
Why use these ribbons and tags?
Tags are useful because they draw the user’s attention by creating the illusion of depth. They push their content out to the user. Tags are also often styled with punch, whether via 3-D effects or bold contrasting colors. These factors make the tag a prime location for critical information: logos, navigation, calls to action. We see this in the showcase below. Of course, as always, assess your needs before implementing this element on your own website. The ribbon shares the same qualities, which is indeed the reason we find it and the tag together so often: it draws attention and is a great place for important information. The shape of the ribbon sets it apart from the tag, though; the two arrows on its ends seem to point to the content within, subtly directing the user’s attention.A family of styles
Another reason these two elements are often found together on websites is that they are both digital representations of fabric. No surprise then that many of the websites below have other fabric-related elements, including subtle stitching, textures and other organic elements.Ribbons
Letter Learner

Ribot

Alex Pierce

Rockaholic!

Paris Jones

Blog en Bois

HTML5 Boilerplate

Cantilever Fish & Chips

Wells Riley

Dhiraj Singh Karki

Chipmunk

Ryan M. Stryker

Tags
Ennea

Philip Meissner Design

Tinkering Monkey

Parkbud

Lense

Coreymade

Netastica

Ryan Havoc Taylor

Ribbons and tags
In the final part of this showcase, we’ll look at websites that make use of both ribbons and tags.ClearSpan Media

Krichevtsova Alexandra

Wes Bos

Conclusion
Given the quality of the websites in this collection, none of these designers set out to build something “trendy.” Rather, they were faced with a set of needs, and from those needs emerged an effective visual device for focusing attention, communicating critical information and highlighting important actions. If you would like some nice CSS-based ribbons for your own website, the web-based 3-D Ribbon Generator is a handy tool for the job.Patrick McNeil
Patrick McNeil is a designer, developer and writer; but above all things he is a passionate educator. He is a Professor of Graphic Design at the University of Missouri St. Louis where he focuses on teaching UX Design methods and front end development techniques. Patrick is also the author of the bestselling book series The Web Designer's Idea Book and the curator of DesignMeltdown.com. For more information about Patrick visit his personal site, pmcneil.com, or follow him on Twitter @designmeltdown.
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