1. 8 Innovative Design & UI Elements
#1 - News via the Logo
Sites like Google & Yahoo! are famous for using their logos to promote holidays or commemorate important dates, but several creative designers have been featuring news about their companies or their industry right in (or near) the logo:

2. 8 Innovative Design & UI Elements
#2 - Narrative Top-Level Navigation
This concept certainly won't work for every site. The concept is to create a 1-2 sentence narrative as the top menu, and have the relevant navigation pieces as anchor text.

3. 8 Innovative Design & UI Elements
#3 - The Auto-Scrolling Multiheadline
The multiheadline is getting better over time. Just remember that if you're doing Search Engine Optimization -- SEO with these, you'll need to use Cascading Style Sheets -- CSS (not flash) if you want the content and links properly indexed and followed.

4. 8 Innovative Design & UI Elements
#4 - Dual Tabs for Filtering
Traditionally, a basic principle of good web design is to limit yourself to no more than one set of top-level navigation items. However, the dual tab system has broken the rules, yet functions remarkably well and actually helps the user to better filter information.

5. 8 Innovative Design & UI Elements
#5 - The Product IS the homepage
A clear fault with so many business websites is their weakness in conveying the company's purpose in those first few critical seconds. On the other side, Logistetica has boiled down complex engineering and technology products in less time than it takes to be amazed by the pretty graphics.

6. 8 Innovative Design & UI Elements
#6 - Screenshot/Image Overlays
Designers have been using the pop-up overlay for some time. It feels so much clean and smooth to have the transition take place seamlessly over the background page.

7. 8 Innovative Design & UI Elements
#7 - Conversion-Funnel Based Navigation
One of the more creative navigation systems is from Carbon Made. It featured a sidebar navigation that offered links based on the user's location in the conversion process - ready to sign up, in need of a demo, or already a member.

8. 8 Innovative Design & UI Elements
#8 - The "You're a Winner" Beta Invite
The promotion level of beta invites has grown from "waiting list" to "golden ticket." It's always smart to make your users feel special, even those who haven't gotten to use anything yet.