There are two ways that you can go when designing a 404 page for your website.

You could go the sensible route and make it usable and try to help the reader find exactly what they were looking for.

Or, you could design a 404 page that not only defines the character of the website or the designer but also makes it a pleasure and surprise to the user.

It’s amazing the effect a sprinkle of humor and creativity can have on someone, and it will certainly make your site that little bit more memorable.

Below, we have a collection of sites with original and highly creative 404 pages. You may notice that some do not even meet the most basic usability guidelines, but who cares; they make us smile! Hope you enjoy them.

South Park Studios

Blizzard Entertainment

Future of Web Design London

Popscreen

GDZLLA SMASH PAGE (NOT FOUND)

Carsonified 404

Chris Jennings 404

Twurn

Houston, we have a problem! Abduzeedo

Henrik Hedegaard – WOOPSIE DAISY! Something went wrong!!!

Wufoo Page Not Found

Jamie Huskisson 404

Tele2 404

TattooSales.com – Page Not Found

What the Dickens…?

Suspended Animations

Oops! You bwoke it

YouCastr – Woops!

Acro Media Inc – Dude, we can't find that page!

< scythe.net 404 Error >

Content Not Found : The New Yorker

Frye/Wiles 404 – Whoops

Pattern Tap 404

Limp Fish – file not found

TinSanity 404

LILEKS – uh oh

Page Not Found – d20srd.org

dawdle.com

Blue Daniel 404 File Not Found

CSS Tricks – Nothing found for Thispagedoesntexist

arbitraryconstant – 404 (missing)

Shelfworthy

Laughing Squid – Page not found

VintFalken.com

Springload: Error 404

Error Finding Page

Expansion Broadcast – Page not found

Bits of Magic – PAGE FAULT ERROR #404

Error – GeekSquad

moock.org >> operation failure >> code 404

Open Adventure – 404!

Site Sketch 101

Bi Bakar mısınız? Sayfayı Bulunamadı!

404 – Casino Lemonade

404 › rbardini.com

404: Lost in the aether

ZEITWENDE

webtressdesign.com – OOPS Wrong Turn

The Web Motel – ERROR!

404 Best Practice Resources

404 Best Practices from CSS-Tricks
Tips for Creating an Informative 404 Error Page
Pimp Your 404: Presentation and Functionality from Perishable Press
How To Customise Your 404 Page from Sitepoint
Turning 404 not found random visitors to blog readers from Tech Snacks
404 Page Management Your Grandma Can Use
404s and WordPress Server Load from alexking.org
The Perfect 404 from A List Apart
5 Tips to Make Your 404 Page More Usable from UX Booth
Why You Should Keep an Eye on Your 404 Stats
How to Find and Fix 404 Errors
A Better 404 – Redux from urbanmainframe.com