Creativity powers creativity. To whip up cool designs, we have to look at existing cool graphic design assets from time to time.
Unless you’re a genius, new (and awesome) ideas don’t pop up every day. As creatives, whatever we come up with is a combination of the content, people, and experiences we’re exposed to on a daily basis.
If you’ve been running low on design inspiration lately and are looking for some ideas for your next marketing campaign or custom design, keep reading.
In this article, I’ve rounded up some of the coolest designs I could find on the internet, including:
- Web designs
- Infographics
- Illustrations
- Product packaging designs
- App UI/UX
- Brand elements
Whether you need some inspo for your next social media campaign, a new landing page, or just some cover art for your YouTube channel, these examples will kick start your creative process.
Let’s check them all out.
Cool Web Designs
If you want to make a great impression on your leads, you need an awesome website.
By taking care of various on-page SEO and conversion rate optimization factors, and arming yourself with super dope web design, you can set your business up for success.
On top of that, you’ll get props from the global design community!
Here are some examples of websites and individual landing pages that did a great job.
1. Mighty Fine Copy
The first one on the list is Mighty Fine Copy and you can clearly see why.
The website was designed by Rachael Pilcher and David Cullington, a copywriter and designer duo who co-founded Roikit.
Combining trendy, modern design with aesthetic illustrations, popping colors, cool typography, and just the right amount of animation—everything about this website is awesome.
2. KlientBoost
Though KlientBoost is a performance marketing agency, they take design pretty seriously.
The design puts the faces of the company above the fold, leverages just the right amount of white space, and features awesome illustrations that follow a consistent art style.
All in all, if you’re looking for web design examples that end up creating new “best practices” due to their effectiveness, this has got to be one of them.
3. Coffee Cava
This refreshing, out-of-the-box design by Coffee Cava definitely fits my definition of cool designs.
When you land on the homepage, you’re welcomed by an image of what seems to be their coffee shop.
When you start scrolling down, the screen zooms into the mysterious coffee cup placed in the center, until the main coffee ingredients (beans, milk, water, cinnamon, and sugar) come splashing in.
I’m not ashamed to admit that I spent a few minutes just sitting there scrolling in and out.
And the best part? The design works just as well on mobile.
4. Guillaume Bouvet
When a craftsman is known for their awesome designing skills, it’s only fair that their website keeps up.
Guillaume Bouvet, a French craftsman who specializes in making furniture, made sure of that when designing his website.
When you click on “See Projects” on the homepage, you’re redirected to his responsive portfolio page that lists his furniture and custom-made items separately.
Furthermore, the rest of the pages are just as captivating and smooth.
All in all, I give this website a solid 10/10.
5. Pulpfingers
Now acquired by 500px, Pulpfingers was a small team of mobile app developers from France.
Back in 2012, they came up with this sick design for their website.
The entire design looks like one big comic book, featuring a blood-red theme and an interesting choice of typography.
No videos.
Nothing responsive.
Just a cool design that was ahead of its time.
6. Ultimate Ears (Ultimate Fits Landing Page)
If you’re selling a product, make it the star of your design.
That’s exactly what Ultimate Ears did with the landing page for UE Fits, a line of high-tech earbuds.
As you scroll down the landing page, the static image of the earbuds starts to move, until one of them flies into the ear of a model. It might not work so smoothly on all devices, but it’s still impressive.
When you scroll further, the page reveals more features and USPs of the product, taking you through an immersive journey.
7. eXelentex
Providing cutting-edge technology powered by AI, eXelentex has made their web design just as modern, yet simple.
The website uses ample white space and minimal typography.
Additionally, as you scroll down the homepage, the website loads smoothly and reveals additional content.
Furthermore, an interesting aspect is that they’ve decided to include both a simple menu bar and a hamburger menu that collapses to reveal additional pages under the main categories.
8. Toggl
If you’re thinking of throwing 3D animation into the mix, the Toggl website’s homepage might give you some ideas.
The page features a mesmerizing banner video at the top and small different 3D animations throughout.
As far as cool designs go, this is easily one of the coolest!
Toggl recently revamped their web design.
This is what it used to look like:
The crisp design above, which also featured 3D illustrations, also won them an award.
9. Simply Chocolate
If you’re a chocolate lover like me, you’re going to drool over this awesome web design by Simply Chocolate.
As you start scrolling down the website, you’re introduced to their line of chocolates, starting from their famous Crispie Carrie, going all the way to the Rich Arnold protein bar.
The best part about this design is the responsive, interactive design that lets you rip the chocolate open bar.
Again, it won’t flow as smoothly on all devices due to all the heavy coding, but the idea was clever and it was executed—and that’s what matters.
Cool Infographics
An infographic visualizes data and presents it in an engaging, exciting way.
When designed and used right, they can be great content marketing tools.
Here are some cool infographics we found that might inspire the next one you make.
10. Landing Page User Experience (by KlientBoost and User Testing)
When I said that KlientBoost takes design very seriously, I wasn’t kidding.
This infographic-turned-GIF, made in collaboration with User Testing, is another great example.
The infographic itself looks like a clean landing page, broken down into separate sections with some concise copy.
It shows the 4 pillars or ingredients of landing page user experience, illustrated in KlientBoost’s unique brand art style and animated.
11. The Sound of Color (by Kelly-Moore Paints)
Next on the list is this awesome masterpiece by Kelly-Moore Paints.
It provides a unique take on choosing your color palette based on your favorite music.
The concept is simple: the music we listen to sparks certain emotions. And every emotion is associated with a color.
This infographic illustrates that concept by showing us what a person’s color palette should look like depending on their favorite album (with a few picturesque examples).
The end result? A handy guide with a captivating party of colors and something completely unique.
If that ain’t shareable, I don’t know what is.
12. History of Life (by Juan Martinez)
Life, as we know it, is a result of hundreds of millions of years of evolutionary cycles.
And what better way to educate people about that history than with a cool infographic?
Juan Martinez, an editorial and information designer, did just that.
They condensed the key events in history, including information such as the geography of Earth, milestones, and mass extinctions into one infographic.
13. Periodic Table of SEO Success Factors (by Search Engine Land and Column Five)
In addition to colors, a key to designing winning infographics is presenting information in the most creative way possible.
In a world where every other marketer is publishing an “Ultimate Guide to SEO,” the folks at Search Engine Land and Column Five Media took an interesting approach to the subject.
Instead of simply creating another SEO checklist, they decided to make a “Periodic Table of SEO Factors” (based on the periodic table of elements).
The more you look at/study it, the more you appreciate how they’ve compiled and organized the information.
14. Content Marketing Value in Numbers (by Semrush)
Your infographic doesn’t have to include a sophisticated design.
If you have a bunch of interesting stats to share, you can present them through a simple design. Kind of like this infographic by Semrush.
It shares some interesting statistics about content marketing, complemented by creative illustrations and vibrant colors.
15. Ascend to New Heights in Content Marketing (by Captora and Column Five)
You can take a completely different approach and present your data through high-quality visuals, like this infographic by Captora and Column Five Media.
It shares some eye-opening statistics about why B2B and B2C marketers need content marketing and the potential it packs for hitting your business targets.
The snowy peaks represent the new heights your business can potentially achieve if you do content marketing right.
16. Google Panda Infographic
If there’s one thing SEOs dread, it’s a Google algorithm update. Back in 2011, when Google launched its famous Panda update, Attach Media came up with this awesome infographic.
It briefly describes what the update is about, how it works, the way it rolled out, and what brands can do to “survive” this new update.
In the center is a panda that contrasts the dark background and surrounding gradients. Among countless other infographics on the same subject, this one stands out the most.
Just look up “Google Panda infographic” on Google Image Search and see for yourself.
Cool Illustrations
Some artists go above and beyond to hone their skills and perfect their art, which takes years, if not decades.
Below, we’ve rounded up some of the coolest illustrations we could find.
If you’re an artist who’s currently in the process of discovering their unique art style, these might inspire you.
17. Calendario Cassa Rurale dell’Alto Garda (by Riccardo Guasco)
Let’s start off with this mesmerizing calendar art by Italian artist Riccardo Guasco.
All months are represented by abstract vector art and cool designs, that show what I believe to be different activities and events someone can look forward to in that time of year.
For instance, this is the artwork for citrusy March (Marzo):
You can check out the complete series here.
18. MOUNTAIN (by Tom Haugomat)
Artist Tom Haugomat captured the essence of a mountainous region with this series of minimal, flat illustrations.
These illustrations use vibrant, contrasting colors to tell the story of a boy and his father exploring the countryside and bonding over different outdoor activities.
Wholesome. Captivating. And not to mention, cool.
19. Fraser Dickson
Next on the list is this awesome collage of mesmerizing illustrations that show various landscapes with their unique colors.
The masterpiece was created by Fraser Dickson, a seasoned art director and designer from London.
20. Matt Stevens
If there’s one portfolio of cool designs and illustrations I’d recommend, it has got to be Matt Stevens’.
The artwork above definitely deserves a spot on this list. It looks like something straight out of a 90’s space-horror video game.
Additionally, it would make for a really cool hoodie or t-shirt design.
21. Fix Florida (Screenshot of Short Animation by Giant Ant)
Giant Ant worked on an animated explainer video titled “Fix Florida” for Costa Sunglasses. It sheds light on the environmental crisis that Florida is currently facing.
I love the art style they’ve used for this video.
The theme really captures the overall mood of the message the video is trying to convey.
Additionally, the transition between vibrant and gloomy color schemes highlights the difference between what was and what is.
22. The Dusk Launch (Art by Nafay)
This awesome artwork was created by Digital Artist and Planet Content’s Art Director, Muhammad Nafay (Art by Nafay).
It’s actually a non-fungible token (more on that shortly) that was auctioned off for 2.2 Ethereum. It shows a couple watching the launch of a SpaceX rocket from afar.
“This artwork was the start of an exclusive series called “Ether of the Wilds” that I released on Super Rare. It was sold for 1 Eth. Being a landscape digital artist, I wanted to show a mysterious environment where the characters would often go and explore unexplained floating objects in shape of an ether. In addition, I used a pop-punk color palette for this artwork. It took me 5 hours to complete it.” – Nafay
Currently, it’s owned by a user named “Globe” on SuperRare.
Cool NFT Art
A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unit of data on a blockchain that’s represented by a digital file. It could include a piece of art, audio, video, or a video game.
An NFT essentially represents a “certificate of ownership” for the asset and can sell for millions of dollars.
It’s a relatively new concept, but it’s picking up rapidly and changing the way we view modern art.
Here’s some cool NFT art that I found.
23. Everydays: The First 5000 Days (by Beeple)
This NFT was created by an artist called Beeple. It was sold for a whopping $69 million dollars at an auction on Christie’s.
It’s essentially a large collage of cool artwork.
24. The Falling Astronaut (Art by Nafay)
This next NFT is also by Muhammad Nafay. It’s called “The Falling Astronaut.”
The illustration shows a mysterious astronaut falling through a picturesque sky, with gradients of red, maroon, pink, and purple. In addition, there’s a mysterious ray of light cutting the entire artwork in half.
The art was auctioned off for 0.9 Ethereum on SuperRare to username Jareds, who now owns it.
25. Yin Yang (by fvckrender)
The forces of life are always in perfect balance.
That’s the central idea of this hypnotic 3D render by fvckrender, titled “Yin Yang.”
The cool NFT artwork was sold for 75 ether (around $156,150 as of June 2021) to username arlogo on SuperRare.
26. Netherworld s2 (by Jparked)
This digital painting, created by an artist named jparked, shows a group of manta rays flying through a canyon.
It seems to take place in an alternate dimension and it looks like something straight out of Doom or Half-Life.
The rest of their artwork features similar exotic landscapes and strong color palettes.
This particular piece was sold to username billfish on SuperRare for 13.643 Ethereum.
Cool Product Packaging Designs
Every once in a while, we come across a product packaging design that’s just perfect.
In fact, around 81% of consumers try something new just because the product packaging catches their attention.
Here are some cool designs that could inspire your product’s packaging.
27. Chocolat de Francais
First up on the list are these colorful, custom wrappers by Le Chocolat des Francais, a French manufacturer of high-quality chocolate.
They have a team of artists who design unique creations for their brand.
Every design features a unique combination of colors and different (retro-looking) illustrations.
You can check out more examples on their website.
28. StableFeed
StableFeed (a manufacturer of horse feed) came up with this modern and minimalist design for their products.
All packaging features vintage illustrations and vibrant colors representing the main ingredient of the product.
29. Pepsi Prestige
Now that’s a cool looking bottle!
To celebrate their long history, the folks at PepsiCo and Karim Rashid came up with these awesome, limited edition Prestige bottles.
This distinctive design is actually a throwback to their original glass bottle.
In addition to the shape, the aluminum bottles feature subtle patterns/overlays – a different one for every brand.
The design won the Platinum A’ Design Award in 2017 and the Reddot Award in 2016.
30. City Harvest “Help Cure Hunger” Paper Bags
As part of their mission to raise awareness around growing hunger in New York, City Harvest, a non-profit organization, came up with these clever “hunger-solving” paper bags.
The main concept is that every time you use this reusable bag, you’ll cut down on using plastic.
The money that’s saved in the process can go towards solving hunger.
Therefore, in a way, every time you fill up this bag, you’ll essentially be filling up an empty stomach (hence the design).
31. LIFEWTR
Who says selling water has to be boring?
LIFEWTR, a premium brand of bottled water by Pepsi, comes up with a new set of three awesome design images every few months. They are then printed on their cool-looking plastic bottle.
By doing so, they promote emerging artists while keeping things fresh for their consumers.
I like the colorful trio above in particular. They were part of the LIFEWTR Series 1.
This series won the Golden A’ Design Award and the About A’ Design Award and Competitions.
32. Good Hair Day Pasta
Pasta? Hair?
Wait, what?
Nikita Konkin, an award-winning concept designer, came up with this super-clever design for a brand of authentic Italian pasta.
The end-result? A unique concept that grabs your attention in the shopping aisle and can make your pantries interesting.
The innovative idea won the Marking Concept Award in 2016 and the Gold A’ Design Award in 2017, in addition to a few more.
33. Marais Piano Cake Packaging
Conceptualized by Kazuaki Kawahara, a Japanese artist and founder of Latona Marketing Inc., this creative piano design for premium cakes would make for the perfect gift.
The design won many awards, such as the A’ Platinum Design Award in 2017, Pentawards Silver in 2016, and the Topawards Asia 2016.
Cool App UI/UX Designs
Smooth functionality, consistency, and a great theme are the key ingredients of awesome UI/UX.
Let’s take a look at a few examples that incorporate all of these elements for some UI/UX design ideas.
34. Payment Tracker App Design (by Emy Lascan)
This crisp, modern concept for a payment tracker mobile app is a work of Emy Lascan, an expert UI/UX designer.
In addition to the intuitiveness, I like the overall consistency and clean look of the design.
I wouldn’t mind paying a few extra bucks for an app like that and ditching the ugly Excel spreadsheet.
35. Spotify
Spotify recently rolled out a slightly tweaked version of its mobile app design.
This time around, the music streaming giant focused on making navigation easier, while placing an emphasis on playlists.
All in all, it’s much easier to manage your own music and maintain that personalized experience without putting in much effort.
36. Sneaker Store App (by Purrweb UI)
Buying new sneakers should be a quick, easy, and hassle-free experience.
Polina Tolmacheva, a UI/UX artist for Purrweb UI, combined all of those factors and came up with this minimal design for a sneakers store app.
The best thing about this concept are the colors of the cards complementing those of the sneakers, delivering an overall visually appealing, cohesive experience.
37. Password Saver App Design (by Sulton Handaya)
If you’re like me, you probably have to reset your Facebook password every few months because you keep forgetting it.
Managing multiple passwords is a real struggle.
Sulton Handaya pitched a potential fix for that problem with the Password Saver App, a concept he made for Pelorous.
The refreshing and minimal look of the interface is perfect and super-intuitive.
38. Solar System App Concept (by Kit8)
Talk about an out-of-this-world design.
The concept was designed by artist Kit8.
The exact purpose of the concept isn’t clear, but the illustrations, vibrant colors, and minimal interface all certainly look amazing.
Cool Brand Elements
Carving a solid brand identity is the very first step towards building awareness, which itself is one of the many first steps towards achieving brand affinity.
However, brand identity is not simply the logo or graphics used. There are many factors (such as positioning, messaging, and inbound demand) that determine a brand’s identity.
To prevent straying too far of course, I’ll only be discussing a brand’s visual identity.
This includes unique elements (e.g. logo design, color schemes, art styles, custom characters or shapes) that are incorporated in social media, ad banners, UI/UX elements, landing page illustrations, and more.
The key is maintaining the consistency of those brand elements across different assets, formats, and channels.
Here are some examples of brands that are doing it right.
39. Mailchimp’s Black and White Art Style
If you’re a marketer, you can recognize the iconic bright yellow and black theme of Mailchimp anywhere.
Though they’ve recently started using 3D illustrations and a more diverse color palette on social media, I love the peculiar black and white art style – something you can consider including in your brand guidelines.
40. Salesforce Trailhead Characters
When it comes to using mascots and custom characters, the Salesforce branding team is one of the few in SaaS that are doing it right.
A few years ago, the company introduced a bunch of trailhead characters that help inspire users to “blaze new trails.”
Their main mascot is Astro – your adorable little guide to Salesforce.
You’ve probably seen him around before:
Aside from Astro, there’s Einstein, Cody, Appy, and Cloudy. You can learn more about them here.
41. Headspace’s Illustrations and Orange Theme
Headspace uses a contemporary art style and a soft palette that (subtly) revolves around the color orange.
If you scroll through their website or Instagram feed, you’ll see that the designs are dominated by orange. Furthermore, they’ve used a contemporary art style throughout their designs.
This is a very good example of consistency in action.
42. Casper’s Featured Images
If you’ve ever searched for how to get better sleep at home, chances are that you’ve across Casper’s blog.
In addition to the interesting, entertaining, and insightful information that revolves around getting a good night’s sleep in your home, what I like about their content are the awesome featured images that they use on their blog.
They use flat illustrations with cool, relaxing colors (perfect for their brand and audience).
Got Some Cool Designs of Your Own?
Help us expand this list. Feel free to email your cool designs over to talha@planetcontent.com (as PNGs or JPEGs) or drop a link in the comments below.
If I think they’re cool enough to be on this list, I’ll add them in.
Remember: whether you’re a marketer, graphic designer, illustrator, or brand strategist, it’s always good to keep those creativity levels high.
As long as you don’t blatantly copy, there’s nothing wrong with seeking some inspiration.
Well, then again, there is the whole “good artists copy, great artists steal” thing.
But that’s a post for a different time. 😉
