SMACK HAPPY BLOG

Some Clever Design from ThinkGeek

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| Nicole Hanusek |

I recently got an email from ThinkGeek.com about getting their anniversary tee for free with a $10 purchase. When I clicked on the link to look at the offer, I scrolled through the page and noticed the gradient in the background moving. Upon further inspection, I discovered that the gradient revealed two different graphics at…

I recently got an email from ThinkGeek.comSome clever design from thinkgeek 1 about getting their anniversary tee for free with a $10 purchase. When I clicked on the link to look at the offer, I scrolled through the page and noticed the gradient in the background moving. Upon further inspection, I discovered that the gradient revealed two different graphics at the bottom of the page. On the light part of the gradient you could see robots and aliens; on the dark part, screaming zombies. The effect is subtle, clever and utterly delightful. You can bet money that I’ll be using this technique as soon as the opportunity arises for such a fun and playful design.

To see the effect, make sure your browser is displaying at its maximum width (needs to be 1280px wide or more). Then move the scrollbar up and down to see it. I’ve included two screen captures below in case you can’t make the browser wide enough.

Thinkgeek-light

Thinkgeek-dark

Well done, ThinkGeek designer, I like your clever ways!

Nicole Hanusek

Nicole Hanusek

Nikki Stormborn of the House Smack Happy, First of her Name, the Custom Coded, Queen of the Designs and the First Website, Nichole of the Great List of Typos, Breaker of Rules, and Mother of Puppies.

I've been designing and coding websites since 1998. Yep, that's before the Internet was popular! I currently live in San Francisco, but I started out in Cleveland, OH. In college my major was illustration and one day I was working in the computer lab and my colleague was looking for jobs in our industry. I thought to myself, "I should probably do that too!" So I sent my resume to every place that offered graphic design positions in my area. I interviewed at a web consulting company, and the owner asked me why I wanted the job. I didn't even know what the job was! He hired me anyway, and on the first day, the Art Director handed me a thick book and said, "here, learn HTML." And so I did, and here we are. I'm hooked.

What I like most about building websites is that I get to be creative visually and solve problems. Growing up, I was a huge fan of math and science, so the coding part of the job scratches that logic and trouble-shooting itch. I get to partake in the artsy side and analytical side - the best of both worlds!

My goal is to help make everyone's life easier. By building easy-to-use websites, I can help my clients, as well as their clients.