This site breaks a lot of rules for things like accessibility and web conventions. It uses a big image, the navigation is image-based, and it requires wide browser resolutions, all three are big no-no's. But the site is designed to have impact, to inspire interest in Marrit Ingman, an author in Austin, Texas.
I had a number of ideas, mostly gray on white, something ethereal and modern, but when I saw Celesta Danger's photography, I completely changed directions. The photos evoked a movie theater audience feel (among other things, Ms. Ingman reviews movies), with different lighting and emotions, so I followed that path. The photos were feathered with a black background to make the image seamless with the background. The colors were taken from the cover image. The title font is Orange, which is modern and streamlined without being "Hi! I'm streamlined!" The navigation font is a handwriting font to give the feel of an author writing or signing something.
This site is more about design than structure or usability, though Movable Type is incorporated to allow for basic news maintenance.