Retro and Vintage Web Design For Your Inspiration

By Hongkiat Lim in Web Design. Updated on September 18, 2022.

Vintage-inspired designs, when done well, can look even more current and relevant than an entirely new and modern design. Whether it’s only taking inspiration for your typography, color scheme, or other elements, or whether you create a design that would feel entirely at home in the 1950s, 1920s, or any point before, using vintage and retro styles can be fun and challenging.

Below are forty designs inspired by retro, vintage, and antique elements. They range from campy to completely professional and everything in between. Use them as inspiration for creating your own vintage designs.

Here is more retro and vintage-related articles we’ve previously published:

Full list after the jump.

Antique and Pre-20th Century Inspired Designs

The most common eras antique-inspired websites take design cues from seeming to be the Victorian era and classical Rome and Greece.The best designs tend to be formal-looking and evoke a sense of propriety without looking stuffy.

In some cases, they imitate broadsheet newspapers or other items from the times they’re inspired by.

1. The Statement

2. Xocolatl

3. Theocacao

4. The Dollar Dreadful Family Library

5. The Astonishing Adventures of Lord Likely

6. Sensi Soft

7. Internet Zillionaire

Early 20th Century Inspired Designs

The early 20th century (through WWII) has inspired numerous designs. Some are influenced by the Film Noir and detective movies of the 30s and early 40s. Others pull from Depression-era pop culture (including children’s toys and games). And others take their cues from WWII-era military and civilian artwork and posters.

1. Webdesigner.ro

2. The Ernest Hemingway Collection

3. Team Fortress 2 – The Sniper vs. Spy Update

4. Radio – The New York Moon

5. mediaBOOM

6. Mister-Aero

7. Media Ambassador

8. MacTarnahan’s Brewing Company

9. Fred Perry – 100 Years

10. Five Cent Stand

11. Field Notes

12. Target Scope

13. Blind Renaissance, Inc.

14. Amelia Earhart Book

15. DeVotchKa

Post-WWII and Later Designs

Designs inspired by the mid-20th century (post WWII up through the 60s) pull mostly from the popular culture of the era. Fonts inspired by the era are particularly popular, along with vintage color schemes. Fashion also seems to be a big influencer, as are vintage radios, cars, and televisions.