The Evolution of Design: How 10 Popular Sites Looked 10 Years Ago

Posted on 04. Nov, 2009 by Shoaib in Uncategorized

Many people do not appreciate the way in which web-designers have changed the internet. If we look back to ten years ago when the skill of designers was limited to that era and the tools needed in order to create the designs which we all see today. This makes the skill and art of web-design that much more important.

The internet relies entirely on designers (unless you are Warren Buffett and believe design has nothing to do with anything). Design enables websites to stand out from the crowd and express their message in a more elegant way. Despite web-design being such a necessity in today’s day and age, it isn’t taught in schools or appreciated as much as it ought to be.

It is for this reason I have compiled a list of popular websites and shown how they looked (roughly) 10 years ago and how design has given the internet a facelift.

1. Google

google
It may seem that not much has changed over the decade, but just look at the distasteful boxes with the weird colour scheme. Changes may have been minimal but it looks significantly better than it did 10 years ago!

2. Yahoo

yahoo

Now that makes me want to vomit! That is disgusting and the new site may not be the best designed site on the web, but it’s a solar-system away from what it was.

3. Ebay

ebay

They might as well have written it out, I doubt ebay was even close to being as much as it is worth now.

4. Craigslist

craigslist
Yawn!

5. Amazon

amazon

I must say, Amazon was not bad for the late 90’s. It looked OK and there are sites today which look even worse. Not much has changed and Amazon managed to retain their original design.

6. Wikipedia

wikipedia

That was from 2001, and still it’s ugly. There is no design there. That hardly looks nicer than raw code! They have come a long way, but I feel today’s website could do with a redesign.

7. MSN

msn

Imagine where MSN would be if the field of design had not progressed to the level it is at today. This is a perfect example of how web-designers have changed the face of the internet.

8. Apple

apple_1473503a

I couldn’t get a nice shot from 1999, so this is from 1996. Apple were still working their magic, that is one cool site from nearly 14 years ago.

9. Dell

dell_1473602a

Another one from 1996 and they are better than some from 99. This is back when Dell would give lifetime insurance, I wish they did that today!

10. Blogger

blogger_1473614a

Blogger.com has a cool design now, just look at it 10 years ago. I am not criticising it, but compare it to the elegant site they have now.

Final Word

This just goes to show that without web-designers, the site would not be the art piece you look at today.

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21 Responses to “The Evolution of Design: How 10 Popular Sites Looked 10 Years Ago”

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04. Nov, 2009

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Bloodfan

04. Nov, 2009

I am surprised of some of them. For example amazon was really good, but wikipedia just sucked. Lets see the next 10 years.
The Evolution of Design: How 10 Popular Sites Looked 10 Years Ago | Programming Blog

04. Nov, 2009

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mark

05. Nov, 2009

Im pretty surprise about the amazon. They should get an award for that.
Aamit Wraj

05. Nov, 2009

Nice Writeup Shoaib !!!
Really an interesting read and nostalgic too…Just took me down the memory lane and talk about the era when things were gearing to rock…I liked apple the most and how much things have changed for them – since then…
Ade

05. Nov, 2009

That right, nice article.
Anonymous

05. Nov, 2009

Just a side note :

I guess Amazon really used a good design team. But most other old sites not.

Average modern site look far better than sites ten years ago. I guess even if no designer was involved.
Nirmal Sasidharan

05. Nov, 2009

You could go back in time and see how other sites looked by using the Wayback Machine here http://web.archive.org/
Random Links #75 | YASDW - yet another software developer weblog

05. Nov, 2009

[...] The Evolution of Design: How 10 Popular Sites Looked 10 Years Ago Die Apple Seite vor 14 Jahren; unglaublich wie sich das entwickelt hat. [...]
Ovi Dogar

06. Nov, 2009

I totally agree with Bloodfan that Wikipedia really sucked.

By the way, nice post!

Ovi Dogar
AbsoluteCovers.com
Name (required)

06. Nov, 2009

The web 2.0 style is bringing a new life to these website
Bilal Ç?narl?

06. Nov, 2009

It seems Amazon has a timeless web design. Amazon still using the similar design as in 10 years ago with small enhancements.
80+ Awesome Community Links for Designers and Developers | tripwire magazine

06. Nov, 2009

[...] The Evolution of Design: How 10 Popular Sites Looked 10 Years Ago [...]
80+ Awesome Community Links for Designers and Developers | Programming Blog

07. Nov, 2009

[...] The Evolution of Design: How 10 Popular Sites Looked 10 Years Ago [...]
Matt Litherland

09. Nov, 2009

lol, we’d all be on a few million a year if we’d started out there!
David H

09. Nov, 2009

The Apple site looks terrible. This list lost all credibility at no 8 IMO. You revealed yourself as an Apple fanboi, who will never find anything wrong with Apple! Tell the truth, it’s a crap design, even for ‘97.

Amazon’s site is amazing, easily head & shoulders above the rest.
80+ Awesome Community Links for Designers and Developers | Master Design

09. Nov, 2009

[...] The Evolution of Design: How 10 Popular Sites Looked 10 Years Ago [...]
Kim H

10. Nov, 2009

Can anyone say thank god? I still cry a little bit inside whenever I see sites that still look like these. We have definitely come a long way, although some of them, unfortunately, haven’t changed much.
Design Ideas

14. Nov, 2009

Thanks for memories
Paul

17. Nov, 2009

Yeah it’s funny to look back and see how dramatically websites have changed over the years.

We wrote a similar article a while ago but looked at the way websites were like in 1996
http://www.bfinternet.co.uk/news-info/articles/the-web-in-1996
Ben

19. Nov, 2009

Pretty awesome idea, should do a Part 2 of this

Also, Wikipedia have redesigned their site; it’s only open to Beta users. Looks awesome now.