Smashing Magazine
¡Viva Mexico! Showcase Of Web Design In Mexico
This post is the third article of our new series “Global Web Design“. Throughout this series we’ll be covering various continents, featuring web developers and web designs from different countries of the world and taking a close look at what’s happening in the web design scene worldwide. We started with Russian Web Design and Web Design in Ireland. We continue now with Mexico and next week with Israel. If you would like to prepare an article for this series, please contact us so we can discuss the details.
Land of tequila and mariachi, home of Chichén Itza (one of the new seven wonders of the world), amazing beaches, cheerful people, beautiful women… and last but not least, inspirational and creative Web designs for the entire world. Ours is a great country, with more than 110 million inhabitants, over 30% of which to date are connected to the Web.
Design has always been integral to our culture: the majestic pyramids built by the Aztecs; the numeric symbol “zero” created by the Mayans (who, by the way, were the architects of the great Chichén Itza); the colonial buildings influenced by the Spaniards and French; beautiful paintings by well-known artists such as Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo; and now today’s great architects and artists, design firms, interactive agencies and software engineers.

The portfolio of Roberto Avila, a designer from Mexico.
To gain greater insight into Web design happening in Mexico today, we interviewed many people in the industry: freelancers, digital marketing managers, creative interactive agency reps and a few bloggers.
[By the way, did you know we have a free Email Newsletter? Subscribe now and get fresh short tips and tricks in your inbox!]
State Of Affairs
A lot is going on in our country, and many companies and brands in Mexico are definitely noticing the impact of great Web design. Digital marketing is growing fast. People working in this industry have not had to face a crisis. Mexico grew 20% in the first quarter of 2009. Why? Because everyone recognizes the importance of shifting to digital.
According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Mexico (IAB), in 2008 only 4% of budgets were designated for digital marketing. If we compare this to countries like the UK, where digital marketing budgets were bigger than TV budgets, then we have a good reason to be optimistic about the future of digital marketing and Web design in Mexico. Bianca Loew, Managing Director of IAB Mexico, states, “The Internet is the ideal platform for companies to interact with consumers.”

DesignWeek Monterrey 2009, an original design from Mexico.
Most companies understand the value and power of good design. We have seen different brands try out a lot of digital marketing strategies, but still much work is to be done on coding standards, usability and persuasion. Few websites are truly prepared for the social media revolution. But great agencies are willing to provide quality information to help everyone get ready!
“Near-shoring” has become a must for many US and Canadian companies. A lot of work is being outsourced to Mexico for digital marketing and Web design and development. We have seen a lot of Argentinean agencies in our market, which has been a very good push for competition, and this will surely drive innovation and creativity.
Voices of People In The Industry
To gain some insights from the people working in the web design industry in Mexico, we asked Miguel Calderon (founder of Group W), Gustavo Ross (founder of Activamente) and Rodrigo Gama (founder of Publicidadenlinea.com) to share with us some insights about the current state of web design in Mexico.
Q: What is your perception of the Web design environment in Mexico?
Miguel: It’s improving, perhaps slowly, but there are interesting developments. What happened with traditional design years ago is happening with Web design today: we are following international trends instead of creating new and better proposals. We’ve missed our identity as a country. Therefore, there is a big opportunity to create proposals that will be followed abroad in the near future. However, the incursion of big designers and illustrators from traditional media to digital media will trigger great websites.
Gustavo: With the introduction of pre-fabricated and self-service platforms, such as WordPress and Joomla, designers must become more specialized. Whether they start by creating professional templates aimed at the Mexican public or with professional design interfaces for business applications and portals, deeper knowledge is needed to improve usability and front-end technologies such as AJAX.
Some time ago, we left behind websites for which only graphic design mattered. Today, designers have to be much more comprehensive and knowledgeable about technology and the needs and habits of the common consumer.
Rodrigo: The market for Web design in Mexico is growing significantly every year. The quality in design is improving fast, but the larger companies are the ones willing to invest in and pay for experts who develop attractive Web designs. Websites for small companies and independent projects are usually made by students, independent designers and freelancers, and their owners do not yet have a comprehensive understanding of attractive Web design: usability, programming, social networking, search engine optimization, etc.
A lot of effort needs to be made by organizations such as AMIPCI (Mexican Association of Internet) and IAB Mexico (Interactive Advertising Bureau Mexico) to publicize the benefits of digital marketing. This causes the market to mature, and developers are taking advantage of this knowledge. I strongly believe that in a couple of years, the quality of many Mexican websites will have a greater impact in Latin America.
I would like to stress that many of the Web design projects in Mexico are done by traditional advertising agencies. Most of the time, such agencies have neither the knowledge nor experience of the Web to develop effective websites, and they work only on what they have committed to their customers. Most of the time, they don’t introduce best practices or standards or even do usability testing.
Q: What makes an outstanding design agency in Mexico?
Miguel: Fortunately, designers and illustrators are already becoming vital for Web design environments. Every day, traditional and digital design become more integrated. It is a broad topic, but I encourage you to look deeper into Alberto Cerriteño & Zoveck. They do very few Web projects, but their websites could not be understood if it wasn’t for their extraordinary work and creativity.
Rodrigo: In my personal opinion, the best agencies are the ones whose core business is the Internet. They usually have a team of experts in different areas, such as design, programming, usability, marketing and online advertising.
Gustavo: I am thrilled to see that website producers have become more professional, leaving behind the Flash and intros in favor of functional pages designed for the user rather than the designer.
Outstanding design agencies… Those with a more holistic view of the needs of their clients, notwithstanding conflicts of interest, and who focus on generating good business results. The best designers are those who think of the end user, not of the prize.
Enough! Show Me The Good Stuff
Tequila can really fuel creativity, as you’ll see! Web designers and interactive agencies here have done a great job. Here is a taste of what we Mexicans are capable of.
GOAL by Gonzalo Alonso, a Mexican in Argentina. What’s really cool about his blog is that he has two skins: one of Asterix and another of Star Wars.
Interactive Agencies In Mexico
High-quality interactive agencies can be found all over Mexico. Some have won prestigious international prizes, including the acclaimed Cannes Lions. Here are some of our most renowned agencies, listed in alphabetical order.
Design Bloggers in Mexico
Related posts
You may be interested in the following related posts:
Pablo Hernández O’Hagan is the CEO and founder of Ingenia Group, an interactive agency with more than 60 employees and offices in Mexico City, New York and Montreal. He is passionate about his personal life, his companies and, of course, the improvement of digital marketing and entrepreneurship in his country. You can follow him on Twitter @pablohernandezo for great entrepreneurial and digital marketing advice.
- 82 Comments
- 1
- 2
December 12th, 2009 7:40 amSome really great stuff there! Thanks.
- 3
December 12th, 2009 7:43 amSome really inspiring stuff here. Its always good to see some new sites.
Anyone else notice how similar the illustration on Roberto Avila’s site is to the one on FreelanceSwitch?
- 4
December 12th, 2009 9:34 amYes they do look the same, but i think he’s a member of FreelanceSwitch =)
- 4
- 5
December 12th, 2009 7:48 amSuperb!
Thanks. - 6
December 12th, 2009 8:00 amVery nice… there is a coffee cup on desk themed design… i like the colors in it… unique… love this collection. Cheers guys.
- 7
December 12th, 2009 8:06 amReally? A showcase of Mexico sites?
- 8
December 12th, 2009 8:27 amWell there are so many creative websites but I see lots of Flash! What about it?
Viva Mexico!! :)- 9
December 12th, 2009 4:44 pmWe have some interesting web development companies in Mexico … even though I agree with Willy on lots of flash usage… people and companies are starting to understand web usability and we are encouraging them to do so with all of their benefits.
- 9
- 10
December 12th, 2009 8:46 amWow! excelente, mexicanos que ejemplo para el mundo del diseño… felicitaciones – Smashing > how´bout pumping up on this latin american design showcases – really insightfull inspiration and impressive talent
- 11
December 12th, 2009 8:51 amThere is one web agency that use a template from Themeforest :D
- 12
December 12th, 2009 10:15 amWhich one?
- 13
December 16th, 2009 11:38 amYeah, which agency?
- 14
April 1st, 2010 3:39 pmWich one uses the Themeforest template????
- 12
- 15
December 12th, 2009 9:27 amAmazing! Love them all, me gusto mucho que hayan escrito este artículo sobre México! There’s a lot of talent around.
- 16
December 12th, 2009 9:33 amThe Art of Alberto Cerriteño it’s truly remarkable, indeed there’s a lot of talent in Mexico, we have a long way to walk, but if we stay true to our sometimes dusted roots, we will find our way. Congratulations to all Mexican Designers and Developers keep on the good work!
- 17
December 12th, 2009 9:38 amBesides the language, I don’t really see any difference between Mexican websites and…any other professionally designed/developed websites.
- 18
December 12th, 2009 10:09 amAndrew is right, I mean, being honest.
Maybe Alberto Cerriteño, because his kind of illustration keeps a mexican/personal essence. He is truly original.
The others, I don’t know, they are what most call “the standard”, but hey maybe this article is like “mexican curious” stuff, like “take a look mom, mexicans can do it too”
These are some talented guys and a lot of not so talented guys mixed in between (like a friend says, some were at the top of the wave in the right moment).
Trying to not be naive: A few mexicans do not represent mexican design. They represent themselves.
But hey, what I can expect from Smashing Magazine if they post a “beautiful icons” article an mix some really bad ones between the really good ones? Happens the same to your “examples of great photography” articles.
Lowering standards?… maybe.
- 22
December 12th, 2009 10:22 amActivamente uses a template from ThemeForest.net, so I’m not sure if Activamente is a proper example of web design in Mexico…
- 23
December 12th, 2009 10:24 amMuy buenos ejemplos. No solo de diseño, sino de interactividad en los sitios.
Saludos, desde México.
- 24
December 12th, 2009 10:32 amFelicidades a todo el talento mexicano, yo soy diseñador web y en mexico sí se hacen muy bien las cosas
siganme en twitter @j0rch.
Congratulations, in Mexico we have tons of talent, there is the proof.
- 25
December 12th, 2009 10:35 amIn Mexico we are working to improve everyday.
We are conscious that we have great influence from the U.S., but every day we have more organizations and communities bonding us to learn how to work together.
It would be very naive to speak of a “Mexican design” because the design must be Global, but here you can find very good designers from Mexico.
Let us take a mention in Smashing Magazine like a challenge, to engage and create more content, quality, improve user experience, manage web standards, better interaction, and so on.
We have to believe in us as Mexicans, We can succeed and be among the best in the world.
Thanks for the mention.- 26
December 12th, 2009 4:46 pmWell put, Adan.
- 26
- 27
December 12th, 2009 11:13 ames cierto, tal vez muchos sitios de este post no tengan 100% la escencia mexicana pero tal vez no era esa la finalidad de sus creadores, creo que esta lista mas bien representa lo que se esta haciendo en Mexico actualmente y no al diseño mexicano en si, para eso, habria que crear otro post que creo yo tendria una lista de ejemplos interminables.
este post mas bien, muestra la calidad que nosotros los mexicanos tenemos en nuestro trabajo!! y a lo que hemos llegado en tan poco tiempo, estamos apostando mas por la creatividad y siento yo aun tenemos mucho que aprender en otros rubros, como todos, siempre seguir aprendiendo cosas nuevas de aqui, de alla!
el diseño en mexico creo yo esta re-naciendo! y de la mejor manera :D
viva mexico cabrones!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - 28
December 12th, 2009 12:21 pmI’m mexican and I must say it’s a nice selection, even though I think some of the examples wouldn’t deserve be considered as part of “the best” and some others are really old… by the way, shame on the guys that used a template for their own site!!!
And honestly, I don’t understand what some readers here are expecting to see, obviously it looks like the web design they know, just like the russian or irish showcases presented here previously, trends in web design are global…saludos desde México, DF
- 29
December 12th, 2009 12:48 pmGlad to see some nice examples here of what we can do.
Unfortunately, web design in my country is being held back not by the developers, but by the clients. People here expect to have a whole site designed with 300 bucks, including hosting. There’s a long way to go, but I’m really happy to see that I was wrong assuming that there was pretty much no one interested in good web development.
- 30
December 13th, 2009 12:25 amThat’s totally true, design on México is undervaluated.
- 30
- 31
December 12th, 2009 1:10 pmPlease add http://www.3indesign.com to the list, great mexican interactive designers, and for the people who thinks mexico design its poor, remember who was number 4 in Gunn report last year(grupo w).
- 32
December 12th, 2009 4:28 pmGreat link, thanks! =)
- 32
- 33
December 12th, 2009 1:12 pmit’s always good to see the list of website designs especially if they are from different countries. i like it!
- 34
December 12th, 2009 2:22 pmExcelentes diseños, muy bien cuidados, mucho detalle y realmente inspiradores, en Mexico hay mucho talento y estos ejemplos son una pequeña muestra de ello.
- 35
December 12th, 2009 4:53 pmGreat compilation. Go México!!
- 36
December 12th, 2009 4:54 pmNeat sites! I have a lot to learn :P
- 37
December 12th, 2009 5:19 pmThere are a lot of nice web agencies in Mexico, we are one of them in Mazatlan, Sinaloa, we develop nice websites and all of them with their CMS.
See at http://www.remaxsunseteagle.com or puertoviejoskies.com
- 38
December 12th, 2009 5:48 pmBeautiful feature! I look forward to sharing!
- 39
December 12th, 2009 6:24 pmBeautiful, inspiring and creative compilation of Mexico’s work!!! I love it!
- 40
December 12th, 2009 6:38 pmSmashing Book in spanish someday??
- 41
December 12th, 2009 8:38 pmA huevo… en México somos chingones…
- 42
December 12th, 2009 9:43 pmExcellent article, i think that we have a lot of great designers in mexico, so this can be a little window to show some of their work
Nice
- 43
December 12th, 2009 11:41 pmNot surprisingly, most of those horrible Mexican “design blogs” are nothing but lists of Smashing Magazine links. Copy-pasting at its peak!
- 44
December 13th, 2009 12:30 amMéxico’s graphic design it’s still on the early stages of development, anyone reading here is from Sonora, México ? i need some local contacts lol! :P
- 45
December 13th, 2009 2:41 amvery nice collection, thanks for making it and sharing it
- 46
December 13th, 2009 2:50 am10x for the inspiration :)
- 47
December 13th, 2009 5:19 amCatalina Estrada is Mexican? pufffff
- 48
December 13th, 2009 5:56 amwow post really awesome
- 49
December 13th, 2009 7:00 amCatalina Estrada mexican? What’s happening with you SM? Don’t you read the posts or don’t you get the enough search BEFORE you post something? Catalina Estrada is not MEXICAN, she is from Colombia! SM truly is nowadays a mess. Sad.
- 50
December 13th, 2009 9:57 amShe’s not, but her site was designed by a mexican agency…
- 50
- 51
December 13th, 2009 8:44 amI think the design of Gonzalo Alonso’s site (GOAL) was made by an argentinian agency/team (and what about licensing those images?)
- 52
December 13th, 2009 12:24 pmThanks for covering what’s going on in Mexico in the field of web development. There are many talented web designers in mexico, regardless of their nationality. Just like in the USA, there are many immigrants in Mexico doing extraordinary work in just about every industry. Mexico is no longer the nationalistic territory that Diego Rivera lived in, today Mexico is an influential member of the global community whose citizens contribute to the world in every field.
- 53
December 13th, 2009 1:41 pmFirst, for some reason I cant see any of the comments (not loading) – so I apologize if I’m commenting for the 49th time on something that’s blindingly obvious.
It would seem Roberto Avila literally copied and pasted the little man mascot from freelanceswitch.com. They’re so close it cant even be called a coincidence. What’s up with that?
- 54
December 13th, 2009 9:02 pmVery nice stuff. Some is a bit busy, but I’m impressed overall.
- 55
December 14th, 2009 3:52 amGreat compilation, interesting visual ideas. Have you seen http://www.konka.com.mx that also deserves some consideration
- 56
December 14th, 2009 4:07 amtks for share!
- 57
December 14th, 2009 4:23 amI really love those countries showcases ! Keep it on !
- 58
December 14th, 2009 4:57 amDo Australia
- 59
December 14th, 2009 6:03 amGlad to see a space dedicated to recognize the graphic design talent in my country~! Mexico is a craftsmanship country by nature, it has a rich variety of talent in their blood which we can find in all of it’s “Artesanias” history.
Design is just another category in the “artesanias” lineup in Mexico.
I’m a Mexican designer working in the USA, and have always been a follower and supporter of the great design I from Mexico. - 60
December 14th, 2009 7:24 amThat “Asfalto Tecnicolor” page is an example of good design? errr -.o
- 61
December 14th, 2009 8:06 amALL of the negative comments were made by mexicans… so typical!
- 62
December 14th, 2009 10:11 ammore usability less flash!!! por favor!!!
serious now… i think there is way to much flash in mexico. hate it when i open up a flash animation and the “next”-link is hidden because of no scrollbars on a 1280×1024 resolution.
although i have to say, that some of the site are really inspiring and i like “Webdesign in * / * Webdesign”-Collection covering different countries, so seguid adelante compadres de smashingmag! - 63
December 14th, 2009 10:37 amI see some very nice stuff in here.
- 64
December 14th, 2009 10:54 amThanks for the mention of D10studio ¡ Viva México¡¡
- 65
December 14th, 2009 11:57 amThe energy lab site is one of the most impressive sites I’ve seen hands down. Great article SmashMag and good luck to Mexico as it moves on to it’s teenage years in web design.
- 66
December 14th, 2009 1:08 pmBravo por lo Hecho en Mexico!!
- 67
December 14th, 2009 2:09 pmI believe that Mexico will find its own personality and identity through the Web Design. This mexican generation will influence the world! Well done “paisanos”! it’s proud to be a Mexican! :) ¡Viva México!
- 68
December 14th, 2009 9:22 pmcongratulations to all Mexican web developer&designers, inspire me!!! good article by the way…
- 69
December 15th, 2009 6:12 pmI think that the websites presented here are not usable, too flashy, don’t follow the web standars, etc. If this is an example of the top agencies, blogs and web sites made in México we are dead! I’ve seen more impressive sites than the listed here.
As a mexican developer I must have to say that this is not a real showcase of web design in Mexico, let us be objective; there is a long way to go, but I think that is possible to become aware of making better web sites in our country.
It’s a shame that some mexican developers/designers stole ideas, articles, code, and images from other web sites around the world, we need to be more creative with our work.
- 70
December 18th, 2009 10:17 amI’d like to see more of these kinds of articles, especially since I don’t get a lot of exposure to what is going on designwise in other countries. Brazil and Portugal would probably be top on my list (since I’m learning the language ;)…
- 71

- 72
December 20th, 2009 7:44 pmMexicans still change sparkle glass for gold…
What are in common with most of the sites in this portfolio?
* they use intensively flash
* they dont have any consideration on seo or webstandards
Mexicans still change sparkle glass for gold.
- 73
December 21st, 2009 2:40 pmviva mexico cabrones!!!
- 74
December 21st, 2009 7:21 pmthanks for including mexico. true, i see a lot of flash.
a lot of talented designers made this list. congrats!
excelente articulo. - 75
December 21st, 2009 10:48 pmThere´s a lot of really good work in México, most of it done in flash… yes… lots of problems with seo or webstandards… i don´t think so, what i do think is that a good web site concept, strategy and design makes the difference between it´s failure or success even if it´s done entirely in flash… besides… nowadays we have facebook and tweeter… and a simple post in there… puts your site in the map…
- 76
December 23rd, 2009 1:44 pmits good to see my country getting recognition, there is a long way to go.
This is my site 100% mexican http://www.bluedotsdesign.com and its blog http://www.bluedotsdesign.com/blog
- 77
January 14th, 2010 7:40 amThanks SM for feature Latin America design!
We’ll have a Brazilian web design showcase someday? =D
You are my daily inspiration, thanks again for your great work! - 78
January 26th, 2010 10:39 amHi SM!, great showcase from Mexico, although it would be great if you could manage to widen your range, i.e., here in Guatemala we have GREAT TALENT, check out:
http://www.grupoperinola.com, they´re friends and they have come a long way to establish their brand in the local market…as many other great examples from our very little country… would be interesting to make an article about web technology in developing countries…Thanks again, great showcase
- 79
January 27th, 2010 11:00 amI really like some of the sites showed here, but i think this list lacks of some great mexican websites, also yes the use of flash is too much but keep in mind that some site do not need standards or css and that stuff, for example Rexona’s sites, will you do them in CSS? NOT!, these sites are focusing on the experience of the brand and not in the accesibility of the contents. but yes a lot of sites are abusing of flash.
great showcase, but it could be better, for example Golpe Avisa its not showcased here and they are great. please check them
http://www.golpeavisa.com.mx/
i have nothing to do with them. - 80
February 2nd, 2010 5:20 pmSmashing magazane is ono of my favorites sites, and now publish this list of site from my Country, this goes to favorites.
- 81
February 16th, 2010 12:48 amThe standard of this work is much better than of the showcase on Germany. Some people mentioned in that post that there was nothing that made those websites stand out as distinctly German and I’d have to say a similar criticism can be made here. You could tell me this work was from Poland or Brazil (with obvious text changes) and I wouldn’t even contest that claim. I mention those two countries specifically because I see a similar style used by designers from those countries. In fact, I mainly saw it with eastern European work many years ago and now I see it more widely used. It’s no longer country or region specific.
With that said, I don’t particularly mind that there are no overt Mexican influences (nor was I really bothered there wasn’t any German ones in the other showcase) and the post delivered what I was expecting based on the title: web design in Mexico not Mexican web-design. The difference is subtle: the latter implies to me that the post will contain websites that are clearly uniquely Mexican as opposed to work just produced from that country.
- 82
July 9th, 2010 11:19 amhey!! … don’t forget Chiva Sentada (www.chivasentada.com) we are an animation studio located in Aguascalientes, México. Hope you can add us in this article. Thanks
Leave a Comment
Make sure you enter the * required information where indicated. Please also rate the article as it will help us decide future content and posts. Comments are moderated – and rel="nofollow" is in use. Please no link dropping, no keywords or domains as names; do not spam, and do not advertise!
- Free Pom Pom Printables, nice for print decoration (PDFs) - http://bit.ly/a00AyO
- Web Design: Reboot, or Just Upgrade Instead? - http://bit.ly/bcJJaE
- Are You Ambitious Enough? - http://bit.ly/aZkZci - Well, are you? #smambitious
- How do colors affect purchases? (Infographics) - http://bit.ly/b8iU3U
- Perspective in Icon Design – Know-hows - http://bit.ly/buqUw6
- This makes me happy on a Sunday Morning: Every BBC Essential Mix, 1993 to 2010 for free download - http://bit.ly/bnDnk9
- BonBon: Sweet CSS3 Buttons - http://bit.ly/av84qj
- Building a Custom HTML5 Audio Player with jQuery - http://bit.ly/bqXwgS
- DesignKindle: collection of free high qualty web design files - http://bit.ly/clLViX
- What's your ultimate debugging tip? Share yours with the hashtag #smdebug





















































Very nice showcase. Some very inspiring stuff here. Thanks a lot!