Website designs for premium Mac application websites are amongst the most beautiful web designs on the net. Here’s an inspirational showcase of some of the best, along with a look at some common trends and features.

Kaleidocope

Cockpit

Transmit

RapidWeaver

Delibar

Versions

Silverback

Espionage

Socialite

Cornerstone

Thoughts

Postbox

Espresso

Capo

Common features

There’s a hand full of design features that tend to appear time and time again in the designs of Mac app websites. Some of these design trends take inspiration directly from Apple, like the well designed features layout – a common trait of an Apple.com webpage – while others are commonly used techniques in the world of website design that are taken a step further, example being the use of icons to reinforce the text with a visual clue, but these icons are much larger in size and include much more detail.

Vibrant colours

Almost every site in the showcase features a mix of vibrant colours, either in the form of an illustration or from the large icons on the page. A dark background colour helps these colours ‘pop’ with a super bright appearance.

Large buttons

Being downloadable applications means a prominent download or buy now link is crucial. Large and chunky buttons have become popular elements across the web design industry, but Mac app websites often feature oversized button graphics with a tactile feel created with subtle shading and highlights.

Features icons

The use of icons to reinforce nearby text is nothing new in web design, but Apple’s own use of large and more detailed icons has led to icon designs becoming bigger in size; more detailed and vibrant; and generally more unique in the type of imagery they depict.

Oversized icons

The icons in OSX are designed at extra large proportions, so the icons for the apps themselves also need to be oversized and therefore include plenty of detail. These icons act as the app’s logo and branding – It’s what people will recognise the app by when its sat in their dock, so it makes sense to use the supersized icon as part of the website design.

Designed layouts

Usually the surrounding interface of a website is designed, then the content is simply inserted and forgotten about. However the Apple website is a great example of how the content itself is designed, as well as the surrounding page. The Mac app websites often take inspiration from this, combining imagery and text into flowing layouts.

Modal windows

Javascript Lightboxes and modal windows have become pretty much standard in today’s web, but this particular style of window appears time and time again in Apple related site designs. These lightbox windows are great for showing off screenshots of the app, or an introductory video.

Crisp & sharp interface design

The OSX interface is razor sharp with tiny pixel bevels and highlights giving a really crisp appearance. This design style has emerged onto the web, particularly in Mac, iPhone and iPad related websites. Soft and subtle shadows, inset text and 1px highlighting lines all add to the theme.