20 Freshest Web Designs, December 2018

Welcome to our roundup of the best websites launched (or relaunched with interesting new updates) in the last month.

Traditionally November is a time of last-minute launches before the holiday season gets into full swing, and the last four weeks are no exception. There’re dozens of great ecommerce stores just launched—we’ve included a few of our favorites—and more than a few studios have updated portfolios so they can hit the ground running in 2019.

The color red is huge right now, and typography seems to becoming a little braver than it has been in throughout 2018. Enjoy!

Red Clay

I defy anyone to name a foodstuff that isn’t improved by the addition of hot sauce. Red Clay’s hot sauces hail from the South, and the great food photography on its site, combined with brand artwork, and some creative typography really sells them.

Julie Cristobal

Julie Cristobal is a Paris-based fashion stylist. Her simple site is brought to life with sophisticated animation, and a color palette that reflects the shoots she’s worked on. The seamless link to the next project at the bottom each project is exceptional.

Denver & Liely

With Christmas just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to think about a seasonal tipple. Whatever your poison of choice, drinking from a classy glass will make all the difference. Denver & Liely’s split-screen site, showcases their exceptional glassware.

Eduardo Nunes

The portfolio of Eduardo Nunes opens conventionally enough, with a statement about who he is, with links to his work. Where the site really excels is in the frank, and confessional case studies. This could be the perfect designer portfolio.

Forged by Meta

Meta is a workstation manufactured for use by tattoo artists. Personal recommendations are important to them, so the main section of their homepage is divided into thumbnails linking to testimonial videos. It’s an original and effective approach.

Baunfire

Baunfire is a design agency pitching itself to Silicon Valley. As part of the push, it’s published this excellent microsite, with fun animations, and some well-argued text, explaining exactly what design’s role, in places like Silicon Valley, should be.

Bitmap Typographer

Bitmap Typographer is an minimal site that allows you to design your very own bitmap font. Click on the letter to be designed and click the pixels on the grid to design your own pixel-based alphabet. Once you’ve designed it, type with it to check it out.

Hannes Reeh

Hannes Reeh takes a democratic approach to wine, believing that everyone should be able to enjoy the juice of the vine. This Austrian vineyard offers some characterful wine, at prices anyone can afford, and its modern attitude is embodied by the modern site.

Madina Visconti

Madina Visconti’s site opens with a bi-directional scroll, a design pattern that’s becoming increasingly familiar to us. Where the site breaks new ground is in rejecting the usual stark white minimalism in favor of a range of soft greens that add extra beauty to the precious metals on display.

Daniel Spatzek

Daniel Spatzek’s portfolio features an incredible typographic effect, as the titles of each of his projects are bisected by the vertical grid he’s used to divide the page. It just goes to show that an original idea, well executed, can elevate a site beyond its competitors.

Saint Kate of Milwaukee

Saint Kate is an arts hotel, opening in the often under-rated city of Milwaukee, in Spring 2019. The site utilizes bold color and beautiful typography to attract creatives, and travelers, selling the idea to the community before the product is ready to be seen.

Diane Bonheur

Big in Japan, Diane Bonheur pitches itself to an international clientele as the point at which organic meets sexy. The biggest selling point of the site is the amazing way the content animates in as you scroll, without ever feeling gimmicky.

Detective Moustachio

Detective Moustachio is an additive platform game with a plot to keep you tapping. It’s been some time since we’ve seen a truly addictive HTML5 game, but Detective Moustachio certainly steps up to the plate with buzzsaws, bottomless pits, and killer robots.

Jacquemus

Jacquemus is a fashion label with a refined taste. The muted colors of the collection are repeated in the topes, and tans of its site. The shop especially does an incredible job of echoing next season’s products. A highly refined look.

Human Forward

This site is a fun, interactive, animated story for in-house staff to experience “Human Forward” the new brand promise from Randstad. What’s fascinating, is that because it targets a specific demographic, the designers have been able to release a mobile-only experience.

Sim Sim Falafel

Among the numerous benefits immigration has brought to Germany, is the high-standard of North African quisine. Sim Sim Falafel uses primary colors to tempt us into sampling their delicacies. The hummus tahine looks particularly delicious.

Martian Flag Assembly

Interest in Mars has grown in the last decade; according to the Martian Flag Assembly site we’ll be setting foot on the red planet within the next ten years. This site, for a Copenhagen exhibition of proposed flags to be planted on Mars, features some incredible coded animation.

Kopke

With Winter in the Northern hemisphere taking hold, there’s little better than a good port in front of a roaring fire. Kopke is the world’s oldest port house, and this site’s interactive video tells the story of the prestigious brand.

In Praise of Shadows

One of the fascinating aspects of Japan, is the culture’s ability to look at things from a slightly different perspective to Western eyes. In Praise of Shadows is artist Sai Yamazaki’s ode, not to the beauty of light, but to the beauty of its absence.

Timepal

Embracing the colored-blob trend with vigor is Timepal, a Mac app that makes the simple task of time-keeping, and makes it simpler. The bold colors, and abstract shapes, create a sense of simplicity that is perfect for this comprehensive tool.

Paddi MacDonnell

Paddi MacDonnell is a designer and entrepreneur from Northern Ireland, follow her on Twitter.