Breckenridge Ski Resort

Edwin Tofslie, an online and traditional art director and designer, shows us how to effectively use images in the background of our web designs. In the Breckenridge Ski Resort design Edwin displays exceptional compositional skills bringing various elements together like imagery, texture, type and colours to evoke the right emotions in visitors.

I love the explore feature and if this was done using CSS it makes it even better. The colour is interesting because you’d think all white to represent snow but it really works as is because it brings warmth to the site. The possible reason is because he doesn’t want to make it look or feel cold but rather fun. Excellent!

Snow.com

Snow.com, unlike the previous site, definitely takes the all-white approach so you can look into what I was saying. Between the two, I think this one evokes a colder feeling. In order to effectively use background images in design, compositional skills are important. Once again this designer enviously showcases this skill which is the lesson to be learned here. He consistently manages to perfectly blend content with imagery and maintains great balance between them.

I’m not sure why snow.com replaced this design but my best guess is they wanted something more corporate and conservative because that’s the difference I spot between the two designs. I prefer this design, it’s more exciting.

Here are some more designs that shows exceptional use of background images in design. Enjoy!

Shaun White

Shaun White

Shaun White

Nike Golf

Kayak Shed

QuickWomen

So did you enjoy? What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear them.

Critique Agent: "dmadray"  -  http://twitter.com/depthskins

Damian Madray is the founder & creative director of Depthskins Studio & DesignersCouch, his responsibilities are in the areas of branding, web design and project management. Damian’s keen eye is always absorbing design elements around him which lead to the creation of DCQ. More posts by this author.