Study 01 · Co-founder of Microsoft, philanthropist, author
Bill Gatesgatesnotes.com
One of the world’s best-known people writes about the people he meets, the books he reads and the work he is trying to finish.
Visit gatesnotes.com(opens in a new tab)
Homepage as captured in October 2026. RURO did not build this site and has no connection with Bill Gates. The site and image belong to their owner.
01 · The concept
The idea in one line.
Lead with the work and the people it serves, not the résumé.
- Signature
- Gates Notes
- Address
- gatesnotes.com
02 · Design
How it looks.
- Cool paper #f5f5f7
- Black #000000
- Layout
- A full-bleed photograph fills the first screen, with the lead story set on a floating card over it. Below, short sections stack in a plain, single column.
- Type
- A serif for headlines and a clean sans for everything else (ABC Marist and Untitled Sans). The wordmark is simply GatesNotes, with no logo mark.
- Imagery
- Documentary photography of real people, led by a lead story about a mother and her child. The page runs on dozens of photographs and a single video.
- Colour
- A cool, pale grey page with black type. It stays out of the way, so the photographs carry the colour and the emotion.
03 · Functionality
What it does.
- 01A short menu: Work, Meet Bill, Books and Heroes, plus search
- 02Work grouped by purpose: save lives, accelerate energy innovation, make AI work for everyone, provide quality education, cure Alzheimer’s
- 03A newsletter sign-up, repeated several times down the page
- 04Book reviews, browsable by subject
- 05A clear route to the Gates Foundation, and to his Microsoft and philanthropy stories
04 · The luxury, decoded
Why it feels premium.
01
Work stated as intentions
The headings are verbs and goals, such as “Save lives”, not job titles or company names. The page says what he is trying to do.
02
People before statistics
The lead story is a person, not a number. A face, a name and a story hold attention longer than a figure.
03
His own voice
“My newsletter”, “Meet Bill”: the page is written in the first person, so a very public figure still reads as one person writing to you.
04
Restraint at scale
With enormous reach and a huge body of work, the site stays calm: pale ground, black type and a few clear choices.
05 · For your estate
What we would borrow.
- Lead with a person or a result, not a list of achievements.
- Write your headings as what you are trying to do.
- Keep the page quiet and let the strongest image or sentence carry it.
