IMA Top 10 Websites of the Year — 2013
Listed below are the winners and nominees for IMA Top Ten Websites of the Year. There were 32 nominees in total, from over 5,300 submissions originating in 42 countries.
In order to qualify for this list, each entry had to undergo a comprehensive evaluation by IMA judging teams and earn a "Best in Class" award, the highest award level offered by IMA. The entries listed below represent the highest scoring evaluations from among all Best in Class winners. Simply put, they are the best of the best.
Each nominee achieved exceptionally high marks in the following criteria:
- design
- content
- usability
- functionality
- efficacy
- user experience
- home page
- standards
- accessibility
- social media integration
- cross-browser compatibility
- cross-platform compatibility
- cross-device compatibility
- privacy/cookie transparency
Considering the degree of scrutiny and analysis each entry underwent, and the high marks they achieved, it is fair to say that each entry is worthy of the top ten honor. However, only ten can make the short list. Winners are determined by IMC annual judges by popular vote.
List of Top 10 Nominees & Winners
- No.
- Name
- Nominated By
- Country
- 1
- BAR Architects
- FINE Design Group
- USA
- 2
- Mistreatment.com
- Liquid Light Digital Ltd
- United Kingdom
- 3
- NBBJ
- Method, Inc.
- USA
- 4
- The Enniskillen Hotel
- Creative Media
- United Kingdom
- 5
- BlackArrow
- SolutionSet
- USA
- 6
- HKU SPACE
- theOrigo Ltd.
- Hong Kong
- 7
- E-LOAN
- Sentient Interactive
- USA
- 8
- Chateau Ste. Michelle
- FINE Design Group
- USA
- 9
- 50 North 5th
- Blenderbox
- USA
- 10
- Monastery Spa & Suites
- John Atkins & Co. | JAC
- Canada
- 11
- SensatioNail UK
- Slightly Different Ltd
- United Kingdom
- 12
- Saffire Freycinet Hotel
- TravelClick, Inc.
- USA
- 13
- The Associated Press 2012 Annual Report
- Vector Media Group
- USA
- 14
- Playwrights Horizons
- Blenderbox
- USA
- 15
- Blue Water Media
- Blue Water Media
- USA
- 16
- VisitBritain's LoveWall
- Brand42
- United Kingdom
- 17
- Disney.com
- Disney Interactive
- USA
- 18
- Homeless, Not Hopeless
- Heat
- USA
- 19
- Granite State Credit Union
- SilverTech, Inc.
- USA
- 20
- RED Interactive Agency
- RED Interactive Agency
- USA
- 21
- HP Software: New Global Web Experience
- Hewlett-Packard
- USA
- 22
- Comics Etc.
- Cru Digital
- Australia
- 23
- Mizani
- Bridgeline Digital
- USA
- 24
- FDR & The Four Freedoms
- FDR Four Freedoms Park
- USA
- 25
- LendingTree
- Sentient Interactive
- USA
- 26
- ExploreBC Blog
- FCV
- Canada
- 27
- VisitEngland
- Reading Room
- United Kingdom
- 28
- Welcome to Pine Point
- Mod7
- Canada
- 29
- Crown Metropol Melbourne Hotel
- TravelClick, Inc.
- USA
- 30
- Southcore Financial Centre
- Premise
- Canada
- 31
- Foxtons
- Foxtons
- United Kingdom
- 32
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- Bridgeline Digital
- USA
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1. BAR Architects 
Category: Architecture/Interior Design Nominated By: FINE Design Group Location: San Francisco, California, USA -
2. Mistreatment.com 
Category: Legal Nominated By: Liquid Light Digital Ltd Location: Brighton, East Sussex, United Kingdom -
3. NBBJ 
Category: Architecture/Interior Design Nominated By: Method, Inc. Location: New York, New York, USA NBBJ is a leading international architecture firm.
Their outdated and difficult-to-use Flash website did not communicate their authoritative position in the market, and it was inefficient for their team to use.
NBBJ partnered with Method to undergo a strategic web overhaul.
Method worked closely with the NBBJ team to translate their core values into a fresh, bold and differentiated web experience.
By surfacing NBBJ's thought leadership and case history through imagery and bold statements, Method highlighted their client's strengths and expertise in more interesting and relevant ways.
In addition to designing an expressive front-end, Method also designed and developed a custom CMS that would serve their client's unique needs and workflow requirements.
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4. The Enniskillen Hotel 
Category: Hotel/Resort Nominated By: Creative Media Location: Omagh, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom -
5. BlackArrow 
Category: Advertising Nominated By: SolutionSet Location: San Francisco, California, USA Black Arrow's new website emphasizes their refreshed market messaging and strategy, equipping them for the robust growth they are experiencing.
SolutionSet worked with Black Arrow to sharpen the site copy as well as design a new logo and iconography system.
The site targets leaders within cable and broadcasting companies, mainly CTOs, Technical Leads, CMOs, and marketing teams.
The refined copy clearly articulates Black Arrow's range of products and solutions by providing technical information, product specs, and the advantages of each Black Arrow product.
Step-by-step infographics further outline the different components of each of Black Arrow's five products as well as their key benefits.
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6. HKU SPACE 
Category: School Nominated By: theOrigo Ltd. Location: Hong Kong
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7. E-LOAN 
Category: Banking Nominated By: Sentient Interactive Location: Morristown, New Jersey, USA Site Summary / Case Study
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8. Chateau Ste. Michelle 
Category: Food/Beverage Nominated By: FINE Design Group Location: San Francisco, California, USA -
9. 50 North 5th 
Category: Building/Construction Nominated By: Blenderbox Location: Brooklyn, New York, USA -
10. Monastery Spa & Suites 
Category: Beauty/Cosmetics Nominated By: John Atkins & Co. | JAC Location: Mount Pearl, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada As the premiere destination spa in the province, Monastery Spa & Suites wanted to take the next step to ensure their continued success, and to find new avenues for revenue and exposure.
JAC was able to design not only a website, but an entire brand identity across multiple platforms (digital, print, etc…) that set Monastery Spa & Suites above its competitors.
The website itself focused on the warmth and comfort a visit to the spa could provide, and it also provided a central source for the company’s social media.
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11. SensatioNail UK 
Category: E-Commerce Nominated By: Slightly Different Ltd Location: Penryn, Cornwall, United Kingdom -
12. Saffire Freycinet Hotel 
Category: Hotel/Resort Nominated By: TravelClick, Inc. Location: Schaumburg, Illinois, USA Short of staying there, there is no better way to explain Saffire than to visit and explore this website.
From the moment one lands on this site, there is a feeling of greatness and a feeling of the truly special.
The Saffire experience is made up of moments, moments that will make anyone dream as they step through the virtual "doors" and into encounters with discovery, joy and revelation; all leading to meaningful memories that await guests at this resort.
The website targets the international leisure traveler who values a unique and meaningful experience, who understands luxury and who likes to be pampered in a timeless place of enchantment.
With a powerful parallax animation for introduction, this site creates a unique platform in which to carry the "moments" concept of the Saffire Freycinet essence, and also makes itself stand out from the crowd, providing a new fashion to explore the property’s offering.
As soon as visitors start to scroll, the site becomes a journey in itself.
Impressive photography and engaging captions dominate this design to create an emotive connection and encapsulate the visitor immediately.
Not to forget are the clear and easily accessible navigation items, the many manual controls to scan through images, which give control back to the user, and the beautiful photo gallery, with the option to go full screen, truly allowing the visitor to enjoy the dream.
Last but not least, a distinctive integration with the social networks through an interactive toolbar ("Reviews|Share") that allows users to browse latest posts and comments without leaving the site.
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13. The Associated Press 2012 Digital Annual Report 
Category: Association Nominated By: Vector Media Group Location: New York, New York, USA -
14. Playwrights Horizons 
Category: Entertainment Nominated By: Blenderbox Location: Brooklyn, New York, USA
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15. Blue Water Media 
Category: Web Design/Development Nominated By: Blue Water Media Location: Greenbelt, Maryland, USA The redesigned website for DC area interactive agency, Blue Water Media, better highlights the company's core services and enhances their professional yet cutting edge image.
The dynamic homepage slideshow featuring mobile and tablet design services, Drupal expertise, and recently launched projects provides credibility for Blue Water Media's services, which is further strengthened by the robust portfolio section sorted by industry category.
Clearly laid out sections for prospective government and commercial clients ensure potential customers are guided to the most relevant information possible, and extensive search functionality and strong call-to-actions further aid navigation.
Lastly, the implementation and customization of the Drupal content management system ensures the site will be able to seamlessly expand along with Blue Water Media's growing business.
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16. VisitBritain's LoveWall 
Category: Travel/Tourism Nominated By: Brand42 Location: London, United Kingdom -
17. Disney.com 
Category: Entertainment Nominated By: Disney Interactive Location: Glendale, California, USA
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18. Homeless, Not Hopeless 
Category: Nonprofit Nominated By: Heat Location: San Francisco, California, USA -
19. Granite State Credit Union 
Category: Banking Nominated By: SilverTech, Inc. Location: Manchester, New Hampshire, USA Unique to the financial services industry, gscu.org focuses less on text and target messaging and instead gives high priority to user experience and design.
Granite State Credit Union saw their corporate rebrand as an opportunity to redefine how they offer financial services and communicate with their customers online.
SilverTech incorporated trends that are effective in ecommerce and retail/consumer goods to highlight the unique value that GSCU brings to its members.
Large, lifestyle imagery and direct navigation encourage browsing and exploration of the multiple services and promotions the financial institution may be running while highlighting user experience.
The website is treated as more than a connection to an online banking portal, with calls to action for requesting information and connecting via social media incorporated into the design on every page.
Nothing is compromised on mobile versions of the site – in fact, in screens with tablet sized resolutions, the expanded footer plays into the overall design and flows seamlessly from the rest of the page.
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20. RED Interactive Agency 
Category: Advertising Nominated By: RED Interactive Agency Location: Santa Monica, California, USA The goal for the redesigned ff0000.com was to give people a better sense of who we are as a company, and a big part of who we are revolves around what we are doing on the technology side of the business.
For our new site, we wanted to leverage the latest and greatest in HTML5.
The site provides an overview of RED Interactive Agency's areas of expertise, showcases recent work, lists career opportunities and provides a peek into the company's culture.
The homepage is comprised of Instagram photos, fun facts, featured projects, videos, Twitter posts and utilizes infinite-scroll to create a seemingly endless stream of content for the audience to engage with.
If users decide to drill into the homepage content, they are greeted with subtle 3D animations created in CSS3 that use hardware acceleration for smooth, seamless transitions.
Other sections of the site offer complex filtering options and incorporate parallax effects to add depth to the overall visual experience.
The site has a responsive design and is a great experience on iPad and iPhone devices.
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21. HP Software: New Global Web Experience 
Category: Computer Software Nominated By: Hewlett-Packard Location: Sunnyvale, California, USA HP Software offers market-leading enterprise software that enables organizations around the world to optimize and secure their applications, information and infrastructure with insight.
The company recently launched a revolutionary new hp.com/software experience in 42 English language countries.
This new, robust approach offers an improved customer experience, streamlined path to assets, increased exposure to key products/trial downloads and offers for IT decision makers and the developer community.
The phased redesign is being executed as part of a curated web experience to increase engagement, accelerate conversions, and ultimately deliver pipeline and revenue to grow the HP Software business.
This initial rollout of the HP Software web experience includes a new Software Gateway page, seven Pillar pages and our Product A-Z listing.
These pages drive nearly 40% of total HP Software traffic.
In 2014, these pages will be translated and available in 30 additional countries.
HP Software will also start migrating more web pages to this new design, as well as focus on optimizing content and trial software downloads, personalization and progressive profiling.
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22. Comics Etc. 
Category: Consumer Goods Nominated By: Cru Digital Location: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Comics Etc. is an online comic books store.
The purpose of this website is to make Comics Etc. the best online purchasing experience for comic books and related products.
The aim was to create an immersive environment that engaged the users and encouraged returning customers.
Our goal from the start was to create something groundbreaking by replicating the personal experience a customer would have in a store browsing through the aisles, to what they would feel when browsing through this site.
A lot of the technologies involved in building Comics Etc. were in the formative stage and the Cru team was "boldly going where no man had gone before".
The target audience for this website are the fans of comic books and graphic novels. They identify with and relate to the characters in these books.
Comics Etc. website also provides products such as video games, toys, collectibles, action figures and so on.
As Comics Etc. would put it: "Comics Etc is Brisbane's premier Pop-Culture specialty retailer", therefore, this website will appeal to customers with a passion for all things comics.
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23. Mizani 
Category: Beauty/Cosmetics Nominated By: Bridgeline Digital Location: Burlington, Massachusetts, USA As part of the L’Oreal product line, Bridgeline took Mizani’s existing website that supported its hair products and transformed the presence into an engaging webstore. They completely overhauled the design to create an engaging eCommerce experience.
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24. FDR & The Four Freedoms 
Category: Government Nominated By: FDR Four Freedoms Park Location: New York, New York, USA
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25. LendingTree 
Category: Banking Nominated By: Sentient Interactive Location: Morristown, New Jersey, USA Site Summary / Case Study
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26. ExploreBC Blog 
Category: Travel/Tourism Nominated By: FCV Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada -
27. VisitEngland 
Category: Travel/Tourism Nominated By: Reading Room Location: London, United Kingdom The VistEngland website is intended to inspire and encourage tourism in England by offering the best content from in and around the country.
The overall aim of VisitEngland is to grow the value of English tourism, primarily by encouraging more English people to take breaks in England as opposed to abroad.
Alongside standard navigation, the website employs a taxonomy search designed to encourage thematic and interest based exploration.
Content is balanced to reflect the widest possible range of experiences around England and is limited to key information with onward links provided to relevant websites.
Taking users on a journey from interest, through inspiration and on to a destination website is the primary focus of the website; this goal is anchored in VisitEngland's role as a national tourist board.
Content is key in a website that is designed to inspire.
As such, the VisitEngland website will follow a carefully planned schedule designed to put inspirational content in front of visitors in the period before they are likely to make a decision on their holiday plans.
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28. Welcome to Pine Point 
Category: Community Nominated By: Mod7 Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada -
29. Crown Metropol Melbourne Hotel 
Category: Hotel/Resort Nominated By: TravelClick, Inc. Location: Schaumburg, Illinois, USA Set alongside the Yarra River, Crown Metropol Melbourne is a unique hotel offering everything one can imagine with some of the world’s best restaurants, shopping, entertainment, spas and casino.
Their website is delightfully designed, elegant and cutting-edge. It introduces a world of entertainment, luxury and sensual sensations.
The site targets a mix of leisure and business travelers who are design-sensitive leisure seekers looking for a heightened personal experience.
With a fresh, stylish and contemporary vibe radiating from every pixel, the Crown Metropol Melbourne website redefines the luxury hotel experience.
In spite of the minimalist look, this site has all the key elements to assist users in finding their way around including:
- a well-organized information structure;
- a fixed header to easily navigate to and from any page;
- the always visible booking mask that sticks on the screen and follows through on scroll;
- and, the overview pages that allow the user to compare all that is in offer at first sight.
Finally, the site offers engaging overview pages that allow the user to compare all that is in offer at first sight, with a nice photo, short intro, and price information (if applicable), before clicking away to explore each item in detail (e.g. accommodation, packages, etc).
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30. Southcore Financial Centre 
Category: Real Estate Nominated By: Premise Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Site Summary / Case Study
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31. Foxtons 
Category: Real Estate Nominated By: Foxtons Location: London, United Kingdom
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32. Oak Ridge National Laboratory 
Category: Science/Technology Nominated By: Bridgeline Digital Location: Burlington, Massachusetts, USA Bridgeline delivered this new, responsively-designed website and a Content Management System to Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), a multi-program science and technology laboratory managed by UT-Battelle for the U.S Department of Energy.
