Not many things in life are strictly black and white, but the things that are carry qualities of elegance and durability, an air and reputability you can bet your money on. Do these designs fit the bill? Let’s go find out.

In a previous Friday Focus we featured portfolios with self-portraits of designers that own them. This week we’re looking at agency websites that also feature the people behind them.

I’ve noticed a lot of designs with a mostly black and white color palette lately, and not just for site types you’d expect. Is the colorful, rainbow trend being phased out with something more classic? Are people tired of safe, middle-ground gray? Welcome to this week’s Friday Focus.

This week on Friday Focus: designs that prominently feature user-submitted content, particularly images. How do you prevent monotony and preserve quality on these sites? Let’s find out.

I’m doing something different this week on Friday Focus. I found one site with ten different styles on the same content (plus one homepage). Each one tries to match the visitor’s mood for the day. It’s also a good way to showcase one’s design repertoire. The designer also employs many interesting techniques into each style, so be sure to check all of them out!

This week’s Friday Focus features different institutions of society as design inspiration for the featured websites. Did they make you do a double-take too?

I thought I’d make Friday Focus post titles a bit more descriptive from now on. The theme for this week, however, is a tricky one. It’s not about a common design element for the featured sites, but it’s about the techniques and choices made by the designers. The designs are almost there, but they need that one final tweak. Agree or disagree?

This week’s Friday Focus feature sites that don’t only looks great, but tell you how to build great-looking websites as well!