Web Design - Introduction

An introduction to web design.

Introduction

Web design is an integral part of being a webmaster. Out of the 6 activities webmasters have to take on (planning, coding, creating, content, marketing, and operating), design is probably the most misunderstood. For the most part, this is because most people think of design as the appearance of the site when it is actually much more. The functional layout of the site is also part of design but was largely ignored until the usability movement increased its awareness. People also tend to over-estimate their own designing talents and later find out that designing is really an art form that can't be mastered if you don't have the intrinsic skills.

Like all of the 6 webmaster activities, you have to decide what role design will take and then how to deal with it. Whether or not you will want to learn design will depend on several things. First, ask yourself what role your web site will have in your venture. If you web site is your business (a content site or e-zine or whatever) then you will be more likely to have to take a part in it than if it were a doorway for your B&M business. If you are, for example, a real-estate broker then you will be making money by selling houses and probably not by getting people to go to your website. Your website will simply be a tool you use to help your business achieve it's goals, but it isn't the business. In this case you may want to just outsource your design and operations. This would be similar to most people who have jobs and drive to work. Their cars are "tools" they use to get to work - without them they would be in trouble. But this doesn't mean they want to learn how to fix them because that is not what they do. Then, ask youself what kind of skills do you have? If designing websites is something you are good at then you may want to take a role in doing it. But if you aren't good at it then you may want to pay someone to do it for you.

Beginners

If you are a beginner then I assume your first web site will be a small or medium site. If your first web site is a big one then there's a good change that it will be totally outsourced in which case learning about design is a moot point as you are trusting a professional to handle everything for you.

For your first site you should create a very simple design and layout. Most people think that good sites are very complicated but the best-looking sites usually have a very simple design. You can create a site with a very simple design and layout without it lacking anything. If you try to create something too complicated as a beginner then you will probably spend forever developing it and it won't look good anyway. Do not underestimate this risk. There are tons of sites put out by very talented coders that are perpetually in development. Then when I check back in 6 months they are still in development. Great coders tend to have an attitude like "If the page isn't perfect then it isn't going up."

What you, as a beginner, should do is put out a site with a simple design. After about 1-2 years when your site is grown you can redesign the front end (design and layout) of the site. This will be convenient because you might have to redesign the backend of the site (the functionality) by that time. And doing both at once gives you the opportunity to synchronize the redeisng of both so that you can better estimate how the front-end and back-end will compliment each other. Redesigning the front-end and back-end at the same time also gives you the opportunity to re-brand your site as a whole. Most webmasters reflexively think "Oh, I would just rather put up a great design now so I won't have to do it again later." But they need to understand that there is no "magic design" that will forever be optimal. Site designs are constantly improving and no matter how much time you spend on your design you will have to upgrade it after a few years no matter what.

Design Components

Text. The text should be easy to read. The font should be large enough and should not have a bad contrast with the background color.
Color scheme. You should have a very simple color scheme with either one color (plus white) or 2 complimentary colors. Some very simple planning on the impressions of different colors should help you harmonize the color scheme with the impression you want to convey.
Performance. Beware of anything that keeps the page from working. This can be anything that slows down the loading time of the site or non-functioning compenents due to different browsers.
Identity. When someone comes to your site they should be able to figure out, within 5 seconds, what your site is about.
Layout. Your site's sections and information should be organized correctly so that people can figure out what everything is and where everything is just be rolling their eyes over your site.
Navigation. Navigation could probably be part of the layout but it is such an important component is deserves it's own entry. Visitors need to know how to get around your site and do so in the quickest and easiest way.
Graphics. There should be a good mix of text and graphics throughout the site. Graphics are there mainly to ad spice as well as break up the text. They are not there to be the dominant feature of the site though.
Look and feel. This is basically the overall impression of your site and it encompasses all of the other components. It is not simply just a sum of those components - the look and feel is part of the branding of your site.
Compatibility. The design of the site needs to be compatible with the popular browsers and different versions of the same browser. Your site shouldn't look or perform different to different users. Although compatibility is technically a coding issue I am adding it here because it is an issue that affects design as well.



 
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