Arguably this trend was made popular after the release of Apple Leopard OSX and it’s groovy auroral/starry branding. Adding this simple effect to your background or header can make a very plain dark web design come to life.
Check out this list of 20 websites using these effects plus a few helpful tutorials.
1. 45royale
2. Skylar Anderson
3. Dale Anthony
4. Elite by Design
5. Fernando Sergio
6. Dorian Castro
7. 365 Days of Astronomy
8. Studio 7 Designs
9. Exceptional
10. Abduzeedo
11. Oakes Design
12. Brian Wilkins
13. Kitfolio
14. Rawkes
15. Evan Eckard
16. You Love Us
17. RJ Designz
18. Revyver Labs
19. Mail Chimp
20. Tennessee Winter
Tutorials
- Make an Aurora Borealis Design in Illustrator
- Awesome up your design with A.B.
- Really cool Eclipse Effect in Photoshop
- Making a realistic star field
Further Reading
Want to read more?
- 15 Beautiful Typography Inspired Websites
- Web Design Trends: Designing Out Of The Box
- Redesigning WebDesignire – a showcase of Irish web design
Psst! We're hiring an Interaction Designer at Kareo. Click here if interested.
Dainis Graveris says:
That’s one good looking trend – I am thinking I can create something like this in future – stilish and modern :) Thanks for overview, bookmarking for later reference :)
Johnathan says:
Some really nice stuff there. Really like the 365 days of astronomy one.
Craig Farrall says:
Really nice roundup here :) keep up the good work.
Rob Hawkes says:
Hi Lee. Thanks for using Rawkes as one of the examples of this trend. The other sites are incredibly inspiring, I’m particularly fond of the 45royale and Revyver Labs designs.
Nice post.
Jennifer Farley says:
Looks really good on the astronomy site.
drivelocity says:
Nice list… I don’t understand the use on the MailChimp site. It seems out of place & doesn’t match the rest of the site.
Rahul Joshi says:
Hi Lee, Thanks a lot for putting my site in ur collection..
joyoge designers' bookmark says:
nice design effects thanks..
Dale-Anthony says:
Many thanks for featuring my site here, fantastic post!
Stacy Allen Hummel says:
My current site design is guilty of following this trend as well. It does work quite well to invoke a certain feeling, an almost ‘mystical’ type of effect.
evan says:
Thanks for including my site in the post!
I never thought my site would be in a “galaxy” type trend. Honestly, I just wanted to redo my site in black, but once the layout was done, there wasn’t anything to really give the design any depth like I wanted.
I tried many different backgrounds, but most were too busy and took emphasis away from my work and content. I finally settled on a very subtle star effect.
Next thing I know, I’m included in posts like these which is awesome! Thanks again!
Brandon Cox says:
I hadn’t noticed just how many sites are using the effect until now – nice collection!
teddY says:
Wow, thanks for the great compilation! Never did it cross my mind that the stars and aurora background trend is picking up speed in the design ring! I’ve visited Evan’s and Abduzeedo’s sites before and I must say that I fell in love with their starry backgrounds on first sight – they complement the overall visual appeal of the theme and doesn’t rob the limelight away from content. Amazing stuff!
p/s: If you don’t mind, I’d like to plug Juanma’s blog, Ten Thousand Things – his starry backgrounds and space/astronomy themed layout is just as lovely.
diana says:
The design it really good!! thanks a lot that what i am looking for, i am now thinking a design about my vitaminsinwater.wordpress.com/ an Anti Aging Product i would like to change it…thank for sharing a information to us. nice Color and design it give a life to your web.
Peter Nudo says:
Love these, I got my inspiration for my site from youlove.us
Paul J says:
the first site I ever went to like this, I loved it, but after seeing site after site using this look, like all trends, it get tiresome fast. I grew tired of the aurora look as soon as Apple started using it for all their displays, now more and more designer portfolio sites are jumping on the bandwagon.
i prefer minimalism, to an extent, for portfolio sites, that way more emphasis and focus is on the designer’s work he/she has done for clients, instead of the designer trying to wow the visitor with a trendified (just made that word up) website.
to each their own though.
Dan says:
I’d like to think I fit in here.
My Site
Dan says:
I’d like to think I fit in here.
My Site
Sorry about last comment bad URL. Whoops
Brian says:
I think my site belongs here! hehehe ;)
Really love the collection!
diana says:
The design it really good!! thanks a lot that what i am looking for, i am now thinking a design about my vitaminsinwater.wordpress.com/ an Anti Aging Product i would like to change it…thank for sharing a information to us. nice Color and design it give a life to your web.
Nora AbdulRhman says:
awesome !
I use stars & aurora since 2007 in my blog http://neeart.com/en
Duncan Tang says:
right, apple leads the trend
ali says:
Good Piece of work, let me put in use on my personal website , thanks for sharing the information
Lee says:
Thanks for all the comments. Feel free to suggest your site or any other sites using the same effect.
Carlos Hermoso says:
Nice samples of sites using stars and aurora effect. Keep up the good work!
Logos says:
Fantastic! that twilight type of effect is always a popular one and looks great. I think its the unknown of the galaxy that interests us so much but it does make for a great website design.
colddesign says:
I like it,this Nice samples of sites using stars and aurora effect. i learn more.
论文发表 says:
i want use thie in my webdesign works,thanks very much!
colddesign says:
It’s very good,i can learn more,right, apple leads the trend
Italy Wine Tours says:
Thanks Lee. Nice collection. I hadn’t noticed how many sites are using this effect -I am sure now it will be everywhere I look!
hostfreelance says:
This is great information. I’m starting to get story ideas zooming in my head.
Ron Arts Web Design says:
Amazing work and good information, really very inspiring.