30 Beautiful Examples of Grunge in Web Design
Grunge is a stylish design trend that gives web designs a less uniform, less structured, and more organic look-and-feel. It’s characterized by textured/gritty backgrounds, uneven/torn edges, worn, faded and aged graphic elements inspired by urban and industrial architecture and scenery. It gives a way for designers to venture away from the glossy, flashy, and rigid design elements that characterize the "Web 2.0"style – a style that still dominates mainstream web design.
In this collection, you’ll find 30 excellent examples of grunge in web design for your inspiration. From portfolios and fashion websites to online stores and church sites – you’ll find a variety of websites that choose to "dirty up" their web design.
Cogitatur
TROZO GALLERY
The Lippincott
Von Dutch Originals
Bridge55
James Lai Creative
Biola Undergrad
The Trian Woodburns
revolution church
Jared Campbell
nYq Design Studio
Jeremy Zevin
Sarah Hyland
Casio Exilim Lab
The Farmer & The Chef
Syc Fuk
Red9ine Tattoos
Xperience 08
Meagan Fisher
Soma Communities
Dirty Pretty Things
Bristol Archive Records
{ths}
Gary Nock
Elliot Jay Stocks
Bart-Jan Verhoef
Ali Felski
POWER TO THE POSTER
Lataka
Sourcebits TangledDecals
Your thoughts?
Why do designers choose grunge themes? Are there benefits towards straying away from the mainstream design trends? Share your thoughts in the comments!
80 Comments
CreamScoop.com
November 15th, 2008
Some really good designs, I specially like the ones with a 50′s, 60′s feel.
Simon
November 16th, 2008
I love the grungy feel – I have considered using a grunge design on my blog, but it don’t think it fits the mood right.
However, many of the websites that use the grunge designs in this article are very formal websites, which shows how effective and popular grunge has become
weblizzer
November 16th, 2008
i like this mostly,…. i’ve bookmark some of the sites..
Johnathan
November 16th, 2008
I would like to suggest a site I enjoy, it has a little grunge to it I think.
http://www.stephenfry.com
SPFLDnet
November 16th, 2008
It’s like the Blues. You get five tunes, and tens of thousands of stories.
liam
November 16th, 2008
Brilliant stuff, I really REALLY love the design on Gary Nock’s website. Great collection Jacob.
Ann Storer
November 16th, 2008
Beautiful stuff! It seems like grunge is everywhere on the web these days, but I don’t care if it’s trendy — I really like it. Thanks for posting these.
Online hry zdarma
November 16th, 2008
I like Soma Communities – it is look very good …
Thomas
November 16th, 2008
Thanks :)
Aaron
November 16th, 2008
I really like the Von Dutch bridge55 designs.
Max
November 16th, 2008
supposidly gunge is on the way out, but i dont care as it defines certain peoples styles, these are some great designs.
Kim
November 16th, 2008
Awesome – opened MY eyes – thanks!
Alex Linebrink
November 16th, 2008
Awesome list. I’ve seen quite a few before, but many are new, and look GREAT.
Here’s another: http://www.thatindiedude.com
Web Design
November 16th, 2008
Great list. Some of the grunge design in the 60s are much better.
AlexB2
November 16th, 2008
http://www.reel-radio.fm
Katy Rawson
November 16th, 2008
Some great designs here. The Train Woodburns and Ali Felski are my favorites though.
Mike
November 16th, 2008
Great list, here’s another: http://www.ourlittleplanet.org
ntopics
November 16th, 2008
Your right! These are beautiful examples of grunge web sites.
Its nice to see artistic qualities in today’s web sites because there’s so much rigid design in web sites today.
Thanks for displaying these examples of grunge web sites
from Tony.
James Allen
November 16th, 2008
This stuff looks great, but too many of these sites force the user to scroll in one direction or another. Here’s a great grungy design that doesn’t force the user to scroll to see everything at once (navigation takes care of that in a nice web 2.0 way): http://www.clapperclawfestival.com/
snowkage
November 16th, 2008
lots of good textures here on this new site http://www.textureninja.com
Greg H
November 16th, 2008
I love theory11.com designed by wa007. From the list above, Elliot Jay Stocks is also one of my favs.
Kevin
November 16th, 2008
Very nice list – good to see some new ones instead of the same ones I see on all the other grunge example posts.
Studio1Z
November 16th, 2008
I like all your designs, beautiful work!
Rishi Luchun
November 16th, 2008
I normally prefer the more clean looking websites, but these have really grown on me. nice works.
Nick
November 16th, 2008
Some are nice, but I’m honestly getting tired of the grunge trend.
Bangbouh Stock
November 16th, 2008
Great collection of some very well executed uses of grunge in design. Thanks!
dark laith
November 16th, 2008
this is a nice design, should’ve made it to the list :( http://kolekcja.cropptown.pl/?z=man_zone
dev
November 16th, 2008
I’m surprised I didn’t see mattbrett.com on here!
nsane
November 16th, 2008
As a graphic designer, I was never too fond of Grunge style, but I have to say that these sites pull it off big time. There is a lot of 2.0 effects added to it, so I think that is what makes it look less dark than what a grunge effect usually offers.
insic
November 17th, 2008
i love this type of design.
Robert
November 17th, 2008
Really nice designs! The layout’s stands out very nicely and I like the use of colors on the designs.
relax
November 17th, 2008
Great list. Some of the grunge design in the 60s are much better.
Ollie Kavanagh
November 17th, 2008
I wouldn’t say I chose grunge for my personal site as its a design theme, more because it defines who I am, if it so happens its the in thing at the moment then so be it.
PureDezigner
November 17th, 2008
Great resource for when I redesign my portfolio site. :)
PureDezigner
November 17th, 2008
http://www.puredezigner.com
Amy
November 17th, 2008
Great designs!
Amy
http://www.wan2design.co.uk
Chip
November 17th, 2008
http://ths.nu/ths.php
The code view has a little message! Go to the page and choose View Source
haha
shashi
November 18th, 2008
waw.. very nice list.. :)
shashi
November 18th, 2008
http://www.freebiesup.com
Dave Q
November 18th, 2008
This looks nice too http://www.carbonica.org/
Panther
November 19th, 2008
Great list, can’t get enough of this style. Hope to be an example one of these days!
Roy Van Rivero
November 19th, 2008
I like the bridge55, I think it is more suitable for clothing business site. Great list.
Bassie
November 20th, 2008
Very nice collection, good for inspiration!
another one: http://www.oceansofsadness.com
Tony
November 23rd, 2008
great post i like the first one a lot
Designer
November 24th, 2008
woooooooow……gr8 list
Webmaster Forum
November 26th, 2008
beautiful works I must say. now these designs mostly suit the blogs. how about e-commerce and other sites.
Bill Biwer
December 1st, 2008
Great roundup of websites. Always enjoy checking out what designers are doing with this style.
web design
December 1st, 2008
These are absolutely beautiful web designs! I love the Von Dutch design because it shows how grunge can be used subtly to give a design an edgy look. It also shows a fairly popular, “mainstream” company adopting grunge (or at least grunge elements).
Ralph
December 2nd, 2008
Many, many great ideas of webdesign. Thank you for your work to summary this list. Ralph
Ron
December 3rd, 2008
Fabulous work. I like it.Thanks for such a wonderfull designs.
Anton Napolsky
December 8th, 2008
it is beatifull examples!
Andrei
December 15th, 2008
Killer examples. I am so inspired to start doing web design & development again. Even get back into old school visual arts.
ergin
December 16th, 2008
Great list. Some of the grunge design in the 60s are much better.
evertt de sousa
December 19th, 2008
very nice this post :)
AliReza
December 28th, 2008
Very very very beautiful :)
Karl Francisco Fernandes
February 22nd, 2009
Simply inspiring… Gonna use a couple of techniques from here…
Karl Francisco Fernandes
February 23rd, 2009
Just can’t get enough of this style… Biola and nyq are simply mind-blowing… Von Dutch is also unique… Great list!
bia2bama
March 22nd, 2009
Just can’t get enough of this style… Biola and nyq are simply mind-blowing… Von Dutch is also unique… Great list!
Jennifer
June 12th, 2009
These are some great designs! Thanks for posting this.
Andreas
September 12th, 2009
I would like to suggest a site I enjoy, it has a little grunge to it I think.
angels
September 12th, 2009
Great roundup of websites. Always enjoy checking out what designers are doing with this style.
ReKieM
September 16th, 2009
Very great list ! Wonderfull design,I love this style !
musign
October 14th, 2009
Dee-licious!
mortimer
February 4th, 2010
Found a grungy german site: http://frechdesign.de
paola lozano
March 1st, 2010
Love this examples of grunge style!
max
March 19th, 2010
my first site (http://stranichko.org.ua) in grunge style. I’m from Ukraine
pars
April 29th, 2010
I like Soma Communities
Jacob
May 22nd, 2010
I like grung, but not too much of it. I like mixing in a little grunge with some sleek web 3.0 styling. Eliot Jay is a pretty good example. The site wouldn’t be too bad with some simple and subtle gradiances. Of course, the grunge makes it look just perfect.
wantfee
June 7th, 2010
I’m planning to creat a grunge style wordpress theme. That gives me more inspration.
Aphrodite
July 1st, 2010
There are some beautiful designs here indeedy! The Von Dutch site has been around for years and I think has set some of the ‘standards’ in grunge design.
Smooth Booth
July 2nd, 2010
Top designs! Love run down urban textures they can really help compliment a site… Bridge 55 is the one that always seems to feature, its quality, the rest look cool aswell tho.
sargarmi
October 24th, 2010
Great roundup of websites. Always enjoy checking out what designers are doing with this style.
ntagas
December 23rd, 2010
Thank you for the nice websites. The grunge style is very beautiful. Nice work !
Marianne
January 9th, 2011
Some really impressiv inspirations. Like the Site “Dirty Pretty Things” most. Cool styles. Thanks for your list. Best greetings from Germany.
judaica
March 25th, 2011
This post was incredibly nicely written, and it also contains several beneficial facts. I appreciated your expert manner of writing this article. You’ve produced it effortless for me to fully grasp.
Lauren
April 27th, 2011
Though this post is now a few years old, these sites are still lovely. Sarah Hyland’s websites is one of my favorite designs of all time. Thanks for sharing these.
Jimmy
May 31st, 2011
A friends grungy Uk site
Pico
June 8th, 2011
Thank you for the nice websites.
Garret
September 13th, 2011
Hhen I first read the title, I assumed “grunge” meant most of the sites would have a dirty look but the sites featured in this article are elegant and artistic.
Stefan
October 10th, 2011
Very great list, i like this style.
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