For many members of the site, the minimal principles and the unique aesthetic of the posted images made it the leading place to gather inspiration. A post in THEBRILLIANCE.COM from December 2008 described the site as “massive amounts of inspiration and talented artists on FFFFOUND! on a daily basis”. Another article in Design Week favourably described the site with the simple title “Inspired”.

It is evident that FFFFOUND! made a lasting impact on its users. This was blatantly obvious in April 2017, when the site inevitably announced that it would be closing the following month. Following the announcement there was a large amount of disbelief online; however, upon further inspection of sentiments made for the site, a description of interest in early years that slowly waded was common. There was more than anecdotal evidence that the site was losing interest; the time gaps between new front page posts were getting larger. When the site closed on May 8th 2017, a visit would simply return the iconic logo with the text “June 2007 — May 2017” below it.

FFFFOUND! left no method to export images, but the sites’s collection of images can still be found scattered across the web. In early 2012, a collection of Tumblr blogs promising “the best of FFFFOUND!” — despite not being updated since their launch — are still live today. On top of that, the announcement of the closure triggered an internet preservation effort, internet archivists began downloading the large wealth of images that the site had accumulated resulting in a 66GB collection now living at archive.org.

Although FFFFOUND! is mostly unheard of, the legacy it left behind is rich. Many took from its aesthetic and principles by building their own curated photo blogs. The popular Kanye West approved photo blog JJJJound is a clear example of this containing FFFFOUND!’s legacy within its name. We Heart It from Fabio Giolito was built in FFFFOUND!’s direct legacy when he couldn’t land an invite to the site. The bookmarking photo sharing space that Pinterest dominates today was arguably pioneered by FFFFOUND! itself. The two platforms are so similar that when FFFFOUND! announced its closing, a band of engineers within Pinterest built a tool allowing users to import their photos from FFFFOUND! into a private Pinterest board.

FFFFOUND!’s legacy also contains the large amount of 1careers of designers and web developers that heavily used the site in its prime. Chances are if you ask a designer if they remember FFFFOUND!, the answer will most likely be yes. Virgil Abloh, founder of Off-White and newly appointment head of Louis Vuitton menswear, described a desire for an invite to the site back in December 2008. Fabio Giolito of We Heart It still runs his FFFFOUND! inspired service. Justin Saunders, founder of JJJJound, has built a following and design company from his FFFFOUND! inspired photo blog.

FFFFOUND! wasn’t perfect — it had an infamous reputation for containing a large number of images of naked women — but in its prime, it was a well kept secret for designers looking to find inspiration on a daily basis. It was a closed community all contributing to the beloved collection of aesthetic images. Its ingenious invite system is unique compared to the services of today and tomorrow in our current web landscape looking for fast growth of users. For many web developers, it showed what an elegant and simplistic web startup could be. The skeletal and simplistic design principles, extending to its frontend and backend, changed the way that some thought about how the web could be build. One article perfectly sums it up, “FFFFOUND! stood in obvious contrast to the top-heavy and cumbersome companies I’d gotten used to”.

I am evidently disappointed that FFFFOUND! closed, though at the same time I am doubtful if it could’ve survived many more years. FFFFOUND! spoke to a time on the web that is long behind us. Casual, quick and mobile-first experiences are what is required from a successful service today — FFFFOUND! lacked these traits. I feel privileged to know that there was once a community on the internet that continuously contributed to sharing and saving aesthetic images that still impacts culture today.