Best of the ‘Wooden Look’
The ‘wood look.’ It’s been around since the late 90s. It always used to look tacky and forced. You’d guess right if you suggested I wasn’t a fan. But over the last couple of months I’ve noticed real gems of design with a wood effect used to frame the site in question. Before taking a look at the differences between the ‘wooden’ sites of yesterday and those of today, get a load of the eye-candy below to see what I’m referring to:
Best of Wooden
A massive background image. But it sure is pretty.
Subtle dark wood against the deep orange oozes class.
With a scrawling effect to bring personality to the design.
Photorealistic and tiled? Brilliant graphic design skills to pull this one off.
Going against the grain with a horizontal effect.
The yellow laminate flooring matches the cool blue highlights.
Why is it not tacky any more?
Imagine, if you will, those sites of old which first toyed with the wood look. They used incredibly small background images tiled across the background. The result? It was obvious to the average user that the background repeated every fifty pixels or so and it lost its realism.
Another factor may have also hindered these designs of yesteryear - concept. The wooden look was often used on a site because it could be used not because it should. Not unlike some of the gradients/shadows of today. It didn’t add anything to the design as it wasn’t thought through.
The designs above all work with the wood effect, rather than against it. Colours are matched to the wood and textures have been carefully chosen to be complimentary. The wood look has grown up.
What does it bring to the party?
I’d love to hand this over to you. What do you think wood does for you? Does it work? Do you view it as just another trendy effect or can it offer more to a design? Fill out a comment and get debating.