Ooops 404 We are so sorry! This page is under construction.

A 404 page is crucial for a every website.
It attempts to curb user frustration when a page is missing, guiding them back to our beautiful ceramic pieces, and shop.
It's a chance for us to maintain brand consistency, show care for user experience, and even offer a search bar or links to popular sections, keeping potential customers engaged rather than lost.

The ubiquitous "404 Not Found" error page, a familiar sight to anyone navigating the internet, has a surprisingly obscure origin. Its history is deeply rooted in the early days of the World Wide Web and the evolution of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). The "404" is part of the HTTP status code system, a standardized way for web servers to communicate the outcome of a client's request.

When a web browser requests a page, the server responds with a three-digit code. Codes in the 200s indicate success, 300s redirection, 500s server errors, and 400s client-side errors. The "404" specifically means "Not Found," indicating that the server could not find the requested resource. This wasn't a pre-planned feature but rather a necessary response to a common problem: broken links or mistyped URLs.

While the exact "origin story" is debated, a popular, though likely apocryphal, tale connects it to a specific room (room 404) at CERN where early web servers were housed, and a file could not be located. Regardless of its precise inception, the 404 code was formalized in HTTP/1.0 specifications in the mid-1990s.

Initially, 404 pages were bare, generic messages generated by the server. As the web matured, designers realized these error pages were an opportunity. They evolved from simple text to custom-designed pages, often featuring humor, helpful navigation, or branding elements. Today, a well-designed 404 page can mitigate user frustration, guide visitors back to relevant content, and even reinforce a brand's identity, transforming a technical error into a user-friendly experience.