Full Screen Video Web Design

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One way to make a larger than life impression with your web design is with a fullscreen video background. I'm not sure if it's the same for anyone else, but when I visit a website with a high quality fullscreen video right there above the fold, I am mesmerized. And suddenly, I justify the time to explore around the site to find out more about this wonderful organization that stated its message so artfully and gave me such a powerful feeling.

Now, notice I said "high quality" in my statement above. I'm sure most of you have come across websites with a video background that caused your opinion to drop several bars. So have I, and it's less than disappointing. Usually my experience with these slow loading, poor quality fullscreen video designs ends up with me frustratingly exiting the website as quickly as possible. Fullscreen video backgrounds only work if they have the following components:

Evokes strong emotions – the point of using video is because it can cause stronger emotions than just words or a flat graphic. Only use a video background if it successfully intertwines the right feelings with the message of the website.
High quality – it doesn't matter how strong the emotions the video can evoke if the video won't play right or is too blurry. And if it's poorly done stock video, the only feelings it will cause is annoyance and distaste. Use a crowdsource video site, such as Veed.me for a variety of budgets or, even better, hire someone local to create a custom video of the website services.
Compatible – what browsers and devices do the majority of the website's viewers use? Do some research and then make sure the video filetype is compatible. You should provide a static image fallback or possibly not use a video at all.
Mute the sound – automatic sound almost always rub viewers the wrong way – simply because most aren't expecting a blast of sound when opening a website. You can always include a button to unmute the sound or a play button that pops the video out for viewers to watch with sound.
Limit the length – less is more, especially with fullscreen background videos. A quick, emotional visual is much more effective than one that drags on and has the potential to lose the emotions due to the normal viewer's short attention span. Consider a short loop of no more than 15-25 seconds, or less depending on the content.
Reasonable loading time – this is another good reason to use a short video. No one has the time or patience to wait more than a few seconds for a website to load, no matter the experience to follow.

But we are here for some fantastic web design inspiration, so that's enough analyzing of the proper components for now. The following are some incredible fullscreen background videos, and most follow the above tips very well.

If you'd like to see more inspiring images, check out these examples of unique cinemagraphs.

Parachute Montreal

This professional skydiving site has a beautiful, custom loop video playing in the background of, you guessed it, the skydiving experience they provide. While not technically a fullscreen video, this one is an excellent example of how you can still provide an impressive experience in a nice partial screen layout.

Mix the City

What a fun, interactive website! Users can create their own music mixes using sound and music clips from Tel Aviv. The full screen video rotates with each new visit to the site between various beach/ ocean scenes, I am assuming in Tel Aviv. The 5-7 second seamless loop evokes the perfect relaxed, fun emotions needed for mixing music.

Fabrica

This communications research center uses a full screen background video in a unique way. Move the cursor to see links pop up in transparent boxes so that the video keeps playing underneath. Keep the cursor still and the text disappears. The only downside is that music, although very moving, plays automatically requiring users to search for the mute button in the header.

Retrofuzz

Probably one of the best examples of effective fullscreen background videos, this creative agency uses a loop of video portraying their specializations – music, branding, and emotional connections. The video also shows their identity as a company – retro, highly creative, and fun yet hardworking. Bravo, Retrofuzz, bravo!

House of Borel

This website for a high end women's clothing designer has a landing page that requires users to click on the video "experience," rather than automatically playing, which makes the automatic music in the video doable. Mesmerizing and revealing of why this is such a unique brand keep viewers hooked and definitely seals in the mind that this is a high class fashion line.

GBR Design

This beautiful black and white video loads very fast and the designer did an excellent job of making sure the title words stand out well from the background in every part of the video. The loop shows scenes of everyday life in what appears to be Venice and Milan, the two locations of this business design company. The beautiful video definitely gives a high end first impression that is further reinforced by scrolling to their portfolio below.

Turbulence

While the text slider over the background video is a bit much, the darker, muted look of the video helps make it not entirely overwhelming. And the slider ends rather than loops, which is another reason this works. Turbulence creates integrated brand experiences, so the video is very well-chosen of people eating at a restaurant that the company branded – a brilliant way to show off your work!

Bloomberg Media

Another incredibly unique design, this one is fullscreen but not like normal fullscreen video backgrounds. The screen is divided into three different video sections and which video the cursor hovers on is the one that plays. The same occurs further down the page, yet the site runs impressively smooth and is very fast loading for how many videos are on the page. Kudos to the designer of the Bloomberg Media website!

The Glitch

The Glitch mixes interaction with video in this interesting experience to show off their skills and humorous side – or are they kidding about the sense of humor? Scroll slowly or click on the navigation buttons on the right side for a unique video tour of the team at work, including comic-like animation graphics.

Riello Sistemi

A company that specializes in rotary transfer machines, the video not only plays in the background of a team working on a rotary, but the screen also rocks up and down as if on a rotary system. I played around with this website a bit longer than I'd like to admit.

Coulee Creative

The fullscreen video background of this team of innovative web designers and strategic thinkers show them to be just this, which is what I love about it. The actual team being a bit silly shows that this would be a fun, interesting group to work with, and it also reveals what a closeknit, smoothly operating team they are.

Jurassic World

Who would expect less from the website for the theme park Jurassic World than an incredible background video of the park? What's really impressive is that it is quick loading, runs smoothly, and looks just like the movie.

Rodeo Drive Beverly Hills

The background for this website is an awesome, fast loading background video of places along Rodeo Drive. As you scroll down, the diagonal boxes are lined with borders, created with the video – still moving. Wow!

Snask

An awesome background video from a creative agency, internationally reknown, that specializes in branding, design, and, you guessed it, film – not surprising and definitely a must. This video does an excellent job of melding together clips of their best work and is definitely a must see for creative inspiration.

Lapa-Tuki

This website for a snack brand is not exactly a traditional video background. It displays the cute illustrated characters for the brand in a static image, but click on the next one to see the image become a video that rotates around the table seamlessly. Very creative!

Speedo USA: Fueled by Water

The fullscreen video background of waves and water in the background is beautiful and very fitting for Speedo's explore page. To really see the inspirational, emotionally moving section of this site, click on the play button.

Fullscreen Video Backgrounds Rock!

…if done correctly. And the videos above certainly provide quite the inspiring experiences. Which of the above are your favorite?

Craving more beautiful websites? Check these out:

Superior Examples of Flat Web Design
Inspirational ECommerce Website Designs
Beautiful Church Website Designs

Tara Hornor enjoys writing about advertising, marketing, branding, web and graphic design, and more. As Senior Editor for Creative Content Experts, she has over 2,000 published articles on the web. Connect with @TaraHornor for more design and freelancing advice.