Web design can be inspired from almost anything, which is what makes designing for the web so diverse. However, an area of inspiration for many web design layouts is from the traditional print, mainly magazine design.

Many elements of web design have be derived from traditional magazine print from using headers, and margins to employing columns to layout and organise content and body text. The main reason that using magazine layout for web design works is that it allows you to cram as much information as needed into a relatively small space. By using magazine layouts, you can optimise the space on the page and make the presentation of information that little bit more user friendly.

A good example of using this method of magazine design elements in web design is the Cannes Film Festival website. Here they have cleverly used a grid structure layout to neatly show images and videos of the entire goings on in Cannes throughout the festival. With updates every day, this site had the potential to become busy and crowded, but by using a 3 column grid like structure, they have successfully pulled the information together in an attractive and user friendly way.

Another example of a website mimicking magazine design is The Loop website, an online arts and culture magazine. This site is clearly inspired by traditional print with the use of columns, margins, headers, footers and white space, creating a light, easy to follow design that is not only pleasing on the eye, but functional and efficient.