The web is full of some really interesting articles that compile great examples of beautiful web graphics, and these can serve as great inspiration. I have, in fact, been known to tweet a few of these articles, from time to time. What I worry about, however, is a confusion I sense among designers (well, to be perfectly honest, mostly among web designers) who equate fun web graphics with great web design.

Take, for example, this recent post on the "web design trend" of a letterpress effect; or this article on "must learn" layout tutorials, which includes such masterpieces as the cartoon-grunge-website and the web-layout-for-Italian-restaurant. None of these are inherently bad, but they mistake style and graphics for design. It is important to remind ourselves, from time to time, that the challenge of great design is in the effective presentation of information, not in how may cool Photoshop tricks the designer can cram into the piece.

There is a solution: to clear your mind of the myriad fancy effects that you are tempted to use in your work, take a step back and analyze the bones of your design, taking out anything that isn't absolutely necessary. For inspiration, head on over to The Grid System and bask in the glow of their sparse aesthetic. Then, check out Sebastian Graham's rw/2 identity and website to see exactly how gorgeous a minimal, grid-based design can be. That is great design that doesn't require special effects to make it shine.