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Websites That Inspire: Week 2

Monday, June 28th, 2010 @ 12:16PM

Last week I focused on websites that inspired the look and feel of the Crooked Designs website.  This week I’m focusing on MySpace pages that are inspiring my work on a couple of band pages I’m putting together.

Amon Amarth

http://www.myspace.com/amonamarth

Amon Amarth are a melodic death metal band from Sweden who use Norse mythology in their lyrics and artwork which is reflected perfectly in their MySpace page design.

Behemoth

http://www.myspace.com/behemoth

The only word I can use to describe the cover of Polish death metallers Behemoth‘s most recent CD is stunning.  While they no longer use the cover art as the focal point of their MySpace design, it still fits the theme perfectly and is very clean and nicely done.

Cephalic Carnage

http://www.myspace.com/cephaliccarnage

Colorado-based hydro-grinders Cephalic Carnage use the morbidly colorful artwork from their upcoming full length album as the focal point of their design.  Dark and disturbing, I love it!

Decrepit Birth

http://www.myspace.com/decrepitbirth

It’s impossible to describe the enormity of California-based technical death metallers Decrepit Birth MySpace page design.  The album artwork of their upcoming album is stunning and the MySpace page is simply amazing to look at.

Despised Icon

http://www.myspace.com/despisedicon

While I’m not even remotely a fan of Montreal-based deathcore giants Despised Icon it doesn’t change the fact that their MySpace page looks incredible and flows nicely.  Well done.

Ion Dissonance

http://www.myspace.com/iondissonance

Ion Dissonance are another crappy Montreal-based death/metalcore band who I can’t stomach.  They’re also another band with an amazing MySpace page design.  The header is simply a large version of the album cover, but the artwork is so nice and the page layout is so cleanly done it’s impossible to hate this design.

Neuraxis

http://www.myspace.com/neuraxis

Back to Montreal I go with a look at technical melodic death metallers Neuraxis‘ MySpace page.  Again, it features the large album cover up top and a very clean layout.

Psycroptic

http://www.myspace.com/psycroptic

Aussie technical death metallers Psycroptic go with the “bigger is better” approach with their MySpace design.  Again, it’s just the large album cover up top, or rather, friggin’ enormous cover up top with a very clean design below.  Excellent use of colors throughout.

Slayer

http://www.myspace.com/slayer

One of the most well-known extreme metal acts in the world, Slayer, have one of the sharpest looking MySpace pages around.  Unlike most of the other pages listed above, this design only features a small portion of the artwork from the band’s most recent album.  The design itself is very clean, flows smoothly and is sharp and effective.

Squash Bowels

http://www.myspace.com/squashbowels

Dirty.  Disgusting.  Simple.  I really love the simplicity and feel of Polish grinders Squash Bowels‘ MySpace page.  There are some slight coding issues, but the overall design looks incredible.

Suffocation

http://www.myspace.com/suffocation

A few years ago I was the webmaster for New York death metal legends Suffocation.  A year or so ago they decided to abandon having a website and focused entirely on their MySpace page, which uses artwork from their most recent album and an excellent use of banners to market it’s release.

System Divide

http://www.myspace.com/systemdivide

System Divide is the side project of my friend and occasional design collaboration partner Sven de Caluwe from Dirge Design (he’s also the vocalist for Aborted).  The MySpace page is an excellent example of a more minimal design style.  No huge album cover, no gory artwork, just clean and simple and very effective.  Well done.

The Acacia Strain

http://www.myspace.com/theacaciastrain

Massachusetts-based crappy death/metalcore act The Acacia Strain are godawful.  They’ve also got one of the most amazing looking MySpace pages I’ve ever seen.  Forget the music, the colors, the attention to detail, the design… it’s as close to perfect as you can get within the limitations of a MySpace page design.  Definitely check it out, just don’t listen to their music because it will make you want to stab yourself in the ears with icepicks.

B-D, B-D, B-D… That’s All Folks…

So these are the pages I’m using for inspiration in my work this week.  Will the stuff I create turn out as well as these?  Some of the album cover art I have to work with is pretty killer and I’m confident in my abilities so you’ll all find out soon enough!

Check back next week for another batch of inspirational designs!  Even if you aren’t a designer, at least you can appreciate looking at purty pictures!