Drawing style in web-design

The most important and interesting ideas are often created as sketches on paper. In the designer’s hand at the initial stage of work, there may be only a pencil and paper, but this is often enough to create full-fledged elements of the future website design. Design based on sketches is called the hand-drawn style. A hand-drawn website style adds a “human factor” to the web page design, conveys mood, and evokes emotions, unlike the faceless rounded elements of standard design.

Characteristic Features and Advantages of Hand-Drawn Style

Hand-drawn web design is a popular website design style. Using this tool, designers can achieve the following goals:

• Emphasize attention and increase brand recognition. Hand-drawn logos and page elements attract special attention from users, encouraging them to follow each line and appreciate the author’s style. Hand-drawn arrows and calls to action can significantly increase conversion rates.
• Make even complex content extremely simple, accessible, and friendly. The hand-drawn style involves the use of hand-drawn diagrams and illustrations, which greatly simplify perception.
• Build trust. While other website design styles strive for trust with perfectly photoshopped images, hand-drawn design uses hand-drawn pictures with all their imperfections and features. Such elements convey a human presence. Sketches create emotional engagement and help to feel a living person behind the page’s code.

Application Area of Hand-Drawn Design

Hand-drawn website design is suitable for blogs, online stores, landing pages whose target audience consists of young, creatively and unconventionally thinking people. For example, the website of the healthy lifestyle app Gugafit (http://www.gugafit.com/index.php). Simple, childlike drawings convey the idea of the benefits of proper nutrition and regular exercise.

The hand-drawn style is also successfully used for websites dedicated to creativity: online stores for souvenirs and handmade products, sites of musical and creative groups, portfolios. A striking example is the portfolio of graphic designer Natrashka (http://www.natrashka.com/). The site lacks a standard header, and numerous hand-drawn pictures create a certain “creative mess,” demonstrating the author’s originality and worldview.