The Web of the past was simpler, more Spartan, more... innocent, perhaps? It was growing rapidly, and its potential loomed as something gigantic. Of course, it also went through very dark times with the dot-com bubble collapse, but today there are still vestiges, small digital records of a vibrant era. The team behind the Web Design Museum have decided to create a gallery of the most relevant official website designs between 1995 and 2005. If you want to see the humble origins of some giants of the web, this is the right place.
Needless to say, the designers of those portals did what they could with what they had. Many modern web technologies were still experimental or vague concepts searching for a solid path to become real development, not to mention that browsers like Netscape and Internet Explorer ruled the universe back then. Naturally, the Web Design Museum relies on screenshots and backups made by Archive.org and its Wayback Machine (home of things like the Apollo 11 audios) and has the enormous advantage of presenting the old portals under a comfortable and intuitive interface (two features that are notably absent from the Archive). You can use the official page, or visit their profile on Instagram if you prefer a mobile and portable experience.
A selection of the most popular websites
