The mobile scene has grown exponentially over the past couple of years. The iOS App Store along with Android Apps on Google Play have become the two hotspots for smartphone enthusiasts. As the number of smartphone users increases we are seeing hundreds of mobile app developers launching new ideas into the market.

Most popular apps are accompanied by their own website. This can be helpful with marketing and getting your name out there. It’s also a much prettier online URL than either of the App Stores. I feel that any successful mobile application almost requires a web presence.

In this article I want to go over some of the most common design trends for mobile app websites. There is no strict rulebook you must follow for building such a layout. Rather there are some unique guidelines and trends which web designers have found to work well in gaining an audience. Coupled with my iOS Development Guide you can put together a fantastic mobile app and construct its website, too.

Check out these concepts below and try implementing some into your own application website layout.

Recommended Reading: Designing for Mobile Devices

Device Screenshots

A staple piece for any mobile app website has to be screenshots of the application. Visitors are only interested in your app, and what quicker way to demonstrate its purpose than through screenshots? You can fit device shots into any layout style so it’s not a limiting factor.

Easy Chef is a Spanish iOS app which uses many device shots. The very top part of the layout has a slideshow preview of different views. But as you scroll down you’ll notice other diagrams using iPhone displays. These panels include detailed labels and upclose, magnified screen views. I have actually written about designing informative product graphics in an older post.

Another interesting setup can be found on the Tweetbot gallery page. This is a very popular Twitter client for iPhone and the developers have put together a sliding showcase of screenshots. If you’re trying to save room in your layout, this may be an easier solution. Visitors won’t need to scroll down looking for a specific view. jQuery is easy to implement and you can quickly put together a sliding iPhone screen preview. It may be difficult to include extra details, but this can be added in another section.

App Store Badges

This technique also seems very no-nonsense once you’ve finished building the application. Badges are quickly recognized as download links to the app marketplace. Both Android and iOS users have the ability to view apps right from their browser, or this will redirect when viewed on a smartphone.

I like using Instagram as an example since the website had updated to a newer layout. They have badges supporting the Android Marketplace (Google Play) and iOS App Store. Both badges are very simple in design yet easily recognized at a glance. If you’re looking for more complex designs, I recommend a quick dribbble search. Talented designers often share their app store badge concepts for constructive criticisms.

Mobile Social Networks

Facebook and Twitter have switched to mobile, but this hasn’t stopped other networks from sprouting up. We are seeing social networking use mobile apps to allow a whole new platform of communication.

Localmind runs on a concept that is similar to Foursquare, where you register an account and start checking into local places. You can leave questions, or answer other people’s questions. Their website is very friendly and inviting to newcomers. I especially love the top banner section designed with a custom map background. Their use of gradients and background texture give the website a life of its own.

Minimal Photo Sharing

Pose is another mobile network with similar ideals for minimalist design. You can download the mobile app for both iOS & Android devices. The feeling is similar to weheartit but it’s for mobile fashion lovers. The whole app is focused around fashion, hair, makeup, and glamor.

Users can take photos of their outfit, clothes, or accessories and share them around the network. One thing to notice about Pose is how quickly you can browse the website. It’s easy to find the company blog, contact details, etc. Other app websites often overlook these corporate features which can be a touchy subject.

If you want to draw attention from the media it’s important to make your website look and feel like a real social networking product. You are not only trying to sell your app (by ads or paid subscription) but also sell the network itself. Social apps can definitely be trickier than designing regular app websites. But they also garner a lot more downloads from users and it’s an exciting new field for mobile.

Extra Features & Details

Of course you want to give your visitors some good information on the app. Some designers choose to keep their application websites very simple and easy. A download button, screenshots, and social links, although it can’t hurt to offer just a bit of detailed info on the side.

I love the Listomatic website because it combines the best of all interface techniques. The top page section has a device screenshot with app store download buttons. As you scroll down the page you’re introduced to a features list with unique icons. This is a guaranteed way to grab some attention and introduce your app’s purpose.

iMyGarden has a much more detailed design including background textures and tons of screenshots. As you scroll down, their website has an entire sidebar area listing their many features. Off to the side, you’ll also find screenshots and even custom videos!

When going over your app details consider how thoroughly you’d like to present everything. Too much information and your visitors may be turned off or even confused. But not enough info and they’ll have no idea what your app even does.

From Humble Beginnings

Web designers are not always capable of putting together outrageous graphics and icons. Thankfully app websites are not critical towards how much Adobe Photoshop prowess you have. I actually feel that minimalism can work much better for this layout style.

Leef App is a newly released Forrst client for iPhone. Their website includes a beautiful app screenshot along with a big bold download button. All of the page text is simplified in a similar manner to Apple’s fonts and color schemes.

What makes the Leef website great is the candid nature of each page element. It’s blatant and upfront with nothing hidden or pushed aside. I recommend trying this style as your first mobile app website, if anything just for practice. You can learn a lot by minimizing the lesser tidbits and concentrating on what grabs attention.

Lovely Whitespace

Also as brilliantly simple is the Wood Camera App website. Their layout holds nothing but a plain white background and centered content. This content includes some default screenshots, an app store badge, and some additional key features.

If you feel like minimalism and white space are important to your layout then stick with it! Wood Camera isn’t a particularly mindblowing website layout, but it is super easy to navigate. Their site doesn’t even link to any alternate content aside from the developer’s official page. This keeps focus on the app and what it can offer, which is much more important than flashy graphics. Although that’s not to say flashy artwork is a bad idea – it just requires a proper implementation.

Colorful Illustrations

Quite the opposite to the minimalist approach is a work with unique illustrations, which I totally adore. Often times this extra detail will completely sell me the app. One example I can relate to is the Barista App for iPhone. Their site header is riddled with little vector cappuccinos and espresso drinks.

But notice how there aren’t any other images when scrolling down the page. This whole top section was designed specifically for the iPhone app, similar to a landing page. The vectors catch your eyes right away and also hint towards what the app is about.

Kitchenator is a similar iOS app which converts units of measurement for cooking and baking. Their header layout uses rich wooden textures, a checkered tablecloth, and mini spoons of water. This imagery hints at the purpose of this app before you even skim the content.

This design style actually permeates through the entire layout. The footer area matches with a similar wooden background and much of the same font choices. This is an example of a very simple website layout with some very powerful graphics.

App Websites: Premium Showcase

What article would be complete without a bit of eye candy? Along with the techniques above I have also put together this beautiful gallery of mobile app websites; notice the logo and navigation schemes, as well as the domain URLs. By studying what the professionals do, you can understand design trends and use them in your own projects.

Bosquet App

Banjo App

Everyme

Gifture App

Fontain

ImGame

Sparrow App

Things for iPhone

Snapguide

Whoovie

Path

Repeat Timer Pro

Cutest Paw for iPhone

Pistachio App

Delibar for iPhone

Sketch with Friends

Get Billy App

Peg Jump App

Stop the Vom

Crowdspottr

Munch 5-a-day

Travveling App

Leaflet App

Get Galleried

Plazaa

Make Faces App

Float App

Weave

Ballin’ App

Forkly

Mycityway

Tap Place App

Photo Stats App

Idea Mix

Holitapp

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2. Responsive Web Layouts for Mobile Screens: Intro, Tips and Examples
3. Mobile App Design/Dev: Custom Themes with jQuery Mobile
4. Mobile App Design/Dev: Beginner’s Guide to jQuery Mobile

Building castles in the air. Oh wait, I mean sandcastles. At the beach.

That’s right, sandcastles and other sand sculptures. Who would’ve thought the grainy yellowish-brown material has so much potential for making 3D masterpieces? Get some reasonably fine sand grains, add in some water, a little creativity and some time to kill and we could have magnificent sculptures created by masters of sand sculpting. Sculptures like these.

This article will showcase 30 amazing artworks by sand sculptors. For casual sandbuilders, you will definitely be astonished that people can actually build such elaborate sculptures.

Recommended Reading: 40+ Inspiring Book & Paper Sculptures

Flea Circus (Image Credit: Evelyn Tan)

Leaders (Image Credit: Natalia Kolesnikova)

Elephant (Image Credit: Weston and Sculptures)

King Kong (Image Credit: Sandstorm)

Animals (Image Credit: Sandstorm)

Africa (Image Credit: Sandstorm)

Abstract Sand Sculpture (Image Credit: Grain Damaged)

Writings (Image Credit: Grain Damaged)

Alien Vs. Bender (Image Credit: Grain Damaged)

Fusion(Image Credit: Grain Damaged)

What Lies Beneath (Image Credit: Grain Damaged)

Flying Dutchman (Image Credit: Rijerse)

Castle From Fairy Tales (Image Credit: Sue McGrew)

Magical Moments Festival of Disneyland Paris (Image Credit: Blankenberge)

The Adoration of The Sherpherds (Image Credit: Susanne Ruseler)

Made of Sand (Image Credit: Stephen Jones)

Super Bowl XLIII (Image Credit: Eric Gay)

Neuschwanstein Castle (Image Credit: René)

‘Sandcastle’ By the Sea (Image Credit: Victor Palacios)

Eiffel Tower, Golden Gate Bridge and Swiss Clockwork (Image Credit: SetosPuppy)

Sagrada Familia (Image Credit: SetosPuppy)

Hollywood (Image Credit: Susana)

Tribal (Image Credit: Apolinário Pancinha)

Seven Continents (Image Credit: Grete Howard)

Seven Continents 2 (Image Credit: Grete Howard)

The Wolf and Little Red-Cap (Image Credit: Cesar Luis)

Fantasy (Image Credit: BelialMadHatter)

Valves & Pipes (Image Credit: BelialMadHatter)

Distance Gives Perspective (Image Credit: Jim Seida)

Sandcastle Universe (Image Credit: Tine Verheyden)

Related posts:

1. Most Beautiful Castles Around The World
2. 40+ Inspiring Book & paper Sculptures
3. Masters of Paper Art and Paper Sculptures, Part II

You might have checked out our post on cinemagraphs and are now wondering how to create your own. Well, let us tell you a secret; it is not very hard to do.

Check out this picture of a skateboard wheel we did in less than 5 minutes! Although it is not the most exciting picture, it sure has a cool effect.

Today, we’re going to run through a few steps on how to make your own cinemagraph with an easy-to-understand program with help from Cliplets.

How Cliplets Work

Cliplets works by ‘pausing’ the background while only a selected area of the video ‘plays’ in a loop.

So in the case of the image above, the green area is the selected area that ‘plays’ in a loop; while the background is ‘paused’ at some point.

Getting Started

To start off using Cliplet, click here to download the 32-bit version; or here for the 64-bit version. Note that it currently only works with Windows 7.

Let’s first take a look at the user interface of the Cliplets software (numbered for your convenience):

1. The viewing area where you see the video playback.
2. Timeline that controls your imported video.
3. Panel of layers that are used for editing.
4. Timeline of the final project with a play button to see the final effect.

Creating The Cinemagraph

Next, get a short clip of what you want to turn into a cinemagraph. Make sure that the video is recorded with a steady hand, and that it is not too jerky. Now, go ahead and drag your short clip into the project viewing area.

Try hitting the play button on the top. You will notice that your video is stabilized with almost no shaky movements. Do not worry about the edges moving about, and not ‘staying put’, as those are the effects of stabilizing the video.

1. Choosing the Still Background Frame

So, the first step is to choose that ‘paused’ background. You select a background by sliding the top square along the timeline.

You’d want to pick a background where the object you want to ‘animate’ is not moving about too much. The background chosen (and shown) here is after the hand had spun the wheel and is resting on the board. The wheel is steady around the centre of the screen.

2. Selecting the ‘Animated’ Timeline

Next thing you have to do is click on Add new layer located on the layers panel on the right. A new layer titled ‘loop’ will be created. Select a small part of the clip with the animation you want to feature. Move the orange area on the imported clip timeline to indicate where the ‘loop’ starts and ends. .

Remember that the ‘animated’ area goes in a loop. In this example, we have chosen to feature the wheel going one full round. There is no limit as to how long or short the loop should cover but to ensure smoothness of the effect, you may want to adjust this a few times to get the effect just right.

3. Outlining the ‘Animated’ Area

Once you’ve done that, draw around the area you want to ‘animate’.

Notice that your cursor now looks like a pen; highlighted in green. This is for you to draw an outline of the area you want to ‘animate’. In this caes, it’s the rotating wheel you see below.

Hit the play button at the bottom to see if the effect works well. If you’re not satisfied with the results, try fine tuning Step 2; by either adding or removing one or two frames to the the ‘animated’ selection.

If it still does not look perfect, here is a little tip. Enable ‘Smooth’ located under the Play button at the project timeline. When hit the Play button you’d notice that the transition is smoother.

4. Exporting your Cinemagraph

Once you’re satisfied with your cinemagraph, hit the ‘Export Cliplet’ button and you will see three file formats to export to: .gif, .mp4 and .wmv. Our example is a .gif file format.

Conclusion

The Microsoft Research team has created something simple that everyone can use to create cinemagraphs. If you are interested to learn more, they have some more advanced tutorials that you can check out, as well as a gallery of working cinemagraphs to marvel at.

For some ideas on creating your own unique cinemagraph, take a look at these amazing examples.

We hope that your cinemagraph turned out as you expected, enjoy!

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