Design Elements
Know your audience
The first step in designing a great looking
website is to know your audience. If your target
is CEO's, your web design is going to be different
than if your target is graphic designers. And
it will be completely different if your target
is children.
Pay attention to the jargon you are using.
If your audience is highly experienced techies,
then you can leave out the definitions. But
if your audience is the general population,
you may need to explain what JavaScript is.
Consider adding a glossary of terms so that
anyone can enjoy your site.
Keep it simple
Simplicity is one of the most important design elements. Limit
the number of background colors and fonts that you use. A web-safe
color chart will help you pick your colors. This page uses
three background colors:
- Blue to set off the title bar at the top
of the page.
- Beige to set off the contents frame.
- White for the frame with text.
Most people are accustomed to reading black
text on a white background. This is why most
of the big boys use white as their primary background.
Feel free to try out other colors, but make
sure the text is easy to read. Nothing will
send a surfer packing faster than hard to read
text.
This document uses one font--the default. Sometimes
I will use a different font for headings, but
this time I didn't. If you start using multiple
fonts, the page will look busy. If you want
to add some color to your page, change the color
of your headings, like I did. Only make sure
the color is readable.
When you change the font, font size, font color,
or background color, the surfer's eyes will
be drawn to the change. If you do this too much,
the surfer won't know where to stop. It also
looks busy.
White space
You have probably noticed websites that are
so jam-packed full of information that they
are dizzying. White space is just what you think
it is: white space. It's the part of the page
with nothing on it. White space helps your eyes
to focus on the text.
There are several ways to increase white space:
- Keep your paragraphs short.
- Use multiple pages instead of trying to
squeeze everything onto one.
- Leave extra space around graphics.
There's no justification for justification
Use left-aligned text. Justified
text gives strange word spacing that is harder
to read. Most newspapers use justified text
because of tradition, not because it is easier
to read.
We are taught to read left-to-right.
When we come to the end of a line, our eyes
go back to the left-hand side of the page. If
text is ragged on the left, it is harder to
read, so always use left justification for paragraphs.
Don't be too bold with underlining
Underlining is a no-no. When fonts are designed,
it is assumed that they will be read in lowercase
with no attributes. If you want to highlight
a word or brief phrase, use bold, not
underline.
If you want to emphasize a longer piece of
text, put it in its own indented paragraph.
It will stand out and still be readable.
Use italics for foreign words and book
or magazine titles, not for emphasis.
Don't overuse graphics
Graphics can look outstanding, but they greatly
increase the download times for your pages.
Do you know what speed modem your visitors have?
As of March, 2000, 46% of all surfers had a
56K modem, and 47% had a 33.6K or slower modem.
That means that over 93% of all surfers are
still using traditional modems. Cable and DSL
are fast, but they aren't that widely installed
yet. Test your website with a traditional modem
and see what 93% of the users have to put up
with when they visit your site.
Lose the page transitions and scrolling text
Have you ever visited a website where you loved
the content, but every time you went to switch
pages, you had to wait for the stinking page
to fade in or out? Look at the big sites like
Amazon.com, Yahoo!, and AOL; and you will find
no page transitions.
Text that scrolls across a page is also very
unprofessional. Experienced web designers don't
use it. And while you are at it, leave out the
flashing text. Both are just a distraction to
the reader.
Be consistent
One of the most important design elements is
consistency. Don't give every page on your site
a totally different look and feel. This makes
it look like a different person designed each
page, and it doesn't look professional at all. |
