The title of this post isn’t misleading, but we are talking about headers in web design. I’ve witnessed (at least) over the past five years and continuing trend of smaller headers. What we’re usually talking about is a logo, and main navigation.
We know that content is king, so let’s enable the user to start reading/viewing/interacting with our content as easily as possible, without the need for scrolling down past the top navigation. We also know that like town planning, space is at a premium.
Here’s a pick of websites that I think illustrate this well:
Do you think website headers are becoming slimmer? Have you seen other designs we could add to this list? Add your opinion in the comments!
Great post Ross. Something I’ve definately noticed myself!
Another contender would be Jesse Bennett-Chamberlin’s awesome redesign http://www.31three.com/.
It’s very brave(?) going that small with a logo and something most clients wouldn’t be comfortable in doing. It certainly demonstrates a humble understated attitude, which has it’s appeal.
Hi Alex – good addition – I’ll add!
I agree with you that it does require some discussion with the client. I usually go on the strength that simplicity wins and helps users navigate around the site.
I think one thing that’s important to capture here is that the content creates the structure, sometimes better than lines and other visuals could.
On ZURB.com, we push to plenty of structure through consistent page headers (the big bold type, paragraph, and graphic) and back it up with a strong and prominent nav. It helps focus people and creates a nice design pattern.
We also shrink our header even more for inside our apps like Notable. In applications, pulling back with things like headers and navigation to save screen real estate is key for smaller business laptops and the like.
Thanks for your comment Mark.
I agree with what you say about using valuable screen real estate – and yes, ZURB.com looks pretty!