Hidden beneath the shrouds of shinyness, the curvature of perfectly anti-aliased corners and the hype surrounding next-generation Internet - some freelance designers are putting their some fantastic work out there which is failing to receive half the attention it deserves. First up?

Zen Army. Whilst strictly speaking not a website in itself, but more an example of what can be achieved once CSS is mastered, Zen Army is a prime example of CSS at it’s best. Again, incorporating fantastic use of graphic design combined with CSS and XHTML, designs like this set standards lightyears ahead, despite their ever-increasing age.

ShinyBinary. The work of graphic pro, Nik Ainley - ShinyBinary is a haven of high-resolution, excellently rendered graphics. Incredible CSS, XHTML and JavaScript, I guarantee that people like Nik will be the ones pioneering a new design revolution. I’m (admittedly) a bigger fan of his older, more colourfully illustrated design, however his new, darker, more sinister theme is also a classic design of markup - the way it should be.

Greenlush. A UK-based hosting/domain/design founded by Jason Bates in 2005, Greenlush serves over 7,000 websites worldwide on a daily basis. With servers in the US and UK, along with a team of full-time programmers, Greenlush offers incredible pricing for not only the hosting they offer, but for the quality service they offer too. Of course, I’m writing about their design. Underneath the statistics and figures, Greenlush is an incredible blend of Javascript (I can’t believe it’s not Flash! ), borwser-specific CSS and XHTML. The site has all the professional scripting features expected of such a high calibre website, combined with quality, flexible, adaptable design.

I’m sure there are thousands of equally impressive, uber-cool examples out there, however I wanted to keep numbers limited and pick my favourites, for their specific areas.

Best JavaScript Implementation - Greenlush
Best CSS Utilization - Zen Army
Best Design/Illustration Application - ShinyBinary

If you’ve got new categories (or sites) to suggest, drop me a note and I’ll take a look. Enjoy!