Web Design Trends: Designing Out Of The Box

April 2009

This is a creative trend catching on. It’s very simple to do but adds an extra element of character and uniqueness to a design.

Take a look at how to implement this ‘out of the box’ technique and a list of creative websites that are using it.

Setup

First setup your page and graphic. I’m using this graphic.

Logo

The HTML for my page is like so:


And the CSS looks like this:


body{
background:#999999;
}

#container{
width:960px;
background:#fff;
margin:20px auto;
padding:10px;
}

Here’s a preview of what we have so far:

Inside box

Positioning is relative

When we position the logo we want the positioning to be relative to the container, therefore make the position relative:


#container{
width:960px;
background:#fff;
margin:20px auto;
padding:10px;
position:relative;
}

Position it outside the box

Now all you have to do is position your logo. Place it horizontally so the tag sticks out of the container.


#logo{
position:absolute;
left:-15px;
}

Now we have our logo sitting outside the box. Easy!

Outside box

15 creative designs using the 'out of the box' technique

Change in Command
Change in Command
Icon Designer
Icon Designer
Yoast
Yoast
Twiistup
Twiistup
The Design Superhero
The Design Superhero
Eric Ryan Anderson
Eric Ryan Anderson
Rock Werchter
Rock Werchter
Freelance Suite
Freelance Suite
Hipsterist
Hipsterist
CreamScoop
CreamScoop
Bright Kite
Bright Kite
From The Couch
From The Couch
DesignM.ag
DesignM.ag
Matt Mullenweg
Matt Mullenweg

Feel free to share your thoughts on this and other emerging trends.

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