If you think a website’s footer exists only to show copyright information you couldn’t be further from the truth. Below I’ve included 25 inspirational designs for website footers from design related sites and blogs from around the web. From illustrative to intelligent use of textures, these website footers are very creative.
13Creative
13Creative is a full-service design firm based in San Francisco. 13Creative’s footer serves a simple purpose-to encourage visitors to sign up for their email list. It makes an impact through the use of color and textures in the background of the website and sign up form.
37Signals
I think we’re all familiar with 37signals and their suite of apps. Recently, they re-designed their homepage to better present the various apps they offer, but I also love their footer. I like how they present each app within the footer and icons really pop on the black background.
Forty Seven Media
Forty Seven Media is a web and graphic design firm based in Knoxville, TN. Within their footer they provide us an easy way to contact them, see recent blog entries, and view recent projects they’ve completed in web and print design.
Base6
Base6 is a web design studio located in Barnsley, UK. I like the weathered look of the website which they’ve carried into the footer where you’ll find complete navigation and recent tweets.
BSmalls Design
BSmalls Design is a small design studio in Minneapolis, MN offering web, UI, print, and identity design services. The illustration of the skyline in the footer is a nice touch-”Fo Shizzle”.
David Hellmann
David Hellmann is a designer based in Germany. His website’s footer is one of the more elaborate I’ve seen as it depicts an entire living room. I like the use of textures and the details in the footer.
doejo
Doejo is a full service firm specializing in web design, branding, SEO, and social marketing. Doejo is a play on the word “dojo” which is a term for the place where students gather for Japanese martial arts. They take this theme into their footer with an origami bird and a throwing star embedded in the footer.
Element Fusion – Internship Program
Element Fusion is a design firm based in Oklahoma City, OK. They provide a number of targeted CMS solutions. This is a footer they designed for marketing their internship program. I like the use of the canvas texture with the skyline “painted” in the background. It’s simple and clean, but makes a great impact.
Freelance Switch
FreelanceSwitch is brought to us by the Envato network and is a great resource for freelancers. I like the use of the “mascot” along with the tagline in the footer, the social media icons, and the subscription counts.
Future of Web Apps 2009 – Miami
Carsonified’s Future of Web Apps in Miami this year has come and gone, but I’m still digging this footer design. Great use of texture combined with the cartoon-like sketch of the skyline. I also like the title within the footer -”Boring Stuff”.
ILoveColors
ILoveColors is a great design and technology blog. The use of textures and colorful illustrations make the design unique and bold. I like the various backgrounds used within the footer including a cardboard-like background for the entire footer, a paper note for their Blogroll, and masking tape for the copyright, hosting, and “powered by” information.
Inspiredology
Inspiredology is a design blog brought to us by @chadMueller and @dertmobile. I love the blog’s footer and its combination of the background pattern, transparent blocks, and light colored fonts that pop.
Jason Santa Maria
Jason Santa Maria has been a busy designer. He left Happy Cog (http://jasonsantamaria.com/articles/leaving-happy-cog/) earlier this year and recently launched Typedia. I like what he’s done with the footer for his blog. It’s different than many others that are included in this list as there are no gradients, illustrations or unique textures and backgrounds. What I like is that it contains a lot of great information that’s organized neatly into blocks.
Juan Diego Velasco
Juan Diego Velasco is a designer in Bogota, Colombia. His blog is brightly designed and depicts a backyard scene with each post covering the lawn. The footer takes us beneath the lawn and into the soil. While one could claim that this has been done before Juan has done a great job of making it unique.
Jan-Eike Koormann
Koormann.de is the website of Hamburg based designer Jan-Eike Koormann. I thought the goose was a fun and unexpected touch to the design of the footer. Anytime you can include a fun and unexpected element that delights the readers but doesn’t impede usability, it’s a win.
Kyan
Kyan is a web design and development agency located in Guildford, Surrey UK. They have a “hidden footer” you’ll find after clicking the worm peeking from the hole in the ground.
Media140
Media140 was founded in February 2009 by Andrew Gregson as an independent platform for discussion, debate, workshops and press coverage of European events. They carry the media theme into their footer with the primary content consisting of tweets from #media140.
Orman Clark
Orman Clark is a Berkshire based web designer and “SEO Geek”. His site includes a unique and playful footer with a raccoon in a trashcan, a twitter bird, and a cow’s face on the side of a milk carton.
Sarah Longnecker
Sarah Longnecker is a Knoxville, TN based video editor and her site was designed from the team at Forty Seven Media. I really like the footer which includes a lightly textured background, inset text for each header, contact and social media links, and a link to Sarah’s resume.
Sergio Noviello
Sergio is a web designer and developer based in Ireland. I like the simple three column layout within the footer which includes a cause that he’s passionate about, a Flickr photostream, links to connect with Sergio via the social networks, and several links to suggested sites. Sergio has done a great job of building trust with visitors and potential customers with the personal information he’s sharing within the footer of his site.
SocialSnack Blog
SocialSnack is a creative agency based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I like the footer they’ve included for their blog, which is playful and includes thumbnail photos of the primary operations team, social media links, and link to their contact information.
WebDesignerDepot
WebDesignerDepot is a Vancouver based design blog run by Walter Apai. I’m sure most of you are familiar with WDD and their illustrative style. I love the overall design of the blog and the bright colors, which are carried through to the footer.
StoryPixel
Fall is just around the corner and StoryPixel, a blog by Lexington, KY based designer Sam Wilson, reminds me of the coming season. As you scroll down to the footer you’ll see the orange and yellow leaves cascading to the footer. I like the textures used here and the loosely drawn style.
TeaRoundApp
TeaRoundApp is an iPhone app that helps decide who will make the tea. I love the look and feel of the footer and information they’ve included. Within the footer you can sign up for their newsletter, view screenshots of the app, and learn more about the company behind the app, WeCollaborate, which is a UK based design firm.
UXBooth
UXBooth is a usability and design blog brought to us by Matthew Kammerer, David Leggett, and Andrew Maier. I like the subtle gradients, inset boxes, and the font colors used within the footer.
Thanks for reading! I hope you have found these footers unique and inspiring.
Related posts:
- Our Favorite Posts for the Week: Week of October 4th 2009
- Interview with David Leggett: Founder of Tutorial9.net
- Top 12 Sites for Design Inspiration and Tutorials
- Usability Design Resources, Pattern Libraries, and Inspiration
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Thx for sharing!
Nice collection of footers. thx for it!
No problem David! Your site definitely has one of the more unique footers I’ve seen
Great collection of footers! Thanks so much for including UX Booth
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No problem Matthew! Keep up the great work with UXBooth!
Brilliant collection! I think Doejo’s origami Twitter is fantastic. (why didn’t I think of that!) Some great pieces of work here. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for reading! Doejo’s footer is very unique. I also like the throwing star that’s embedded in the footer.
Thanks for including my site!
Oh great. the footers you mentioned are simply superb and it will also help in my website designing
Thanks for sharing! I am definitely inspired! Love your blog
Some great examples of a rather neglected area in design – thank you.