The History

Patrick Griffiths and Dan Webb are credited with coming up with a simple CSS and javascript-based dropdown menu that was originally published on ALA. With the influence of ALA over the years, the popularity of the Suckerfish menu technique has grown in popularity and the basic concept of their technique — using the pseudo :hover class as the trigger — drives many a dropdown across the interwebz.

With the now outdated IE6 slowly being taken out to pasture, modern browsers are even more optimized to use Suckerfish-style menus. IE6 for those of you who forgot — did not support the pseudo :hover class and that’s why the simple javascript is necessary at all. It triggers the dropdown action for that browser. While most of us still try to support IE6, it’s no longer a top-priority as it once was.

Patrick Griffiths and Dan Webb have updated this landmark menu technique since the original and called it the “Son of Suckerfish Dropdowns” on their now defunct HTML Dog website. They’ve expanded the functionality to include multiple levels and reduce the javascript as well as other compatibility enhancements.

Visit Patrick Griffiths and Dan Webb’s “Son of Suckerfish Dropdowns” @ HTML Dog.

See an example from HTML Dog.

Why Suckerfish Dropdowns?

It’s Lightweight and Easy To Use
Using this technique requires using three web languages. HTML, CSS and Javascript. The HTML and CSS portions are already necessary if you plan to have a menu of any kind and the javascript is there for IE6 and even then it’s just few lines of code supplied to you that you don’t have to edit. For those of you who have searched around for dropdown menus, you’ll know it’s really tough to find a simple solution that works on a standards compliant browser AND the IE6s of the world. There is always a caveat… intense javascript based on conditions, tables, intense CSS and etc.

It’s Standards Compliant & Accessible
The dropdown menu structure is marked up as a regular ol’ HTML list. It’s styled by CSS. The javascript can be used in conjunction with the CDATA tag and hence be seen as character data and pass validation.

It’s Popular and Well Supported by the Community
Every implementation of the technique will be unique and without a doubt — you’ll have a bug. The great thing about Suckerfish dropdowns is that it’s now pretty mature and well adopted by the community. Issues have been documented and supported and many work-arounds and fixes are already available online a google search away.

I had the common Suckerfish :focus problem where parts of the menu would remain visible or “sticky” depending on how the :focus was triggered on IE7. I looked around and found a simple fix here and voila, problem solved!

So although you may not have the same problem, you can be sure you’ll probably have better luck finding help for Suckerfish dropdowns over the other techniques.

It’s Versatile
I’ve been using it as a vertical menu for the most part but it works the same way with some tweaks as a horizontal menu as well.

Also, why does it have to be a menu? Use the basic concept to hide and then open up a content box using the :hover class to trigger it. For instance, a Trivia Question box and they roll over a button to display the answer. The possibilities are endless!

Six More Years of Suckerfish?
With the new features in CSS3 and HTML 5, I can’t wait to see what type of new progressive enhancement we’ll be seeing in years to come. Rounded corners, transparency, border-types, embedded media… all being used in imaginative ways with the basic Suckerfish techniques is a wonderful thing.

In the future when IE6 is nothing but a bad nightmare buried deep in our past, we won’t need the javascript portion of the technique making it even more easy to develop for. I prefer to use Suckerfish based menu techniques in general because of the reasons outlined above and I hope you consider in making your choice next time you do the dropdown dance!

Did I Miss Anything? Correct me or add to the conversation in the comments!

One of my favorite all-time designers is of course Chip Kidd and I love the work he’s done over his career. If you’ve read Kidd’s books you’ll geek out reading the troubles and tribulations he’s been through designing his covers.

A book cover has to stand out at a bookstore because of the competition on the shelves. I chose books based on a combination of cleverness, aesthetics and originality. Here are Debra’s 10 and 47 of my own handpicked favorites separated into Conceptual, Typographical, Illustrative and Miscellaneous categories.

DEBRA’S PICKS

She tried to cover a range of styles in her post to show the variety of great book covers that people have done.

A Million Little Pieces by James Frey

Secret Lives of Great Artist by Elizabeth Lunday

Against Happiness by Eric G. Wilson

Hotheads by Steven Pinker

The Craftsman by Richard Sennett

The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon

Oil by Matthew Yeomans

Things I’ve Learned From Women Who’ve Dumped Me edited by Ben Karlin

The Complete Persepolis by Marjane SatrapiXX

Conceptual

You’ll notice a simple metaphor is all it takes to make a great conceptual book cover. The type of book doesn’t matter much either as you’ll see novels, trade-books and non-fiction.

Lovesick by Alex Wellen

The Best of Brochure Design 9 by Jason Godfrey

A Happy Marriage by Rafael Yglesias

The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson

A Wolf at the Table by Augusten Burroughs

The Book of Dead Philosphers by Simon Critchley

TYPOGRAPHICAL

Is it just me or does it just seem right that a book would feature great typography on it’s cover?

Dreaming in Hindi by Katherine Rusell Rich

Gig by John Bowe, Marisa Bowe, and Sabin Streeter

1984 by George Orwell

Manhood for Amateurs by Michael Chabon

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

Everything is Cinema by Richard Brody

The Tibetan Book of the Dead

Love the One You’re With by Emily Giffin

Finger Lickin’ Fifteen by Janet Evanovich

The Book of General Ignorance by John Lloyd by John Hitchinson

Vertigo by Dan Auiler

Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things by George Lakoff

I included this because it felt like it was designed in a very minimalistic style but it intensely highlighed the name of the book. I couldn’t stop looking at it so I feel it’s worth sharing.

A Short History of Women by Kate Walbert

ILLUSTRATIVE

Book covers with illustration usually work out well because the style of the art can really translate what the book’s tone is.

Summer Blonde by Adrian Tomine

Red Colored Elegy by Seiichi Hayashi

A Drifting Life by Yoshihiro Tatsumi

The Tibetan Book of the Dead (Paperback)

Abandon The Old in Tokyo by Yoshihiro Tatsumi

Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk

Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli

Comic Book Tattoo

Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast by Lewis Wolpert

Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine

Blankets by Craig Thompson

Sleepwalk by Adrian Tomine

Lullaby Chuck Palahniuk

Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk

Buddha 8 by Osamu Tezuka

The Book of Vice by Peter Sagal

Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk

Ice haven by Daniel Clowes

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon

Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

MISCELLANEOUS

Something Missing by Matthew Dicks

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

Maps and Legends by Michael Chabon

Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict

In Hanuman’s Hands by Cheeni Rao

Stiff by Mary Roach

Maya Angelou

Bonk by Mary Roach

The Political Unconscious by Fedric Jameson

Let me know what I missed! Comment!

Shared Hosting – For Those on a Small Budget

People that do not want to spend a fortune on their web hosting and do not need it to be super-strong should start by looking at shared hosting plans. It is the most popular type of web hosting and it is also a perfect match for small online businesses or for personal websites. When we say that shared hosting is not super-strong we do not mean that it lacks in quality. You will still get secure and qualitative hosting, only costing a few dollars per month, but if your site gets a lot of visitors it might become a bit slow or even crash if it is a ton of visitors. That said, it takes a LOT of visitors to slow down a website that is built upon shared hosting so it will most likely not be a problem. Many of the best shared hosting plans are very similar – just make sure that you get plenty of bandwidth, disk space and that their uptime record is good.

Some companies that have generally been well received from their users and critics alike are:
Host Monster
Just Host
Top 10 Shared Web Hosting from Web Hosting Search

In this field there are many companies that have a less than respectable reputation and it is important to look into their background before committing. There are many shared hosting companies that are resellers and may lack the resources to effectively maintain their servers and client bases’ needs. That is not to say that all resellers are bad as that is far from the truth, but it is necessary to look over their finer points in depth to make sure they will be able to serve your needs in the best possible way.

Dedicated Hosting – Great for Major Companies

If you are in charge of a website that attracts a lot of visitors you better have web hosting that can handle all the traffic. Dedicated hosting is the crème de la crème of the web hosting industry and is a perfect match for the more popular websites. The server, which will work solely for you, is stored, protected, and maintained by the hosting provider. There are two forms of dedicated hosting: managed and unmanaged. With managed dedicated hosting it is very easy, all you have to do is take care of the onsite content. Unmanaged dedicated hosting requires more technical knowledge but it also gives more possibilities of optimizing things after your liking. Dedicated server hosting costs range quite a bit based on the plan and the average costs range from $60 and $200 per month, which has to be regarded as affordable when considering the strength and stability of the hosting plan.

The options available with dedicated hosting have a relatively broad range. In mentioning a few of the companies that are highly thought of, we have mentioned one that is more focused on the higher end of the spectrum and one that is more entry level. InMotion is well known for their shared services but their dedicated plan is exceptional, although not for everyone with its nearly $200 a month price tag. For those seeking a dedicated host with less of an investment would be wise to consider eSecureData . They offer plans that range from $80 and up, but even their “low” level system is very respectable for the price and they have a strong reputation for their customer support.

When looking at plans, compare the differences between the “cheap” and expensive monthly plans. Some companies may charge substantially more for only a minor increase in features. It is also important to compare between companies for similar reasoning.

VPS Hosting – The Middle Alternative

VPS hosting plans are quickly growing in popularity and this type of web hosting has become the backbone of many web hosting providers of today. It is often referred to as the thing filling the gap between shared hosting and dedicated web hosting. With it you will get a customizable and stable hosting solution. Make sure that your VPS hosting plan contains plenty of disk space, monthly transfer, RAM, an unlimited number of add-on domains and a knowledgeable customer support team.

There are very few companies who offer VPS as their only solution, so the majority of the companies who offer quality VPS are the companies who have nice shared/dedicated offerings. One company of note though is HostICan as their VPS solution as they offer a pretty good setup for the price and are well known for their reliability.

Green Hosting – For a Healthier Environment

If you feel as if you want to do something for the environment Green Hosting is the thing for you. It is most often the same as the shared hosting plans but the web host either uses eco-friendly energy sufficient servers or purchase carbon offsets. As green hosting is shared hosting their plans should be equally good as well. This is one of the trendier alternatives of the hosting industry at the moment.

While it is possible to get Green Hosting from a few of the companies who offer standard hosting, if going green is of real importance to you it is good to check out companies who focus only on that. If a green, shared host is what you are looking for Green Geeks is definitely worth checking out as they are not only carbon neutral but actually buy three times more energy credit than they use. As Green Hosting is the use of energy credits to counteract carbon dioxide emissions and not actually something different done at the company (outside of energy efficient servers), there is no reason that a green host should have less features than a standard shared or dedicated hosting company. It is definitely possible to find a host that meets your server needs while still having a positive environmental impact.

Cloud Computing – Adaptable Hosting

Cloud computing is probably the hottest thing on the hosting market for the moment being. It is very flexible hosting as it grows in strength and stability when needed and goes back to its original shape when you do not have that many visitors. As a customer of cloud computing you do not have to pay for more web hosting than your website is using.

At the time of writing this piece, our review team was accessing the options available with cloud hosting and the data had not been finalized. One of the standout companies that was found however was GoGrid . GoGrid is worth noting for their affordable rates as well as their support services.

Whichever hosting type you choose, it is important to read the fine points of what is involved with your plan. While a plan may sound incredible on the surface, it could have very low bandwidth, poor support structure, or any number of issues. A hosting plan is a choice that you will have to live with for awhile and should be taken seriously. Although there are hundreds of great plans out there , some poor providers do exist and it is up to the consumer to make sure they know what they are getting into.

Author Bio:

David Walsh is a blogger and editor with Web Hosting Search. Here he tests and reviews hosting providers and web development tools as well as blogging about current happenings within the hosting industry. If you are looking for something specific in a hosting provider, check out our advanced search tool to find the appropriate web host: http://www.webhostingsearch.com/

Eventually, I installed and tested several options I deemed worthy. Drupal, Joomla and Mambo were all open-source solutions that generally garnered excitement in the community and sometimes awards for their efforts. The problem with all three of these for me was not that they don’t work but that it’s hard for me as a front-end developer to get excited enough to want to use them. The main problem was that it’s hard to use and hard to learn and once that frustration turns into resentment — we’re done with it.

The matter finally came to a head last year as my company needed a website refresh. This time, I asked around and tried to do actual research as to what web design firms actually use to make sure I made the right choice. On a popular technology forum I frequent, somebody suggested Expression Engine (EE) which I had never heard of at the time. I went to the website and I immediately knew that this was something special. My exact words in the thread was:

wow, expression engine looks very promising…

and then later…

I checked out all the Experience Engine videos and looked into the demo…

This looks like what I was dreaming about. Pretty simple, flexible, easy-to-use, supported and the admin has a tailored feel to it. Too bad it’s not free… but since I’d be recommending it to customers with money, that’s not a deal breaker for me.

[Notice how I called it "Experience" Engine... haha!]

Eventually, I choose it and have been using it as my CMS of choice ever since and have only experienced minor setbacks due mostly to growing pains. Expression Engine is straight forward to use and learn, supported very well, extremely flexible, feature-rich and has been adapted by big and small companies alike. Whether or not it’s the right one for your project is up to you to decide but I want to share why I like it:

Straight-Forward Learning and Ease of Use

Looking back, there was two major factors that really impressed me about Expression Engine. The first was the website. No big deal for a CMS right? WRONG! Go to drupal.org, mamboserver.com or joomla.org and you just don’t see the potential that is within their product and you certainly aren’t inspired by their product.

[Left: Expression Engine homepage] [Right: Expression Engine Tutorial Videos]

With the EE website, you see it and feel it with every click. They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover but I really think it’s an important factor if you’re trying to woo web designers and developers by showing them how great it can be. So needless to say, the EE website showed me that I can do great things with this product and to not settle for a CMS that will restrict me with limitations.

The second factor was that they put together a set of well-made video tutorials. They assumed I knew nothing and showed just enough so that I understood the general idea of what makes EE great. Compared with what I went through the year before where the trifecta I was investigating made me feel like it was my fault for not being smart enough — EE made me feel at ease. If you were new to the CMS world like I was, you would understand how great a wall that initial starting point can be. These four videos, show your pretty quickly how to get started while at the same time slowly hinting at how powerful this will be once you get the hang of it.

Since it was for my job’s website — we went through with the $10, 30-day hosted demo to put it through it’s paces. I followed the videos and the written documentation online — EE has a well put together User Guide, useful Wiki and a responsive Forum community that’s all search-able.

Online resources outside of the EE website include:

http://www.train-ee.com/
This website offers free training as well as paid training (in the form of workshops) and consulting. They’re based in the mid-west (Michigan) sadly for us coast clingers but they are a great online resource. I personally think this blog tutorial series on how to build a small business website is a great place to start once you’re comfortable with the basics.

http://devot-ee.com/
This is a newer website that is more geared toward the experienced EE developer. They offer more advanced tutorials, review add-ons and is a quality resource for EE developers.

At that time, my co-worker pointed me to a Smashing Magazine article as well:
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/10/29/expressionengine-developers-toolbox/
Smashing — as always — gets straight to the point and rounded up very useful EE tidbits from around the web. I still come back every so often because I forget what other popular things people are doing with EE around the web.

Quality Support

At some point everybody with any CMS platform will experience a problem whether it be big or small. How well and how quick you can get solutions for your problem is a great sign of what the community is like for your platform. With EE, they have a support forum that is patrolled by a staff of full-time moderators. As with any user community, there are outside resources as well depending on the problems you are having such as with 3rd party add-ons and extensions.

I recently had issues with a WordPress (WP), which is free software under a GNU General Public License. Unfortunately, WP left me completely hosed when we encountered a technical problem. One of the reasons we love WP is that it has such a strong community behind it but seeing how my specific technical issue (who others also had) had not been resolved for months and with no response in their official forums… you really understand the reality of free software.

I’m happy to report that from my experience, EE is not like that. Their moderators on the forum are always lurking the forum and helping and strive to resolve your issues. I had a RSS question and of course posted with as much information as possible and although they didn’t specifically answer my question — they pointed me to the right knowledge base entry. Other times, they have answered my questions outright or linked me to other forum posts that didn’t show up in a search.

Granted, I’m sure there are plenty of cases for EE developers who have been less than satisfied but from my experience, I truly believe that if I have a problem — there is help.

Visit Expression Engine’s Support Forum…

Extreme Flexibility

“Themes” and “Templates” are two features publishing platforms try to push on you to disguise the fact that you are forced to use their product in a certain way. Sort of like buying a car and then customizing it at the end by picking out some custom elements. At the end of the day, you’re driving a Toyota Camry albeit yours has 19 inch rims and a huge spoiler.

EE doesn’t work like that. Although you can start out by editing their basic default website that comes with installation… you’ll eventually want to harness the true power of EE and exploit it’s true potential for your customers.

Currently, I’m working on a website with my client where I’m designing their website with thoughtful consideration to solve their marketing and business goals. There are several components that a CMS will have to handle for me, two of which are dynamic content and a control panel for updating… I don’t need to think about how EE can make this work for me. I think about how I can make EE work for me.

If you didn’t follow that — EE has a easy to learn tag system that allows you to custom build the solution as you need it to work. It was created with flexibility and versatility in mind so you don’t have to build cookie cutter websites. Each client is different and EE allows you to customize for them without learning a new development language. The tag system is straight-forward, logical and easy to become productive with. Here’s an example snippet you embed directly in the HTML:


{exp:weblog:weblog_name weblog="gst_blog"}

[Above example taken from EE Quick Start Guide Page 7]

Expression Engine Video Tutorials:
Introduction to Templates
Weblogs and Custom Fields
Weblog Template Relationship

[Save the drama for your mama... each video is around 5 minutes or less.]

Feature Rich

There are more CMS options today than ever and the feature lists are looking more and more similar. Look closer and you’ll see EE offers the features you expect but with more sophistication. This is what you’d expect from a company and platform that has had time to mature rather than some of the new and trendy options available today. [It's original incarnation was called p-Machine, for Publishing Machine but officially debuted as Expression Engine in 2004 under EllisLabs]

One of the features I like most is when I design a custom field for content (as part of a set), I can control if that one particular field has HTML capabilities or not. That’s just a single example of the attention to detail in EE. Throughout the whole product you’ll see they the care that went into it’s core functionality — web publishing but they also built in high-end features for content writers and the developers. EE is often popular as a blogging platform – they have first rate commenting and spam features. They have add-ons and modules that handle forums, multi-website support and a myriad of other functions.

Visit Expression Engine’s Full Feature List…

Adopted by Companies Big and Small

Sometimes when I introduce EE as a CMS to client, the easiest selling tool is to tell them who else is using it. It quickly shows them that it’s not a limited shelf-life, fly by night product that has a limited lifespan.

http://change.gov/content/home

http://blogs.cisco.com/datacenter

http://veerle.duoh.com/
Veerle has gained notoriety from being picked as a frequent “Top List” website.

A complete list at Expression Engine’s website…

Interested? Give It A Shot!

There are a lot of options out there for publishing these days and I understand the thought of “the right one is the one that does the job” but I also believe that what clients want is a moving target at times. A year later, they often come back to you asking for this and that trying to gain an edge on their competition. Expression Engine allows you to grow your websites on platform where you can grow as well. With every EE website I build now, it’s better than the last!

The pricing for a personal license is $99 and you can upgrade that to commercial for $150 more. For the type of clients at my studio, this is not an issue but it’s understandable for some of the clients out there you do work for with razor thin budgets.

What experiences have you had with Expression Engine?

Jenny Owen Youngs

Alphabetical after this… love love love the typography on the logo badge.

Amesoeurs

Airborne Toxic Event

Art Brut

I love these guys, check them out at their website: http://www.artbrut.org.uk/

Au Revoir Simone

Bat For Lashes

Beirut

Bishop Allen

Bob Dylan

Dylan’s “indie”" in spirt…

The Breeders

Brighton Port Authority

Camera Obscura

Carolina Liar

Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood

Not exactly “indie” but I like the cover as they can legitimately go retro…

Death Cab For Cutie

Deer Hunter

Not their newest album but I always loved the bold simplicity and weirdness of this cover… I had to include it.

Decemberists

Doves

Fever Ray

Ida Maria

Isis

Kind of out of character for Isis but it’s a beauty none-the-less.

Lily Allen

I immediately liked this the moment I saw it.

M.Ward

Maximo Park

Merge Records – Various Artists

Metric

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Currently my favorite band of the last few years, check them out: http://www.thepainsofbeingpureatheart.com/

Peter Bjorn and John

Peter Doherty

Ray Barbee

Seeland

I like covers like this that pay homage to Pink Floyd’s abstract pseudo scientific look…

St. Vincent

It’s just a simple portrait but I love how they do it in a unique way (for a record cover). Reminds me of the 40-Year-Old-Virgin poster.

Super Furry Animals

SFA always has insanely great covers.

Swan Lake

Telekinesis

So simple, yet so cool…

The Bird and the Bee

My co-worker likes this band but I like the retro movie poster look even better.

Viva Voce

White Rabbits

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Love this cover.

Other articles you might like:

Top 30 Indie Band Websites
50 Beautiful Gig Posters (Flatstock) For Your Inspiration
30 Awesome Designerly Band T-Shirts

Agree? Disagree? What’s your favorite? Comment?

BEST

The one common factor of all these websites is that they should make you excited about the programming for that network. As usual, the more innovative, usable and aesthetically pleasing along the way the better. I think these are the best:

FX Network

FX has a unique layout while clearly highlighting their unique programming.

ESPN

ESPN is one of the rare cases of being equally dominant on air and on the tubes. Their recent redesign keeps them on top.

FOX

Say what you want about them but their website is clean, sticks out from the other big 5 networks and highlights their shows well.

Discovery Network

They manage to make educational programming look… sexy. At least better than PBS.

TNT

Easy to digest and I love the transitions on the sliding hero graphic. They took a tried and true user pattern and made it work well for them.

Food Network

Similar to ESPN they are big players in the culinary resources available online.

CBS

When a channel goes out to promote a popular show… might as well go all in. I don’t even watch Survivor but I wanted to after visiting,

Bravo

Bravo did a good job of developing a simple, yet unique look. It went a long way in helping their content look fresh to their target demographics.

CNN

CNN is one of the cornerstone news websites on the web.

Cinemax

Cinemax opted to do a fresh layout with interesting typography choices while highlighting popular features — like highlighting current programming on the homepage.

AVERAGE

These networks offer compelling content yet their websites present the programming in a generic way. I’m not very excited by what I see on the homepage and the actual website features are not very compelling considering the content.

PBS

A network with so much history and who us so beloved by their viewers has a very unassuming website. Granted, their demographic may skew mature but I think this is a competent if not generic design.

NBC

I don’t understand the organic swirl background and what the heck it has to do with NBC. This reminds me of a late 1990s portal search engine website.

HBO

This is the BMW of TV networks. All I see is text text text. They couldn’t find a way to bring some of the glitz, glam, guns, sin and sex people love about HBO into the home?

Travel Channel

Travel Channel. Not as popular as the rest of the TV channels but they have a built in excuse and unique programming subject matter to go nuts but they don’t. Let the genie out of the bottle!

WORST

What stuck out the most to me as being “worst” is that channels who have distinct content that can naturally translate to the web don’t stand out.

VH1

VH1 manages to be loud but quiet, bold yet shy… the design could stand to be “chunked out” a little to help visually distinguish sections from each other. All I see is text, text, girl, girl, pink, pink and it feels very chaotic.

MTV

Their contribution to the internet is a huge form field and a Javascript randomizer for their style sheets?

BET

It feels like they’re trying to fill up space. Regardless, very uninspired for a TV network with their cache in youth culture.

ABC

This is the best ABC can come up with? I logged on to your website to watch commercials, get a clue. Those little thumbnails and middling hero graphic are very uninspiring compared to what FX does.

NICK

Another website that can use some “chunking”. It feels like content soup which may not be a great idea considering the demographic for some of the content.

TBS

Going along with their tagline — “very funny”, it looks like a very happy website but the lack of contrast is very glaring. If they had just a bit more white on this website (especially as a background for text) they could be in the “best” category.

Articles you may also like:

En Fuego! Best & Worst NBA Websites
10 Shockingly Beautiful US Government Websites!
Comparing Websites of Rival Companies

Agree? Disagree? Let me hear it in the comments?

Brooklyn Brewery

I admit some favoritism, but the overall experience and energy of the website was executed very well.

Pyramid Brewery

Very simple and not very flashy in terms of technology but it is very well done overall and the ease of use is top notch. VERY un-annoying.

Guinness

Guinness being a huge brewery managed to put together a neat well-crafted website — something the big American breweries couldn’t do. (Although Budweiser did come closest.)

Blue Moon Brewing Company

Blue Moon and Rolling Rock both tried to capture the local/small town flavor of their brand. The little “Easter eggs” for everyone to find are a fun touch.

Rolling Rock

Rolling Rock tried to capture a small town newsletter feel which I felt offered it a unique look.

Stella Artois

Stella Artois does a good job appearing as a premium brand.

Pabst Blue Ribbon

“PBR” as people call it is essentially a cheap beer but they separate themselves by marketing a reaching out to their “following”.

Peroni

My former co-worker called this the “Budweiser of Italy” — I have no idea if that’s true or not but the website is pretty unique from all the others. It feels like some design portfolio websites I’ve been to.

Red Stripe

I think of Red Stripe as a hip party beer and I think it does a good job of portraying itself that way.

Duvel

Duvel is a premium beer like some of the others but they really believe in the “less is more” approach.

Like this article? Raise a glass in the comments!

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