This is the background image from David Copperfield’s website. It is one of the best and most interesting I have seen since I started collecting them for the Bg_img project. What sets it apart is the combination of different types of background in one glitzy show tune of an image. It has everything: a subtle repeating floral pattern that fades into a solid grey body; a halo effect above the cut illuminating the headline and featured content; subtle use of drop shadow and Gaussian blur; fixed width middle column and a second halo in the footer mirroring the one at the top.

The other thing of note is how the image serves as the content of the site, rather than the decoration behind it. The three stacked images on the right for example – about; pop culture and charitable work – aren’t just place holders, they lay underneath three absolutely positioned anchor links and smudge the line at the edge of ornament and function. Other than the critic quotations, all the visible content is contained in a single .jpg held in the body tag.

Famously, David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear; isolating the background image from his site, it looks as though he has waved his hand, distracted his audience with smoke and mirrors and made all the content disappear too. While the same can be said for most background images seen in isolation, this one is more than just a decorative pattern, it is a negative space. You can see where the content was and exactly where it should be. Not only is there a void half way down on the left where there was once  text, the hyperlinks have been magiced away too. The invitation to play the biographical “About the Man” video is just an illusion, as is the temptation lower down the page to enter paradise. Mouse over either and the cursor no longer turns from arrow to white glove.