Now at the beginning of the year, we announced Ghost Buttons as being the first potential web design trend in 2015. Now, 3 months have passed and it’s about time to tell you guys about another one: big background images.

Yes, technically, big background images aren’t all that new, we all know they’ve seen their share of action in previous years. But, hey, so did ghost buttons. The point of the matter is that websites that employ this design have been popping around everywhere and they look amazing.

GuideBase

Sailing Collective

Zenvala

Explore Your Everyday

This kind of design works especially well with websites that have anything to do with the great outdoors. Images with scenery or panoramic photographs are great for both engaging your visitor and making your website memorable.

Arctic Wild

Wild Measure

OuiSurf

There’s also something to be said about the ‘wow’ effect. If you want to go big with your website, there’s no better way to make yourself noticed than with a big background image.

Vito Salvatore

Makeshift

Christopher Ireland

Thierry Ambraisse

Digital Telepathy

Then, of course, there’s the artistic approach. If you’ve got a portfolio that you want to showcase, you’re in the design business or you just want to get creative with your website, a well-chosen background image can make you look elegant and sophisticated without a lot of effort.

The Gilder

Pen & Quill

F A L V É

Belle Epoque

Also, the best part about this kind of design is that it limits the amount of text you can display on your landing page. This forces you to take a closer look at your content and filter it even more than you did at first. The distilled product should be the shortest amount of text possible that perfectly describes your website’s purpose.

Roll Studio

JustBean

Raygun

LiveAreaLabs

Make it perfect