Video can often make the difference between a eye-catching website and a site that visitors will surf right past. The accessibility of high-speed internet has made it easier than ever to incorporate video into a website. Comscore found in December of 2013 the average American watched 19 hours of online videos and more than 180 million Americans watched 52 billion videos online that month. With video becoming a ubiquitous part of user experiences, some sites have developed truly creative and interesting uses of the medium to sell products, create mood or communicate information to visitors.
Arcade Fire
Indie rock darlings Arcade Fire are known for their strange sense of humor and quirky aesthetics, and the video featured on their website for their album “Neon Bible” is an interesting experiment. The album’s title tracks plays and the video is synched to play along with it, but viewers can click on the floating gray hands and face to change the actions occurring. There’s even a pleasant surprise hidden within for viewers who can solve a quick puzzle before the action moves on. While just a teaser for an album that has long since come out, the video is still an interesting foray into web design that integrates video.
I Lost A Bet
A website that offers help to those suffering from gambling addiction, I Lost a Bet’s splash page features images of embarrassing and funny resolutions to people losing friendly wagers. Clicking on the image provides one of several short videos showing “wacky” results of lost bets and is then followed by a personal story of someone who actually suffers from a serious gambling problem. The unexpected juxtaposition highlights the dangers of those living with a gambling problem, and above the video are listed warning signs that might indicate that you or someone you know might have a gambling addiction.
Shutterstock
Using video as a background for a website is quickly becoming a trend. Stock image and video provider Shutterstock offers more than 1.7 million royalty-free videos in various formats. Right when their website first loads, a video scrolls by showing images of forests, farms, friends having dinner, people swimming and various other scenes to give you an immediate feel for the quality and content offered by Shutterstock. Why waste time pointing toward samples when they can stream immediately?
Eagleclean
Specialist cleaning company Eagleclean uses a simple joke that utilizes background video right on their splash page. When the page first loads, there is a small speck of white debris that might catch your eye and appear to be a smudge on your screen. A moment later, a yellow gloved hand reaches in from off screen to wipe away the smudge. This effect is eye-catching and humorous and fits with Eagleclean’s stated promise to provide professional, friendly and personal cleaning service. Each of their pages features a different quick cleaning animation, and they even offer a screensaver of the effect for download.
