Inspiration · Graphic Design

The Best Graphic Design Website Examples, Explained

By the Zarla design team · Updated September 2026

Looking for graphic design website examples? These 12 are the strongest we found — Lotta Nieminen's two-photo editorial frame, Lauren Hom's 'Hi! I'm Lauren Hom.' beside her mural, House of van Schneider's 'I create; therefore I am' — plus studio designs you can build with Zarla, each with a breakdown of the specific move that turns a browsing art director into an enquiry. A graphic designer's website is the portfolio and the proof of taste at once: the site itself is the first piece of work a client sees. Find an approach you love and you can build a site in that spirit, free, in about 30 seconds.

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What makes a great graphic design website

The best graphic design websites make one decision in the first screen and commit to it. Some lead with the work and nothing else (Lotta Nieminen's two photographs with a two-letter monogram, Marleigh Culver's two artworks edge to edge); some lead with the person (Lauren Hom sitting in front of her mural, Snask's team in headbands); some lead with an attitude in type (van Schneider's 'I create; therefore I am', Beci Orpin's yellow field of illustrations). What none of them do is explain — there is no 'we are a full-service creative studio' paragraph, because the design is the paragraph. Notice how small the navs are and how few buttons exist; a portfolio's call to action is the work. Every example below is a site that could only belong to the person who made it.

Lotta Nieminen website — Design Studio design example

Real site

Design Studio
Editorial
White + pink

Lotta Nieminen: Two photographs, two letters, nothing else

Lotta Nieminen opens on the work with a two-letter signature: inside a thin white frame, two photographs sit edge to edge — a black-and-white shot of denim and hands on the left, a pink product bottle on the right — and over them the monogram is split in two, '(S)' on one image and 'L.N.' on the other, in small tracked type. The nav is almost invisible: '(STUDIO) LOTTA NIEMINEN' in tiny caps at the top, 'About' and 'Index' set vertically at the edges, a counter reading '10/12' to say the images rotate. There is no headline, no button, no sentence. It's an editorial spread rendered as a home page, and the restraint is the credential. Lotta Nieminen shows a studio how to let the work open the door: two images at full size, a monogram, and the nav pushed to the margins.

Two full-height photographs as the entire first screen
A monogram split across the images instead of a headline
The nav set vertically in the margins — the work owns the frame

Steal this: Show two pieces of work edge to edge with only your monogram on them — no headline, no sentence — and let the restraint say 'studio'.

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Hom Sweet Hom website — Lettering Artist design example

Real site

Lettering Artist
Friendly
Mint + coral

Hom Sweet Hom: 'Hi! I'm Lauren Hom.' beside her own mural

Hom Sweet Hom introduces the person before the portfolio: a deep green nav with the studio name in a rounded serif and seven links (Home, Work, About, Classes, Store, Blog, Toolbox), then a split hero — on the left, a photograph of Lauren Hom sitting cross-legged in front of a mural she painted, lettering sheets spread on the floor; on the right, a mint panel with 'Hi! I'm Lauren Hom.' in coral serif and one sentence that says what she does and for whom ('a designer & lettering artist with a knack for marketing who loves helping creatives and brands get more eyes on their work'), then a coral 'TELL ME MORE!' button. Green, mint, coral — the palette of the mural. Hom Sweet Hom shows a designer who sells to non-designers how to be legible: a face, a hello, a plain sentence, one button.

A greeting as the headline — 'Hi! I'm Lauren Hom.'
The designer photographed in front of her own work
One sentence that names the audience: 'creatives and brands'

Steal this: If your clients aren't designers, say hello and say what you do in one sentence — the portfolio can wait one scroll.

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Real site

Designer Brand
Manifesto
Black + red

House of van Schneider: A manifesto in three lines of white capitals

House of van Schneider treats a personal site like a private club: a black field patterned with fine lines, a red tab in the corner carrying 'HOVS' as the crest, and instead of a nav, three columns of tiny links under headings in French and English — Repertoire (essentials, essays, the weekly), Créativité (mixtapes, books, quotes), Narrative (the praxis, artifacts, photo archive). A small engraved cherub floats above the headline, and the headline is a manifesto set huge in white capitals: 'I CREATE; / THEREFORE / I AM', with 'DESIGN PRAXIS EST. 2009' beneath in small tracked caps. No portfolio grid in the first screen; the statement is the work. Tobias van Schneider shows a designer with a following how to build a brand rather than a portfolio: a crest, a manifesto, a library.

'I create; therefore I am' — a manifesto instead of a headline
A red crest tab and an engraved cherub: brand, not portfolio
Three columns of links organized like a library, not a nav

Steal this: If people follow you for your thinking, make the first screen a statement and organize the site like a library — essays, artifacts, archive.

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Snask website — Creative Agency design example

Real site

Creative Agency
Cheeky
Black + white

Snask: 'We are your future romance' over a team huddle

Snask makes the agency the subject: a photograph of the team in white sportswear and headbands, huddled with their backs to the camera inside a dim theatre, and over it a headline in soft white sans, 'We are your future romance', followed by the one-sentence description that doubles as the attitude — 'SNASK is an internationally renowned creative agency that makes kick-ass branding, design & film. SNASK OFF!' The nav is a single line of small caps with the social icons; there is no button. The joke is the positioning: an agency confident enough to flirt. Snask shows a creative agency how to be unmistakable in one screen — put the people in the picture, write the headline like a person would say it, and let one sentence carry the services.

The team photographed as a huddle — the agency as a gang
'We are your future romance' — a flirt instead of a value proposition
Services in one cheeky sentence, no button

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Hattie Stewart website — Illustrator Portfolio design example

Real site · London, UK

Illustrator Portfolio
Quirky
White + red

Hattie Stewart: A signature, two stickers and a project grid

Hattie Stewart's site is a white page with the attitude in the details: a three-word nav (Work, About, Shop) and 'Cart' at the corners, a two-sentence bio in small serif that opens with her signature drawn in ink ('is an artist and illustrator currently based in London…'), a wide field of white, and then two of her doodles peeking in from the right edge — a black spiky burst reading 'HEY!' and a red scribbled heart — before a four-column grid (Projects, Personal Work, Info, Shop) with candy-colored thumbnails. The emptiness is deliberate; the stickers are the personality. Hattie Stewart shows an illustrator how to let the drawings do the branding without turning the site into a mural: a plain page, a signature, two characters, the work in a grid.

A hand-drawn signature as the only logo
Two doodle stickers ('HEY!', a heart) as the entire decoration
A four-column grid with named sections instead of a hero

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Anton & Irene website — Design Duo design example

Real site

Design Duo
Surreal
Grey + color-block

Anton & Irene: Two hooded figures and a one-word button

Anton & Irene make the first screen a single image with a frame of type: on a pale grey ground, two figures stand in zipped, color-blocked hooded suits — one grey with orange and purple panels, one yellow with pink and blue — faces hidden, turned toward each other. The studio name sits centered at the top in a weight that lightens on the second name, a list of seven links runs down the left margin (Services, Partnerships, About, Events, Press, Shop, Contact), and one outlined pill in the top-right says 'Work'. The suits are from the studio's own project, so the photograph is both hero and portfolio. Anton & Irene show a design duo how to be strange and clear at once: one arresting image, a nav that stays out of its way, and a single word for the only action that matters.

A single surreal photograph — the studio's own work as the hero
A seven-item nav stacked in the margin, not across the top
'Work' as the only button, in one word

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Beci Orpin website — Illustrator Portfolio design example

Real site · Melbourne, AU

Illustrator Portfolio
Playful

Beci Orpin: A yellow field of characters and the local weather

Beci Orpin's home page is a desk of her own illustrations: a pale yellow ground scattered with a smiling sun, a lion-faced cookie, a striped star, a stylized head, a pie chart and a purple 'Menu' badge, with 'BECI ORPIN' set in wide black capitals near the bottom. In the corner, typewriter text reports the day itself — 'Melbourne, AU / 16°C (15°C | 17°C) / clear sky / yaasss!' — and a clock ticks beside the head. Nothing is sold, nothing is explained; the page is the illustrator's world in a single screen, and the weather widget is the wink. Beci Orpin shows an illustrator how to make the site feel handmade and alive: the characters as the layout, the name as the only type, a live detail that says someone is home.

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Duzi Studio website — Design Studio design example

Real site

Design Studio
Moody

Duzi Studio: A dark storefront and a numbered nav

Duzi Studio opens on a photograph most studios would hide: the front of a building at night — black-framed doors, a brick facade, a metal hoop mounted on the pillar between them, warm light deep inside one doorway. A tiny script logo sits top-left, and the nav is a numbered list in the bottom-left corner in small serif caps: '01. STUDIO — Work, About Us; 02. CONTACT — Enquiries'. No headline, no copy. The darkness and the architecture do the positioning: this is a studio with a door you could walk through, not a freelancer with a template. Duzi Studio shows a small practice how to look like an institution — photograph the place, number the nav like an index, and say nothing.

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Marleigh Culver website — Artist Portfolio design example

Real site

Artist Portfolio
Bold

Marleigh Culver: Two artworks edge to edge under a signature

Marleigh Culver's home page is two paintings: a yellow flower silhouette on a near-black maroon field, and a red plant silhouette on a burnt-orange field, set edge to edge across the full width. Her signature, in a pale blue script, sits in the top-left corner over the first painting; a seven-item nav in small serif — Artworks, CV, Gallery, Press, Contact, Purchase, Design — runs across the top-right over the second. That is the whole first screen: the work at the size it deserves, the name as a signature, the nav as a caption. 'Design' as the last item says the practice spans both. Marleigh Culver shows an artist-designer how to let color do everything: two pieces, two grounds, a signature, and a nav quiet enough to disappear.

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Bodie & Otis — Adaptable Template website design you can build with Zarla

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Adaptable Template
Playful

Bodie & Otis: 'A little personality' in pink, with a blob

Bodie & Otis is a Zarla web-design studio template, and the closest catalog match to the friendly, illustrated sites here (Hom Sweet Hom, Beci Orpin): a white ground, an eyebrow ('WEB DESIGN STUDIO · AUSTIN, TX'), a headline with one pink word — 'Websites with a little personality.' — a two-line studio description, a pink 'Start a Project' beside 'See the Work', and a pastel blob holding a screenshot of a client site. The top strip counts the brands and the Google rating. Clone it, change 'websites' to 'brands' or 'illustration', and the blob becomes your work.

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Ridley & Stone — Adaptable Template website design you can build with Zarla

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Adaptable Template
Bold

Ridley & Stone: Bold work that refuses to blend in, on black

Ridley & Stone is the dark studio template — the register van Schneider, Snask and Duzi Studio share: a black field, an eyebrow ('DIGITAL DESIGN STUDIO · LOS ANGELES'), a headline with the key phrase in lime — 'Bold work for brands that refuse to blend in.' — a two-line description, a lime 'Start a Project' beside 'See the Work', and three framed screenshots of client sites — one large, two stacked beside it. The top strip carries the awards and the Clutch rating. Clone it for a studio whose work photographs best against black, and the screenshots become your projects.

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Holt & Vane — Adaptable Template website design you can build with Zarla

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Adaptable Template
Confident

Holt & Vane: Impossible to scroll past — with the work beside it

Holt & Vane is the portfolio-led studio template: a white ground, an eyebrow ('WEB DESIGN STUDIO · SEATTLE, WA'), a headline with a teal phrase — 'We make brands impossible to scroll past.' — a two-line description, a green 'Start a Project' beside 'See the Work', a framed screenshot of a client site and three proof chips (100+ sites designed, 4× Awwwards Site of the Day, 5.0 on Clutch). It's Lotta Nieminen's and Anton & Irene's work-first instinct with a sentence and a button for clients who need them. Clone it, and the chips become your own counts.

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Frequently asked

Where can I find good graphic design website examples?

Right here — this page curates graphic design website examples across the spectrum: studio portfolios (Lotta Nieminen, Duzi Studio, Anton & Irene), illustrator sites (Hattie Stewart, Beci Orpin), a lettering artist (Lauren Hom), a creative agency (Snask), a designer's personal brand (House of van Schneider) and an artist-designer (Marleigh Culver) — each linked so you can explore the live site — plus professionally designed Zarla studio templates you can clone and restyle for a design practice. Every example includes a note on why the design works — the first-screen decision, the type, the way the work is shown — so you can copy the thinking, not just the look.

What makes a good graphic design website?

It looks like your work, loads fast, and gets to the work in one click. The strong examples above choose one idea for the first screen — the portfolio, the person, or a typographic statement — and cut everything that dilutes it: no services paragraph, no slider of adjectives, a nav of three to six words. Type is the design (a display face you'd actually use for a client), photography is your own, and contact is one link. If the site would look the same with a different designer's name on it, it isn't done.

How much does a graphic design website cost?

Designers usually build their own, so the cost is time — often weeks of it — plus a portfolio platform or template builder at roughly $16–$30 per month, or a custom build if you hire a developer for animation and interaction. An AI website builder generates a portfolio site — work grid, about page, services, contact — from a short description in seconds, then lets you edit it in plain language, which is the fastest way to get a clean site live while you spend your design hours on the work itself.

Should a graphic designer show services or work first?

Work first, unless you sell a defined service to non-designers. Art directors and brand managers hire from the portfolio, so Lotta Nieminen, Anton & Irene and Marleigh Culver open on the work with a monogram or a nav and nothing else. If your clients are small businesses who need to know what you do, lead with a one-line introduction the way Lauren Hom does ('I'm a designer & lettering artist with a knack for marketing…') and put the work grid one scroll down.

What pages does a graphic design website need?

Most designers need four: a home page that is the portfolio (or opens onto it), an about page with a real photograph and a short story, a services or 'how we work' page if you sell to non-designers, and a contact page — an email link is enough. Add a shop if you sell prints (Hattie Stewart and Anton & Irene both carry 'Shop' in the nav) and a journal only if you'll keep it alive. Every project deserves its own page with the full case study; the home page shows the covers.

How do graphic designers get more clients from their website?

Make the first screen unmistakably yours, show the work at full size on project pages, and make the contact one click from everywhere. The converting pattern above: Lauren Hom's coral 'Tell me more!' under a one-sentence introduction, Snask's 'kick-ass branding, design & film' as the only description on the page, Anton & Irene's single 'Work' pill in the corner. Then write case studies with the client's result in the first line — the site brings the visitor, the case study closes the job.

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