If you've ever been to the Louvre, you know it's
chock full of art students, who spend hours in the
museum with their sketchpads, copying the works of
the Masters. Poets do it too; that's why English majors
spend hours doing "close readings" of Shakespeare before
they begin to write their own stuff.

The "Learn from the Masters" philosophy is what's
behind Project Cool's "Sightings" section, and I
think it's a sound one. Every day, one of their
Dev-X editors chooses a site with outstanding design
to inspire you to new web-mastering heights. If
you really want to improve your web-building skills
quickly, sign up to receive their daily "Sightings"
newsletter, and spend ten minutes a day studying a
great website. If you hate having your mailbox stuffed
to capacity, you can also just browse their archives
for ideas.

Here are some recent examples:

KG Worldwide
http://www.kgworldwide.com/index1.htm
Says Sightings, "Here's an example of how well
a simple design can work. This site presents a
clear navigation path for the user, but still
maintains a professional designer's flair.
Go to "The History" page to see a cool horizontal
scroll interface."

Fourmilab Switzerland
http://www.fourmilab.ch/
"OK, so the site looks like the early days of the
Web, with bare-bones text and annoying frames, but
what this site lacks in visual appeal it more than
makes up for in compelling content."

FuriFuri Co.
http://www.furifuri.com/
"This Tokyo design company has a delightfully
cool splash page, followed by a nice use of
vertical links in a script-like font. In color
and design, the site echoes its culture. Nice job."

And today's sighting, which is just a well-designed
404 Error Page!
http://noahgrey.com/404.shtml
Take a look at Noah Grey's homepage as well--his
content and design is just as interesting as
his error pages.
http://noahgrey.com/oldindex.shtml

If you're looking for something in particular
(say you want to find other e-commerce/business sites
to get ideas for yours), Sightings is a quick way
to get some help here-their thumbnail descriptions
immediately clue you in to what to skip--and what to click.

About the Author
Stefene Russell will do a
complete analysis of your site, including personalized
tips on copy and design at http://fixmywebsite.com/analysis.htm
Whether you're an e-business or a content provider, find
ut how to make your site professional and effective.
Read Stefene's free web site tips at http://FixMyWebsite.com
Reach her at stefene@drnunley.com or 801-328-9006.