Nousheen Aquil May 7th, 2012

World of Watercolor: Beautiful Watercolor Effects in Web Design and Tutorials

Using watercolor in web design is not a new thing that designers are implementing, by any means. In fact, it has been used in web design for years. In no small part due to the fact that digital watercolor effects are inspiring and attention-grabbing, and on top of that, easy to achieve. In this collection, we have put together some beautiful examples of watercolor effects in web design for your inspiration. All of the sites and tutorials have been hand-picked, and demonstrate the allure and beauty that this wonderful effect can add to the web. So, let us take a close look at this collection, and get some inspiring and tempting ideas for web design projects to come. Enjoy!

World of Watercolor

Boompa makes use of appealing and soothing watercolor effects that look astonishingly beautiful and mesmerizing. Screenshot Istok Pavlovic's website showcases some excellent and visually pleasing watercolor effects not only in the background, but also all over the site. Screenshot Chris Sharp uses watercolor effects against a black background, which can be tricky to do and have the effects stand out. But here the balance has been found nicely. Screenshot Five Points Interactive uses watercolor effects very decoratively throughout the background and header. Screenshot Giancarlo Fajardo, you'll notice, has some darker tones that blend perfectly with the lighter toned background giving the whole design a very soft look. Screenshot Syster has amazing watercolor effects used in the design. And while the header really shines here, the top navigation menus as well as the footer have also been designed quite creatively. Screenshot Weberica, while not the most outstanding site design on the list, the large, decorative header makes this design's use of watercolor effects stand out. Screenshot Corvus Art has a very beautiful and visually alluring header design with some exceptional effects that complement the entire site. Screenshot Le Bloe's designer tried to give a very charming and shimmering look to the design that was accomplished wonderfully with the use of watercolors. Screenshot CSS Addict has a very calming and pleasing look, and the watercolor effects used make it even more so. Screenshot All for Design, though it is somewhat similar to the design of CSS Addict, it stands apart from it mainly because of the type of watercolor effects used. The big difference is the header. Screenshot Football Made in Africa's overly imaginative design is full of impressive watercolor effects that add a grungy textured look to the site. Screenshot Web Designer Wall is a popular site whose use of watercolor effects really stand out and make the header shine. Screenshot Imoments takes an imaginative approach to using watercolors in the web design. The page does not feature any significant content rather just the graphics and astonishing watercolor effects. Screenshot Bcandullo
This website's layout is somewhat busy and full of different kinds of elements. The use of watercolors in the header is quite lively and represents an energetic spirit. Screenshot Wccnet contains various beautiful watercolor effects in the footer area, which stands out against rest of the site which is very understated and plain. Screenshot Deborah Cavenaugh uses watercolors to great extent, and the effects have been incorporated very well within the design to give it a complete and interesting look. Screenshot Davide Savelli's website is designed on the concept of minimalism and does not contain too much in the way of graphical elements, which makes the watercolor effects used really pop. Screenshot Sunrise Design uses vivid watercolor effects and has successfully pulled it off. The bright green and yellow colors gives the web design a feel of happiness and joy. Screenshot Big Cartel's use of cool green shades and beautiful illustrations are the main visual draws in this otherwise very simple design. Screenshot Small White Bear's design brings out a very positive and soothing change in your mood with its soft, comforting watercolor effects. Screenshot Efinterns's beautiful and gratifying use of watercolor effects works well with this quite unusual, and quite dynamic design. Screenshot Pallygiraffe's vivid and energetic colors brings the design a feel of liveliness and vigor. Screenshot Designer Interviews' simple, sophisticated design uses watercolor effects quite minimally, yet they stand apart from the rest of the site. Screenshot Billyhughes.oph's various shades of blue with beautiful mouse over effects in the header are sufficient enough to grab the attention and make this website a memorable one. Screenshot N.design Studio's design, uses watercolor effects quite creatively throughout, with big, bold typography and large images. Screenshot Xhtml Cafe has a very appealing design with watercolor effects not only in the header, but also in the footer to make it look even more stunning. Screenshot Sietedefebrero limits the use of watercolor effects to the header, but the header itself speaks volume about its creation. Screenshot Moon Beam Illustrations website stands out, mainly because of the use of excellent watercolor effects. The background textures fully enhance the beauty. Screenshot

Tutorials

Watercolored Design Studio Blog Layout
In this tutorial you will learn how to make a clean and simple watercolor based layout for a blog. The PSD is available for download. Screenshot Creating an Abstract Watercolor Wallpaper
There are plenty of ways to create a watercolor effect in Photoshop. Some are very cheesy and you can easily tell that a simple filter has been used. In this tutorial, we will be using Layer Masking. Screenshot Create Cool Watercolor Effects in Photoshop
In this tutorial we will learn how to create cool watercolor effects of your very own in Photoshop to build up your design arsenal. Screenshot Create Convincing Watercolor Effects Using Photoshop
This is a short tutorial about creating convincing watercolor effects in Photoshop. We’ll use a picture of a crane, several watercolor brushes and a texture to obtain this particular effect. Screenshot Create a Nature Inspired Painted Background in Photoshop
In this tutorial, we will show you some techniques for creating watercolor effect backgrounds. Screenshot Super Cool Watercolor Effect in 10 steps in Photoshop
In this tutorial we will learn how to create a quick and easy watercolor effect for your design needs. Screenshot Create a Watercolor-Themed Website Design with Photoshop
In this tutorial you will learn how to use the Art History Brush and combine it with watercolor custom brushes to create a nice background header image and more for web design projects. Screenshot Easy Watercolor Painting Effect In Photoshop
In this Photoshop tutorial, you learn how to easily make a photo look more like a watercolor painting. This photo effect works best on images where maintaining rich colors and strong contrast is more important than keeping any fine details, since you'll be losing a lot of detail with this effect. Screenshot

All for Now

That wraps up the post on our side, now we are turning the discussion over to you. Use the comment section to tell us your thoughts on the collection and to share some of your favorite sites and tutorials that feature watercolor effects. (rb)

Nousheen Aquil

Nousheen Aquil is a web graphic designer. She loves photography, drawing and painting. She also is a contributing member of WebdesignCore , a platform that focuses on free web resources and inspiration for designers and developers.

8 comments

  1. Very lovely water color web designs. I wish to build a site using minimalist website templates and a combination of a water color designs.

  2. Bcandullo and Sietedefebrero are two web sites very beautiful. Very lovely water color web designs. Beautiful collection.

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