25 Creative 404 Error Page Designs
The design of 404 error pages is one of those things that is often forgotten when building a new site. These pages, however, can serve a useful purpose and if implemented properly can actually help to keep visitors on your site.
In this post I cover what 404 error pages are and the types of things you might want to incorporate into them – I’ll also provide some creative examples from around the Web for inspiration.
What is a 404 Error?
A 404 error is essentially a response from a web server when it is unable to locate a page that has been requested. By default, you’ll get a standard message in the browser that isn’t very helpful for users (see below).
This clearly isn’t ideal – however, it is possible to style these pages like any other on your site, so there is a lot you can do to manage how your site responds to such errors.
How Should You Design Your 404 Page?
The best 404 designs use a variety of different approaches and techniques to deal with the presentation of a 404 error. At the very least, a 404 error page should communicate to the user that an error has been found (in plain and user-friendly language) and the next steps that they can take. Here are some additional things you’ll also want to give some consideration to:
Consistency
By default, the 404 page that is displayed on your site will be very plain with some black text on a white background (as seen above). This will obviously be different from your site’s main design and could easily result in users forming negative perceptions of your site. It’s therefore worth taking the time to ensure that your 404 page design is consistent with the rest of your site.
Say Sorry …
Getting an error page returned when you’re after some interesting content can be a very frustrating and irritating experience. As a result, it may be worth apologizing to the user and offering some simple steps they can take to help them find what they’re looking for. This may go some way to help alleviate your visitor’s frustration and might encourage them to look around other parts of your site.
Provide Search Facilities
One way you can help users to find what they’re looking for is through allowing them to perform a search for the content they’re after. This is potentially worth doing as the page they were looking for may still exist on your site – for instance, it may simply have been moved or the link they clicked might have been broken in some way. Offering this facility increases the likelihood that people will stay around on your site.
Display Popular and Helpful Links
You may also want to provide some other links to important pages on your site – maybe your home page along with some of your most popular/helpful posts. This improves the chances that users will stay at your site and see something of interest to them. You might also want to leave your contact information – or maybe even a contact form – so that users can easily get in touch with you about the content they are after.
Make it Funny
One approach that is often used for dealing with 404 error pages is the use of humor. This can help certainly help with engaging users and may help entice them to check out the rest of your site (and potentially become a loyal reader). Although you should use this with caution – whilst it may have a positive impact, many users may also find it patronizing and annoying!
25 Creative 404 Error Page Designs
Here are 25 creative 404 page designs that highlight some of approaches highlighted in this article. It’s important to note that whilst some of them look very nice it doesn’t necessarily mean they are ideal from a usability perspective. However, hopefully you’ll find some inspiration here that will help you in your own 404 design efforts.
Rocket Theme
Cuoma
iStockPhoto
Leap Anywhere
I Love Typography
Frye / Wiles
Blue Daniel
Woofu
Center’d!
Abduzeedo
Heinz
NNeon
Springload
Instant Shift
Zivity
Carsonified
45 Royale
CSS Scoop
amCharts
Itchy Robot
Swiss-Miss
Digital Mash
CSS Remix
Daze Of Our Lives
Catalyst Studios
December 22nd, 2009 at 5:27 am
Thank you..I love Frye / Wiles very funny
December 22nd, 2009 at 10:23 am
One of my favorites too
December 22nd, 2009 at 12:14 pm
this share is really good
ı like look at 404 error pages 
my 404 error pages desing are links. http://canyurdaer.deviantart.com/art/404-Error-Web-Page-2-144720332 Thank you for share
December 22nd, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Your design looks nice – although I don’t understand what’s written on the page
December 22nd, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Here’s another one for you:
http://doleaf.com/404
December 23rd, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Cheers Ryan.
December 22nd, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Hey! thanks for posting our site, I’m Santiago from http://www.cuoma.com
Best regards!
all CUOMA Crew
December 22nd, 2009 at 3:24 pm
No problem Santiago – it’s a nice design!
December 22nd, 2009 at 7:02 pm
Great list, Brandstack has a great 404 page too http://brandstack.com/404
December 23rd, 2009 at 3:52 am
Thanks Rob – I like this one a lot – really nice design!
December 22nd, 2009 at 11:57 pm
Very nice list…..it shows how to be creative on net……….
December 23rd, 2009 at 4:54 am
i love a good 404 page. the geekier the better!
December 23rd, 2009 at 4:56 am
Hey Chris, great post! Really enjoyed the short article on top.
Here’s another one for you: http://friendsofdesign.net/404
Cu on Twitter
Eva
- @friendsofdesign
December 23rd, 2009 at 10:54 am
Thanks Eva – that’s a nice design
December 23rd, 2009 at 10:27 am
First one is good
The rest I’ve seen before.
By the way, this is mine, with Chuck and other heroes:
http://chtivo.webhost.ru/404
December 23rd, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Beautiful error
December 23rd, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Why do some of them make it sound like the 404 is your fault? The only time I get them is when the site’s links are broken. They should always apologize, not chastise you for being “lost.”
December 23rd, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Good point – it does seem a bit inappropriate to blame the user for being lost. An apology – along with some useful links – seems like a much better approach to me.
February 3rd, 2010 at 12:00 am
How about this one… http://www.workingwriters.org/404
December 28th, 2009 at 5:59 am
Very inspiring…great resource
I like Frye / Wiles, Blue Daniel, Center’d!, Digital Mash, Catalyst Studios … very creative
Thanks
January 4th, 2010 at 9:42 am
This article has been shared on favSHARE.net. Go and vote it!
January 20th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
Inspired by sites like this, I made my own.
Try mine at http://chris.babione.info/404