Cog
blog.critical
Electric Pulp
Resources
A bunch of awesome freebies that will help you produce the look.
Free Watercolour Brush Strokes: Hi-Res PS Brushes + Source Files
106 Delicious Water Color Illustrator Brushes
Photoshop Freebie: Watercolor Brush Set
Free High-Res Photoshop Brushes: Grungy Watercolor
WaterColor .1. Brushes Pack
Splatter and Watercolour Brushes For Photoshop
Tutorials
A list of some great tutorials to help you learn how to create watercolor effects
Watercolor Brush Tutorial
Create a Watercolor Vector Flower Illustration
Create Cool Watercolor Effects in Photoshop
Design Watercolor Effect Menu
Create Convincing Watercolor Effects Using Photoshop
Final Thoughts
This compilation could have included even more resources, but I wanted to focus on some of the best that I’ve found and not flood it with average ones. I hope you find this useful. Let me know what you think of watercolor effects in web design. Is the trend here to stay?
If this post was helpful to you, please consider sharing it with others, it's a great way of saying thanks.
Contribute
Chris Sharp
March 10, 2009
I keep going back to the Billy Hughes site, it’s simply stunning!
Nice round-up, thanks for the links to brushes – can never get enough of those!
T-Law
March 10, 2009
Thanks for this useful freebies and inspiration ;)
Silentgirl
March 10, 2009
Absolutely beautiful & inspiring !
Silentgirl´s last post was… Colour Inspiration : 12 Beautiful Vintage Colour Palettes – Part 1
Sanjeev
March 11, 2009
Ultimate collection buddy, thanks for sharing them with us
Sanjeev´s last post was… Create dynamic forms using Zoho Creator Web Form Builder
liam
March 11, 2009
Very good stuff, watercolor is certainly one of the best trends in web design at the moment, and has been for a while. I think, and hope this style could be around for quite a while too!
liam´s last post was… Icon Set Giveaway Results & Some Graphic River News
Andrew Houle
March 11, 2009
Glad to hear the good feedback on this post!
@Liam Yeah, I think this one has more staying power than most; and rightly so!
Pete Morley
March 11, 2009
The web is becoming much more tactile and I like it.
Pete Morley´s last post was… My Twitter Activity for 2009-03-11
Lucinda - eightyone design
March 11, 2009
Brilliant round up! I love Brad Candullo’s site and Matt Mullenweg’s site.
Nora Reed
March 11, 2009
Watercolor seemed to be a media that died out, but every once in a while, it does come back and I think it should. It is very beautiful.
Dan B. Lee
March 11, 2009
Great additions. Couldn’t have come at a better time. I know I’ll be using some of this with an upcoming creative project.
Thomas
March 12, 2009
Cool :), Usefull list
MondoNucleosis
March 12, 2009
Thanks a lot for this list. It will be very useful.
MondoNucleosis´s last post was… MondoNucleosis now runs on Thesis!
AJ Troxell
March 14, 2009
Very nice list of websites using watercolor techniques in design, as well as some great tutorials. Thanks for posting this Andrew!
AJ Troxell´s last post was… Hand Drawn Social Vector Set
Hunter
March 14, 2009
I would have probably also mentioned http://deborahcavenaugh.com , but hey – no one’s perfect.
Dainis Graveris
March 15, 2009
nice inspiration – illustrator watercolor brushes and effects are getting more and more popular :)
Dainis Graveris´s last post was… 33 High Resolution And Eye-Catching Spring Desktop Wallpapers
Memaw
March 17, 2009
Ohhh these are sooooooooooo pretty!!!! (; Thank you!!!
Memaw´s last post was… Me and my googly yahooglies are famous YAYE!!!!!
Soh Tanaka
March 20, 2009
Great compilation Andrew :-)
Soh Tanaka´s last post was… Simple Toggle with CSS & jQuery
Kp
April 10, 2009
This was a really good line. Really inspiring can’t wait for this style to pick up.
Tanaka13 - Créations du Net
May 9, 2009
very nice selection! very inspirative!
Tanaka13 – Créations du Net´s last post was… The little Red Bridge
Cam
August 14, 2009
Love the blog, great stuff.
.-= Cam´s last blog ..10 reasons to buy art =-.
piervix
August 25, 2009
Hey, awesome compilation. I love the watercolored websites.
In this article on PV.M Garage I shared other nice examples…
http://www.pvmgarage.com/en/2009/06/roundup-of-watercolor-in-web-design-25-amazing-examples-50-resources-and-tutorials/
Thanks Andrew!
.-= piervix´s last blog ..Cut and Paste styled websites for inspiration =-.
Marketing Club
December 2, 2009
Thanks for the tips, you have some really cool designs, photoshop is so awesome.