10 of the best designed websites to study

What the awards tell you

Keep the award names attached to the sites. Being included on Awwwards' Sites of the Year list isn't the same claim as winning Site of the Year, and a visual design award isn't a verdict on every part of a website.

Dropbox Brand received a score of 9.03 from CSS Design Awards, with its 2025 Website of the Year award announced February 12, 2026. Igloo Inc's 2026 Webby recognizes Best Visual Design (Aesthetic).

That's your starting point. Your own judgment comes next: would you want to read, browse or take action on the site, not just look at it?

What to study on each site

Give yourself a question before opening each reference. Otherwise, it's easy to collect screenshots without deciding what you'd use.

• Lando Norris: Look at how the site introduces its subject. What gets your attention first, and what do you understand before scrolling? For your own homepage, try writing down the message you want someone to leave with.

• Messenger: Follow the route from the opening screen into the rest of the site. Notice where you choose to click and where you pause. Would you make those same choices without already knowing the name?

• Dropbox Brand: Study the relationship between individual pages and the whole site. Look for repeated decisions in type, spacing and navigation, then ask which of those decisions you could carry through your own pages.

• Igloo Inc: Give the visual design a close look, then step back. What still holds your attention when you stop examining the details? Keep your notes specific rather than writing "make it look like this."

• Don't Board Me: Pay attention to the words alongside the design. Read the headings and button labels separately from the surrounding page. Do they still tell you where you are and what you can do?

• Opal Tadpole: Use this visit to think about emphasis. Which information would you keep if you had to cut the page back? Try the same edit on your own draft.

• Lusion v3: Watch your own behavior as you explore. Are you following a route, stopping to inspect something, going back? Note the moments you'd want to revisit.

• Mana Yerba Mate: Look at how the name and the rest of the presentation work together. Then consider your own site's identity: what belongs to it, and what have you borrowed without much thought?

• KPR: Test your understanding as you move through the site. After leaving a page, describe what it was about without reopening it. Use that same test when reviewing your own work.

• Bruno Simon's portfolio: Consider what you'd want a portfolio visitor to remember about the person behind it. Compare that with what you'd need them to find, including the work itself and a way to get in touch.

Don't borrow everything. Pick a decision you can describe in plain words (not just a screenshot you like), and try it with your own content.

What to use on your own site

Start with the content you already have. Put it into a rough page before choosing decorative details, then revisit your references with that page beside them. What helps your content, and what are you adding just to resemble an award winner?

Keep the first pass small. Work on the opening heading, the space around it, the next thing someone can do. And check the result on your phone before treating the desktop version as finished.

You can work with a designer, build the site yourself or start with a template. Heya, which publishes this guide, is an option for that last route.

Heya Free costs $0 with no credit card and no time limit. It includes 3 sites, up to 5 pages per site and all 68 templates. You also get a free yourname.heya.bio address with HTTPS, and the site carries a small Made with Heya badge.

Choose a starting layout that suits your content, then bring over the design decisions you've picked out. Leave the rest.

Related guides: Portfolio website examples, Landing page examples, Types of websites and Top 10 portfolio websites.

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