Southern Coastal

it definitley makes me want to visit the beach, that is for sure!

Beautiful colours and imagery, and all so perfectly suitable for the subject matter

I really like this site too. A good browse through the pages highlights the great attention to detail, especially on those all important litle bits that most designers lazily ignore. Superb job!

beautiful site, the drop shadow on the main photo is just sublime.

I agree about the menu height. I would also like to have the navigation at the top in source, then again, does this really matter when the photos look so damn good!!

Templates are one thing, but being able to put your head down and build a design like this, incorporating images you WILL NOT find in any template is another. I agree that this type of design has been done before but I'll wager that this site loads 10 times faster than any other site like it!

Yeah it's real fast allright. I just had a 'The operation timed out when attempting to contact...' I agree. This site is a clone. Don't agree that you need to put your head down much to design something that's all over the intraweb. I give it a 10 for plagiarism and a 1 for originality. Will I get moderated too.

http://www.templatemonster.com/flash-templates/5714.html - unless you are blind - it is very very similar. CaI think you owe me an apology!

~sigh~ This site looks the same in Safari, IE6, Mozilla 1.7, Firefox 1.0, Konqueror, and Opera. Despite the fact that it may be all over the 'intraweb', it is coded in a way that it's accessible. More than I can say for any 'template' site I've seen. As for originality, the design may not be original but check the photography! Magnificent!

phew, what is the matter with people today? Why don't yall get busy with pirated-sites.com instead and start throwing up your frustrated leftovers there? Stylegala promotes web standards and design - combined. I never claimed that all designs in here are the most original you can find. The rating system is there to give you the power to rank sites. Isn't that enough? If you feel that it is a clone - give it a 1. But please spare us your disgraceful comments, and start using your energy elsewhere

David, you can't have your cake and eat it. Do you want us all to say wow when it's far from a wow? I gave it a 1.

Dear google,

You are welcome to have an opinion. You are also welcome to post it here, and I encourage you to post more than wow!. But please be constructive and focused or else I might remove the comment. You really should use your name and a valid email address as well, because Google isn't your real name, is it?

If you feel the need for further discussion about the subject, please use the forum.

David is right. This site IS about web standards and design - combined. That's why I give this site top marks. It is accessible, aesthetically pleasing, and most importantly, probably has made the site owner's very happy. Anyone who disagrees, can meet me in the forum!

Hi! Do u have any ideas where to find those textures I mean all the stuff like torn, seedy, retro papers used often e.g. in skate/hiphop graphic design etc.? Thx.

madeo

madeo, try posting the same question in our forums and somebody might help you out! http://forum.stylegala.com

This site recreates the feeling of the beach and all of its elements: the animals, colors, and crumbled items on the shore.

It is simply awesome. I really don't see the similarity in templates, especially the one given in Joos' comment, unless you're blind.

Originality is not based on doing something that has never been done. You can be original and still come up with the same conclusion to a problem as another person.

Ahem! You say 'The menu uses the popular checked boxes' but you also say 'The layout is original'. It can't use popular elements and be original. The layout is cliched and assimilated. The photos are not pin sharp and should have been worked over properly in photoshop. It knocks out under 800x600 on a notebook. Designers have been producing this layout for years. Torn edges are now the drop shadows of web design now. It's a clone.

Sorry but I just haaaavvve to comment here.

Fernando Dunn II says - 'Originality is not based on doing something that has never been done.'

Dictionary.com says Originality - 'the quality of being new and original (not derived from something else)'

It's not original. It's contrived and derived. This look is like every other torn edges site.They are just fashionable - but very predictable.

Let me explain this as you guys obviously don't get it. A layout is not the same as a menu. A layout is the visual placements of paragraphs, headers, images, menu, footers etc, and I find this layout to be quite original. The graphic elements might not be true original, but who says they are? Stylegala promotes web standards and design - combined. Not originality. There is a topic in our forum at http://forum.stylegala.com/about69.html if you like to discuss this issue further.

Just to nit pick but you said quality photography too. ( IMO as a photographer)The photos aren't sharp by any stretch and thats not good quality. Every single one has camera shake.

Sigh, there are a lot of bitter, jealous people the in the world eh? Quit whining and start designing I say :)

I just re read through the comments and it's clear some have been removed which makes things difficult to understand what has went on before. Surely the comments weren't that bad were they? I'm not whining but when its starts off about it being first class by the author when it has flaws then it's open to scrutiny - hence the reactions. Anyway, if I gave it a ten then it's perfect right. So what happens if a better site comes along. The new site is better than perfection. Profound!

I remove comments that are inappropriate or offensive. I do not expect everyone to have the same opinions about the entries as I do, and everyone is most welcome to make a constructive comment about the site, not about my comment. I think the photo's are great, you say they stink. I think Sweden is a great soccer team and you say they are not. Are you getting the point here? As long as the comment is constructive and related to the site, it stays.

it's an ok site but I agree about the photos. They are out of focus. That's not quality when they are the size they are and they spoil the site overall for me. The grass in the pic on page one is out of focus and the rest of the image has camera shake. The image of de soto has camera shake. all the images have a lack of sharpness.

Karen: dictionary.com also defines originality as 'the capacity to act or think independently' Your idea of originality requires the artist to 'check the market' before creating something. That's not thinking independently -- without an outside influence. If you have a vision for something and then say 'I can't do that because the anonymous people will call it a clone,' you're not thinking independently.

Original or not; the site looks good, uses standards, and gets the owner's job done

I'm amazed at the amount of negative comments on this site.

The design allows the user to access all of the information in a straightforward, elegant manner, all while adhering to standards. Not bad.

But beyond that, this site creates something rarely seen on the web: mood. It looks and feels like the Florida coast. I especially like the tape used to hold up some of the secondary graphics.

A great site. I'm sure the client was thrilled.

I totally agree, that the client for this site will have been thrilled with this design. It made me want to visit.

I'm the author of this site and it was done in-house at our state agency. Many here would be hard-pressed to find another government agency site with such an emphasis on design and standards, especially given the subject of water!

On originality...lots of things have been done before, including making weak comments about originality! Surely good design has been done before. Funny how some of us have been doing grunge before it was repopularized, and now receive some ill comments about it. hah

I think it's a very well-thought out site with really good typography and layout. It's simple and the grid use is good -- it's symmetrical and assymetrical at the same time.

I'm late on this - forgive me, I'm new to SG but this site is so lovely that I wanted to post anyway.

Brilliant layout, good typography, fine details nicely done.

I like a lot visited links' style in the main menu (not a firstling, as everything on the web, but really well done).

The only thing I don't get is the weird way pictures are inserted in the copy text (the actual photo is absolutely positioned, and a blank gif is floated in the text). Enlarging font-size, the result is a bit

Oops...

"...the result is a bit ugly."

damned chars limit counter... ^^;

Maybe it's time for all the amatuers and little kids to stop and think what the purpose of web design is. This site has been a great resource. Unfortunately, without proper moderation this site will get less and less credible as it sounds more like a bith fest from little kids. You've done a great thing here, Dave. Unfortunately the professionalism and maturity level of the audience - most of whom have nothing to show considering their condescening comments - is severly lacking. Dissapointing.

John, I'm not sure what your point is, but you seem to have something to say. Please have a look at these forum entries for further discussion:

http://forum.stylegala.com/about93.html

http://forum.stylegala.com/about69.html