Here you go…

1. So much about Bengali men is about food. A significant number of contemporary Bengali men, unlike their forefathers, condemn fish. Excepting ilish, for the men love it too. “I don’t have fish, only ilish,” many men have been heard confessing in a tender moment. Since they love ilish, they will not care if others do so as well. Love makes them blind. The men will have the best peti (belly piece), for they say they are afraid of the kaantas, fishbones. Ilish abounds in them, which makes it a challenge. Women, at some point in their life, learn to tackle the kaantas, but confronting them able-bodied men become bashful and tremble. It pays off. Women are left to work their way through the thick-with-bones gaada pieces and men just sit back and allow the ilish to work on them. Eventually, the women get to liking chewing the bones and they are considered sexy while they are at it — remember the photographer-lover looking at Paroma in the film of the same name?

Anyway, if men won’t have fish, why do they relish the best parts of ilish? You see it rhymes, which is not a coincidence. Ilish is poetry — and Bengali men have exclusive rights over both.

They hog conversations the same way.

2. A similar Powerpoint presentation will explain why the leg piece of the chicken is also reserved for the man at the table. There is an additional reason here. Growing Bengali boys, who keep growing into growing Bengali boys, need more “protein”, which is good for the “brain”. The “brain”, when encased within the head of a boy, is a collective Bengali obsession. Nurtured by his parents, Horlicks and chicken legs, it will be a potent weapon when he grows up: it will be the highest point reached by a man with a steady, decent job, besides being the embodiment of sex appeal. A Bengali man draws women towards him with his “brain”. For these reasons the popular Bengali sayings: Maachher muro khao, brain-er pokkhe bhalo (Have fishhead, it’s good for the brain); TV dekho na, brain-er pokkhe kharap (Don’t watch TV, it’s bad for the brain); Beshi khela dhula brain-er pokkhe kharap (Too much sport is bad for the brain); Amartya Sen maachher maatha kheye boro hoyechhen (Amartya Sen grew up on fishheads). Fishheads being another powerful Bengali obsession.

3. But men actually look down on women for chewing fishbones. Or for eating green chillis on the side with their meals. There’s a suggestion of corruption or perversion about these two things — as if a clean piece of fish is morally superior and liking the bones is an unmentionable proclivity. Or liking a hot green chilli is slightly carnal. As a character in Tagore’s short story Khudhito Pashan, dismissive about women, put it: women love hot chillis, sour tamarind and a stern husband. Though he didn’t specify which was the worst for her.

4. Chicken roll.

5. Egg chicken roll.

6. Double egg chicken roll.

7. The Sunday mutton lunch. After which men can only go to sleep.

8. They really don’t want to go to the bazaar, not even to the AC retail stores for grocery or vegetable shopping, especially the new-age Bengali man. The way he tiptoes through the fish market makes the wife cringe.

9. Many men still make that slurping sound as they eat. They sneeze, cough and yawn louder.

10. They expect women to serve them at the dinner table. At least she should be urging him on to the right bowls.

11. They expect the women will carry the dirty dishes to the sink, clear the table and put away the remnants in the right containers.

12. If they do put the food away, the fridge looks like a battlefield, with several things dismembered, dismantled and oozing liquids. In any case, they would never clean the refrigerator. Ditto for the cooking gas.

13. When they are drunk they invoke Robi Thakur (Rabindranath Tagore). Then they tend to go for the cosmic, namely, Debabrata’s rendition of Akash bhora surjo tara, after which they have dinner.

14. But then when they are sober why are they still discussing Sachin Tendulkar versus Sourav Ganguly, and backing Dada to win?

15. In public, they admire Nandita Das. In secret, they want to be Salman Khan.

16. Rare is the Bengali man who looks good in a formal suit. He stops midway into it. He looks square. Or round. But proud. If you ask him why, he is likely to say that intellect is inversely proportional to height in his part of the world. He can be smug, very smug.

17. Which doesn’t take away from the fact that few Bengali men look good in jeans and a tee.

18. For the same reason, they seem to be rolling on the dance floor. From where they are often not picked up. Understandably.

19. They want biryani even at a Chinese restaurant. And chow mien at a mughlai eatery. Poor binary creatures.

20 . Only men can get to organize pujas and ignore everything else for four days.

21 .Their genjis. (Vests)

22 .Their paijamas.

23 .Once they would only be doctors, engineers or IAS officers. Now they will be MBAs. The rest is “same to same”.

24 .Their stock of jokes is small and oft-repeated, especially in family circles. Such as the one on the various kinds of baldness. It ends with the variety in which only a few strands of hair remain. It is called Smritituku thak (forget me not). But as one has heard it since childhood, one has to remember to laugh hard. Outside family circles one common joke is: “Age no bar, caste no bar etc…”

25 .They will wear the dhuti for a wedding, but not before turning the household upside down. The dhuti has to be located first, sent to the laundry, and has to have the gile work done on it. Same for the addir punjabi. Then the gold Punjabi (Kurtas as we they call it) buttons have to be located. In fact, every time a punjabi is worn, locating the buttons is the woman’s job. The wearing of the dhuti itself is an event. There is at least one assistant, sometimes two, to help with it. Some men have worn the dhuti only on the occasion of their marriage — and their relatives still remember it, blow-by-blow. The end-result is certainly not worth the fuss that goes into it.

26 .Romance means lots of poetry and sublimity.

27 .They think growing hair on their upper lip will make them more “manly”.

28 .Men are reluctant to make the bed, open the windows in the morning or make the morning pot of tea. Most of all they are uncooperative about hanging the mosquito net. It shakes the foundation of marriage.

29 .Their after-work activities include watching soaps like Bou Kotha Kao, Durga, Ekhane Akash Neel and game shows like Dadagiri, Dance Bangla Dance, but they pretend only the wives watch serials.

30 .They part their hair. (Left, Right, Middle etc)

31 .They scoff at Dan Brown’s “poor language”, but devour his thrillers anyway.

32 .Dressed as they are in their executive suits, they are often sighted at a sweet shop gorging on langcha, mishti doi or telebhaja at the para shops, looking guilty, before returning home from work.

33 .They not only have an opinion about everything but they think they take the right decision in everything, though this could be a universal male trait.

34 .The television remote lands in his hands the moment he returns from work and stays there till he goes to sleep. But office phone calls don’t end. So he sits there with the remote in one hand and the phone in the other. This could be another universal male trait.

35 .Of course it’s okay to stay with his family. If she does, she is being a good woman in these selfish times. Of course it’s not okay to stay with hers. If he does, he is being a wimp in the traditional sense.

36 .He will insist that she looks beautiful, hot in fact, wearing sindur along with jeans, when she knows she is looking downright uncool.

37 .On online networking sites, Bengali men show a high tendency towards matrimony.

38 .They may not know the language. But they know the choicest Bangla gaalis and use them liberally.

39 .They like to pat their pot bellies in private. Sometimes in public.

40 .All nursery rhyme heroes are boys. Khoka goes fishing, goes to the river of milk, goes to hunt, goes to get married, while Khuku sits at home, learning to cook, waiting to get married or just plain crying. Obviously Khoka will face several adjustment problems when he grows up.

41. They are less chivalric compared with men from other Indian communities, many women report.

42. Many Bengali men think they are from Brazil. Which is why they go rabid during the World Cup.

43. During summer, they will smear their chests in slow motion with talcum powder before going to bed.

44 .If you are going to Digha, they will definitely advise you to have vodka mixed with coconut water on the beach.

45. If he’s there himself, he will drink it, wearing nothing but a beach hat and “baarmudas”.

46.-50 .The Bengali boy’s mother thinks he’s “flawless”. He secretly agrees.

The BONG BELLE

She is said to be a prized catch. But nearly perfect though she is, the Bong belle too isn’t exactly flawless. So, to settle the ruffled feather of the Bangali babu, here is 50 reasons why one shouldn’t marry a Bengali woman. Only in her case, making up the 50 is a bit of a tough job!

50. She expects you to write poetry about her eyes. Or at least to be able to recite Bonolota Sen (where she is that beauty) and pretend that you mean it.
49. All expressions of love must be accompanied by Tagore in his various moods. And if you can compare her to a Tagore heroine, even better.
48. Her English is better than yours. And she will never let you forget it.
47. She will fight with you but treasure all signs of being married to you. So she will wear that shankha pola and sindur with jeans, and that gold-covered ‘Noah’ with her cocktail dress. She has adopted the mehndi and chooda too. And the mangalsutra is a must slip-on every time she steps out of the house.
46. And yet for all the fighting, her “modern woman” airs are gone after marriage. “O bolechhe” is the final word then. In private they snub, in public they idolise to an uncomfortable degree.

45. She tries too hard not to look Bengali. She will never have the Punjabi oomph, or the south Indian sensuality. But she will persist in trying. What’s more, she will tell you with a big smile that so and so storewallah thought she was a Punjabi today. Contradict at your own risk!
44. Like the accomplished women of Pride and Prejudice, they all sing Rabindrasangeet and Nazrulgeeti, dance, paint and recite poetry. God help you if she takes her talent seriously.
43. She will never get along with your mother. It is a matter of principle.
42. They will pet and spoil their husbands like overgrown babies and then they’ll ask you not to be a mamma’s boy. The truth is they’d rather you be a “wifey’s pet”.
41. They hate being second to your mother but are still don’t mind at all to be far too controlled by their own mothers.

40. They remove gift wrappers for hours and then preserve the paper under the mattress. If she had her way, she would keep the cellotape too.
39. She won’t leave a single mirror free of ‘stick-on’ bindis. (a habit they picked up from their mothers. Should you have a problem refer to point no. 41)
38. Her brown nail polish, and brown lipstick. (Don’t dare to comment)
37. Her “practical”, “comfortable”, “soft soled” and not to mention ugly shoes designed for painful feet. Also her ugly platform heels and boxy block heels.
36. Her half cup cha. Half cup or one, it takes the same tea to make. Why does she persist in asking for half?

35. Her unwillingness to drive but constant requests for being driven around.
34. Her cotton printed maxis. Or the way she drapes a dupatta on it to get the door.
33. After marriage she will stop asking you if she looks fat. And laugh if you tell her so.
32. She thinks her FabIndia/ Westside/ Pantaloons kurti hides her flab. And that a leisurely stroll in the morning will get rid of it.
31. She will pester you to try ‘tangra’ and ‘gooley’ maach(fish) while you want just chingri malai curry.

30. Saris are a must on all occasions and but worn in the most unattractive way at times. It’s invariably a taant or a dhakai in the mornings, which fluffs up around her already generous middle and makes her look dumpy and unsexy (who cares! she is your wife). It isn’t as sexy as a crepe or vibrant as a Kanjeevaram.
29. She will make you bend in front of her and fix her sari pleats, although you have no clue how to, in a manner that is in equal parts helpless and in equal parts authority. Only she knows how to do that.
28. She says ‘eeshh’ (Hope you remember Aishwarya in Devdas)… but it can get very hissy depending on her mood.
27. She dives into her weekly magazine and hides it somewhere until she has finished reading it. And by then it’s time for the next week’s edition.
26. The overpowering smell of coconut oil or other hair oil the day before they wash their hair, is enough to make you wish you never fell for those lustrous locks.

25. Or worse, they use henna in their hair, and leave everything from the bathroom to the pillowcase smelling of mehndi.
24. She will force you to make the morning tea and the afternoon tea on weekends. Unlike a proper Indian wife who’d know that it’s her job to do so! (Don’t know if this is true anywhere in India today)
23. Granted, you wouldn’t want a Mayawati. But do you really want a Mamata Banerjee?
22. You really don’t want a Bengali mother-in-law. Says blogger Jo: “They will feed you enough shorshe maach and bhaat to make you fat, then complain that you are putting on weight, question your virility and their plans of becoming a grandmom soon”.
21. She will gossip. She knows who you checked out at work, or who is more favoured by the boss.

20. She is dominating. She will control the colour of your underwear if she had her way.
19. She takes possessiveness to a new high. And gives it new meaning. A few women having a crush on the boyfriend is an ego boost… but god save the husband if he is caught being chivalrous to any woman.
18. She’s suspicious. As a mother she will check your phone bill to see how much you’ve spent on talking and texting your girlfriend. As a wife, she will still do it, to see whether you are in constant touch with that hot colleague.
17. They don’t like sports. And have less patience than most of her tribe with the sports channel. So what if you were the local para champ in your youth!
16. She prefers stability over risk. So she wants you to settle for a fixed deposit over the stock market and a good MNC over a “start-up with possibilities”. And then complain when those risks taken by someone else pay off.

15. There’s a stark contrast in her, pre and post marriage. So your wife will not be the woman you dated.
14. Her son will always come before you.
13. In the train/bus/plane she will expect you to give her the window seat. If there is just one, your son/daughter gets it.
12. She will spend her life obsessing about her pet and later her son/daughter. Also her bonsais and cacti. And she expects you to do the same.
11. She will expect you to help with the children’s maths homework. Even if she is a science graduate and had three papers in maths.

10. She must feed the kid during a 16-minute Metro journey and she will preserve a half-decaying, smelly banana for the purpose. As if the kid would get malnourished if the feeding happened 16 minutes later!
9. Same for the classwork/homework notebook. They have to be pulled out and scrutinised right in the middle of a crowded Metro compartment.
8. The really beautiful ones leave for Bollywood. The ones who are left behind are not worth marrying.
7. She is supposed to be a mix of Bipasha’s oomph and Konkona’s intellect. Wake up, kid!
6. What’s with the bad dancing when drunk? (She once decided to join Mamata Shankar…that’s it, good enough!)

5. The modern Bong woman often smokes more and drinks more than her husband. But it doesn’t mean she is liberated.
4. She might be travelling the world, but she is still papa’s little girl. And no man compares to her Daddy to find a place in her heart. She will always be daddy’s lakkhi meye.
3. She’s sexy. There something about those eyes and the dusky skin. She looks like she has promise. But she seldom lives up to it.
2. All you can do is ogle discreetly. She is a firm practitioner of mind over matter. She’s the quintessential tease.
1. And yet, despite it all, she is just too good for you.

Sorry bong boys! why should you have all the fun…(or any!)

These were posted on an Australian Tourism Website and the answers are the actual responses by the website officials, hehehehe

__________________________________________________
Q: Does it ever get windy in Australia ? I have never seen it rain on TV, how do the plants grow? ( UK ).

A: We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around watching them die.
__________________________________________________

Q: Will I be able to see kangaroos in the street? ( USA )

A:Depends how much you’ve been drinking.
__________________________________________________

Q:I want to walk from Perth to Sydney – can I follow the railroad tracks? ( Sweden )

A: Sure, it’s only three thousand miles, take lots of water.
__________________________________________________

Q: Are there any ATMs (cash machines) in Australia? Can you send me a list of them in Brisbane, Cairns, Townsville and Hervey Bay ? ( UK )

A: What did your last slave die of?
__________________________________________________

Q:Can you give me some information about hippo racing in Australia ? ( USA )

A: A-Fri-ca is the big triangle shaped continent south of Europe.
Aus-tra-lia is that big island in the middle of the Pacific which does not
… Oh forget it. Sure, the hippo racing is every Tuesday night in Kings Cross. Come naked.
__________________________________________________

Q:Which direction is North in Australia ? (USA )

A: Face south and then turn 180 degrees. Contact us when you get here and we’ll send the rest of the directions.
_________________________________________________

Q: Can I bring cutlery into Australia ? ( UK )
A:Why? Just use your fingers like we do…
__________________________________________________

Q:Can you send me the Vienna Boys’ Choir schedule? ( USA )

A: Aus-tri-a is that quaint little country bordering Ger-man-y, which is
Oh forget it. Sure, the Vienna Boys Choir plays every Tuesday night in Kings Cross, straight after the hippo races. Come naked.
__________________________________________________

Q: Can I wear high heels in Australia ? ( UK )
A: You are a British politician, right?
__________________________________________________

Q:Are there supermarkets in Sydney and is milk available all year round? ( Germany )

A: No, we are a peaceful civilization of vegan hunter/gatherers.
Milk is illegal.
__________________________________________________

Q:Please send a list of all doctors in Australia who can dispense rattlesnake serum. ( USA )

A: Rattlesnakes live in A-meri-ca which is where YOU come from.
All Australian snakes are perfectly harmless, can be safely handled and make good pets.
__________________________________________________

Q:I have a question about a famous animal in Australia, but I forget its name. It’s a kind of bear and lives in trees. ( USA )

A: It’s called a Drop Bear. They are so called because they drop out of Gum trees and eat the brains of anyone walking underneath them.
You can scare them off by spraying yourself with human urine before you go out walking.
__________________________________________________

Q:I have developed a new product that is the fountain of youth. Can you tell me where I can sell it in Australia ? ( USA )

A: Anywhere significant numbers of Americans gather.
__________________________________________________

Q:Do you celebrate Christmas in Australia ? ( France )

A: Only at Christmas.
__________________________________________________

Q: Will I be able to speak English most places I go? ( USA )

A: Yes, but you’ll have to learn it first.

and why am i not surprised? ? Litres of beer does this to your brains. I have had similar experiences while high on beer…in fact you, you, you all of you reading this post have had been through such randomness in your respective lives. Whats the harm if we had a little punt at others for pure fun?

[Via: FreeScore.com credit score]

Primary research done by few MBA colleges of India says: If we drill down even more, one would see that this 45% decision making is actually for products averagely valued not more than few hundred bucks each, as this segment primarily drives decisions of our house hold goods and not our cars, gadgets or any high value articles. Which certainly can’t be the only objective of such a huge spend? or can it be?

Just to be give some benefit of doubt i think effectively, all high value brands are spending 40 times more to drive people only to effectively push that 55% up wards in the favor of digital marketing results. Would it be correct to believe that the main stream media industry is actually bringing in their dooms day and slowly contributing towards the stupendous growth of their biggest competition? Is it on a self-destruction mode?

Mindless isn’t it? or may be no other choice! Appreciate detailed views from everybody.

(P.S. this is just an observation shouldn’t attract any kind of competitive and stern comments, all in good faith )

1: As a medium, it’s used for information, communication and sociality. It’s very hard to find any other medium which combines those three usage and is becoming dominant for all three. So basically we start by asking a question to Internet and eventually end up making a friend.

2: The scalability from one to billion, small to BIG group is also a big factor. And it surprises us at every scale what so ever. Marketiers call it reach!

3: Telephones were invented speaking and cars were invented or driving! But Internet probably was not invented for any single use. That is the source of it’s value. This is called Internet-Neutrality and this factor of not befitting any particular frame makes it very special.

So are these the reasons which are making internet a need for us? Is it making all of us imaginative enough to be creative in a connected environment that has been made permission free? Collaboration becoming a natural need?

Guess yes! Internet slowly becoming a human right…

Guess what? Google, which can already feel like an appendage to our brains, is now predicting what people are thinking before they even type! Wow! Never felt any more humiliated by any ‘man-made’ technology than this time.

I remember few years back Google promised that slowly they are welcoming a shift where their flagship technology will not give us results that we queried for but the ones we failed to search correctly. Google’s new psychic power, I think is one more step towards the same. On Wednesday, Google introduced Google Instant, which predicts Internet search queries and shows results as soon as someone begins to type, adjusting the results as each successive letter is typed. Not to forget that this will be the default way to search the web from now on.

What does this mean to us consumers? And the businesses dependant on the so-far Google search engine functioning style?

For Consumers: honestly I don’t think regular, not-so-savvy consumers will feel any difference. However, since Google Instant focuses attention on the search box and the top results, people could spend looking at the ads that show up on the right side of a Google SERP. Most people’s lives won’t change with these extra few milliseconds, but Google calculated that the new tool would cumulatively save people more than 3.5 billion seconds per day. The results will also be more useful because people can adjust their searches on the fly based on what they might not have otherwise seen.

For Businesses: this attempt to change the way people search would throw a wrench in the business models of companies that have latched onto the goggle ecosystem. Though it too early to comment but I think because web pages ads show up before people finish typing queries, it could be more challenging and expensive for them to pick keywords that catapult their sites to the top results. Did you get that? Well let me try and clarify this a little more. For example, it has been less expensive for a small hotel in Gurgaon to buy ads that show up when somebody searches for “Budget hotel near Grugaon”. But now that Google immediately starts showing results, people may type long queries less often. As a result, advertisers may have to bid for more common terms more often than not. Which means pay 4 performance search marketing companies, who mostly base their business deliverables on the basis of long tail keywords as that help them to balance their spends where most exact matches (keywords) cost almost 300 % more, will find it extremely tough to keep the cost per acquisition which they claim to do well.

However, time will tell us the impact way better than I can predict. So will wait and watch. How ever we will experience a great deal of shift in search marketing for sure and that goes with out much of saying.

how easy is it to live life as a dreamer who has his feet firmly on the ground and head up in the clouds… a streak of rebelliousness… a zeal to live life till the last drop….

how ever, living in mumbai these days and another journey shaping up..

The power of Facebook has garnered more than 100,000 fans for Gary Chaw, a Malaysian singer, on his official public profile within a short period of time.

But before you create one for your brand and expect your fan base to grow organically like Gary’s, think again. Here are five tips to point you in the right direction when it comes to building a community on Facebook.

1. Strategise and re-stratagise
Like all traditional marketing campaigns, you need a strategy when executing a campaign on Facebook. However, do not be too ambitious and plan for a one year campaign. With Facebook, change is the only constant. New features and applications are frequently updated. You will have to be prepared to change your strategies every now and then to keep up with Facebook’s changes.

Furthermore, Facebook is not a one-way communication tool. You need to monitor your fans’ feedback — find out what they like or dislike about your public profile — and refine the content you share on your profile. As a general guide, plan a three month campaign and get to know your fans before refining your plan for the next three months. Having said that, be prepared to be in for the long haul as social media marketing is about building relationships. If you do not have the resources, engage an external team to manage your campaign for you.

2. Drive awareness of your public profile through a media heavy-up campaign
Many brands think they can replicate the success of the “Beautifully Imperfect” and the “Asian Youth Games” campaigns just by creating a public profile on Facebook. In reality, most of the profiles have less than 1,000 Fans even after six months. It is a waste of precious resources to maintain a page with such a small audience. To grow a Facebook public profile organically without any marketing or promotion is almost improbable.

It is extremely crucial to build up a core audience for your profile in the first seven days of launching a campaign on Facebook so that your content will be organically distributed with social actions. Make use of the various engagement ads available on Facebook to help you promote your profile.

3. Relationships take time — Start small, learn and scale
Do not assume that once users become fans of your brands, they will become your evangelists. Share content that you think will interest your fans rather than just posting what you want to say about yourself. Otherwise, your post could feel like spam and after a while, un-fanning may occur. Make the effort to nurture your relationship with your fans and gain their trust, and see what happens from there.

4. Keep fans interested and engaged with your public profile
Feature new content, events and promotions continuously, and use status updates to keep your fans informed of new content. Write in a way that encourages fans to respond and respond to their comments so that your fans know that you are listening.

5. Rethink how you measure success
Measuring the success of a campaign on Facebook is no longer as straightforward as measuring the number of impressions or the click-through rates. There are many more ways to measure the results of your campaign, including organic impressions, engagement actions (comments, ‘likes’) and re-postings. It is often these latent effects of your profile that are the most effective in spreading your brand message.

As a designer you always wanted to create something that‘s never been done before, but you feel spellbound because you know “what works.”Unfortunately, you also know that “what works” has been done a million times before.

No matter how hard you and other creative-types strive to do something new, history has created a set of “classic” styles that basically remain the same, save some minor updating.

For example let’s talk about Fashion, Fashion is ‘in’ one minute and ‘out’ the next because we get bored of looking at the same things day after day. Websites are somewhat similar….However, just as there are mainstays of good fashion, such as our good Ol’ pair of denim, there are also mainstays of good web design. Every site may not fit into each of the categories exactly and some may be combinations of styles, but you‘ll get the idea.

1. Collagism – Make it un-perfect.

The inspiration behind the collage is to create something new out of old pieces. The collage style in web design consists of elements such as paper, tape and grungy or dirty textures. Drips, sprays, splatters and coffee stains are also hallmarks of the collage. This style has a sense of tangibility and is a counterpoint to the geometrically clean perfection that computers naturally exude. You’ve seen this style on everything from snowboarding sites, church sites and even network sites. The trick to this style is to break outside of the grid. Use background images to make things look ‘askew.’ Even though your text may have to be straight, you can trick the eye with background images that are not straight. This creates a sense of movement with organization.

Artists who inspire: USSR Posters on Flickr, Max Ernst, Peter Blake and Hannah Hoch

1.1 Collagist Art Example:

1.2 Collagist Web Examples:

2. Ornamentalism – Interior decorating.

Ornamental design can be similar to the collage, but the essence of the ‘fleur de lis’ and Art Nouveau ornamentation separate this style from the rest. It is often seen on the web in background patterns or framing elements. Ornamental design is inspired by architecture, where ornaments are applied as decorative accents from stone, wood, precious metals or plaster. The easiest way to incorporate this movement is through a monochromatic damask background pattern which is subtle yet dramatic.

Artists who inspire: Gustav Klimt, Alfons Mucha, Mikhail Eisenstein and Hector Guimard

2.1 Ornamentalism Art Example:

2.2 Ornamentalism Web Examples:

3. Glossism – Reflective, isn’t it?

This is the most popular style on the web today. You’ve seen it everywhere; it best embodies the phrase ‘Web 2.0’ when referring to design. It includes gradients with jewel-tone colors that are so shiny you just want to lick your monitor. Reflections, gradients and glossy buttons are fundamental for this web design movement. This style is here to stay even though a lot of people are already sick of looking at it. It creates a sense of cleanliness and easily guides the user through an interface that also include bold jelly colors, sun burst shapes, badges, rounded corners and talk bubbles.

3.1 Glossism Art Example:

3.2 Glossism Web Examples:

4. Wordism – Words Become Art.

This movement is inspired heavily by the print world and is predominantly seen as the digital counterpart of traditional magazines in e-zines. Its characteristics use an overall grid-like layout and powerful typography in lieu of decorations or design elements. The typography itself becomes a visual stimulant, making it almost unnecessary to add other photographs, illustrations or decoration. Inspiration for Wordism can be found in the poster artists of WWI and WWII, who used illustrations combined with bold typography. Modern graffiti art could relate to this movement as well.

Artists that inspire: Robert Indiana, Adolphe Muron Cassandre, and International Posters

4.1 Wordism Art Example:

4.2 Wordism Web Examples:

5. Futurism — Think Like a Trekkie.

This was one of the first design movements on the web, but it’s not often used today. In the future I could see this making a comeback — not in exactly the same way but with a new twist. This style is translated through geometric shapes such as computer circuits, motherboards and mechanical gears. In essence, this movement is a reflection of technology and what we might envision the future to be like.

Artists who inspire:deviantArt , Joe Pogan and Chris Foss

5.1 Futurism Art Example:

5.2 Futurism Web Examples:

6. Minimalism – Less is More.

The minimalist movement was a response to the abuse our senses took from early web pages when busy backgrounds, blink tags and rainbow colored text were the norm. “Minimalism” is a term coined by the art and literature circles to describe a movement toward extreme simplification of form and color. Minimalism, as it relates to web design, focuses on usability, aesthetics and letting the content be the star. This kind of design doesn’t have to be boring. In fact, proper use of white space gives a site a level of sophistication that is often missing from sites that have every little space crammed with something.

Artists who inspire: Artcyclopedia, Frank Stella and Ellsworth Kelly

6.1 Minimalism Art Example:

6.2 Minimalism Web Examples:

7. Retroism — A Blast from the Past.

Retro design can draw from anything in the past, such as the illustrative look of the 50’s, the flower power of the 60’s, disco of the 70’s or even the cool pop art of the 80’s. Mainstream styles and graphics of these eras were restricted by the limitations of the technology of the day. Retroism takes advantage of the iconic looks that these limitations created. The VW Beetle is the perfect example — compare the 1961 Beetle to the new convertible of the 2000’s. When using this style it’s a good idea not to over do it. There can be too much of a good thing.

Artists who inspire: iso50, Crazy Labels and Bastard Graphics

7.1 Retroism design Example:

7.2 Retroism Web Examples:

Design may evolve, but the basics remain the same.

The world collectively shifts its visual thinking of what’s considered “in.” You see this collective thinking in everything from the colors we use to paint our walls to the shapes of fashion that adorn our bodies. Even though things are always evolving, basic movements will remain the same. So the next time you’re looking for inspiration, just go back to the basics and add your own twist. The 7 design-isms listed above are not the only design movements of the web; many have yet to be defined or even discovered. These design-isms may very well be the little black dress of web design — everyone uses them because they work — but with a little creativity it’s still possible to make them your own.