Archive for the ‘Web Design Articles’ Category:
70 Excellent Vintage and Retro Graphic Works
Retro and vintage are often considered as being outdated, looking old, unattractive and dull. That’s not true. It has a large variety of benefits modern graphic designers often tend to overlook. And that’s a pity. Because we, as designers, can learn a lot from it.
30 Exceptional CSS Techniques and Examples
Excellent CSS techniques and examples that showcases the capabilities and robustness of CSS. You
’ll see a variety of techniques such as image galleries, drop shadows, scalable buttons, menus, and more - all using only CSS and HTML.
Web Design Tips
by: Hunter Blyth
When someone sees a beautiful web design, he or she can’t help but fall in love with it and wonder how it was done. However, designing a web would take more than just your knowledge in color, texts and images. It involves codes. But you can learn those in no time so there’s nothing to worry about. Moreover, there is a science behind web design and the following could help you be more scientific with your designs
Usability Testing
The secret here is to let someone who is not familiar with your site have a look at it. As much as possible, be in the room while they are testing your site. Take note of the things that they click on and the things that they ignore so you will know what to improve.
Browser Testing
Do not make the mistake of thinking that your web page will look good at any other browser because it looks good on your favorite one. Remember that the same browser could be used on another operating system and it may not look the same. What you need to do now is to check your page on every possible combination of OS and browser.
Use Log Files
Including log files can be very tiresome, however, it can also be very useful. It helps you know where viewers go from your homepage, what they mostly click on and what pages are least visited. Using log files can help you gather information that can help you modify your site and eventually lead your viewers to the page where you want them to go.
Don’t be afraid to recreate
One of the biggest advantages in web designing is the freedom to change web pages and layouts. Don’t be afraid to change designs that don’t work. Designing a web can be a lot of fun and involving science and structure into your designs will surely attract your viewers.
Use accurate titles for every section
Web browsers tend to scan pages and sections so make sure that your page or section titles are consistent and accurate. In this way, they can be sure that they are being led to the right section of the site.
Avoid ‘Click Here’
Links are very important in web pages. However, avoid using the text ‘click here’ when leading your viewers to another page. Instead use a descriptive and more appropriate text .
Improve Readability
Now is not the time to show off your collection of fonts. What’s important is for your customers to be able to read what is written on your site. Therefore, use attractive but readable texts to attract readers and customers of your site.
Proofread
Even the most excellent writer makes grammatical and spelling errors. You wouldn’t want your site viewers to think you’re an amateur, would you? What you have to do in order to increase trustworthiness is to proofread everything that is written in your site. Remember, less mistakes or lack of errors can add to your reliability points.
About The Author
Hunter Blyth currently writes for Dolphin Promotions SEO and Web Design Company http://www.dolphinpromotions.co.uk/
Principles In Web Design
by: Hunter Blyth
In web designing, design is more than just using HTML tags on a web page. The principles outlined below will help you create a more useful and effective website.
Balance
One of the most basic principles in web designing is balance. It is the distribution of the light and heavy elements on a page. It shows one to layout web pages so that they will work effectively. It is also a visual interpretation of design gravity. Remember that darker and larger objects appear heavier than lighter and smaller objects.
Balancing designs can be done in three ways:
Symmetrical Balance - done by placing elements in an even manner
Asymmetrical Balance - more challenging to design because they don’t have elements that match across the designs centerline
Discordant or off-balance - designs that suggest more action and motion
Contrast
When people encounter the word contrast, color is the first thing that comes to mind. However, contrast is more than just a difference in color. There can be contrasts in shapes, sizes and even textures. It is an accentuation of element differences in a design. When you apply contrast in a web design, think beyond or more than just colors. Think about how you can attract your readers in terms of contrasting font sizes, shapes, images and text styles.
Moreover, contrast in web design can be done in four ways. It can be done by
Changing of fonts
Providing links
Using different sizes of images and elements
Using contrasting colors
Emphasis
The eye is drawn to what is emphasized in a design. Though it is very tempting to give emphasis on everything in your website, as a designer you should determine element hierarchy and apply emphasis accordingly based on the hierarchy.
With emphasis, you make the most important element stand out in your design. To include emphasis or dominance in your design, try doing the following ways:
Use semantic mark up that will provide some emphasis even when there are no styles
Changing of fonts or images
Use of contrasting colors
Rhythm
Rhythm is also called repetition. It allows the design to build an internal consistency which helps the viewers to understand it easily. It is said that the whole design can only be understood once the brain has recognized the pattern in the rhythm. Furthermore, rhythm instills a sense of order in the design because it seldom occurs on its own. Due to this, viewers become attracted and therefore tend to investigate further.
To include rhythm in your web design, you can repeat actual HTML texts, add images several times, use background-repeat property and repeat navigation elements of your design.
Unity
In design, unity is also termed as proximity. It is the method of keeping same elements together and keeping different elements apart. It provides cohesiveness to designs and is said to pull elements together. It is primarily achieved through layout placement but can also be accomplished with the use of padding and margining of the elements.
Unity can be implemented through adjusting the layout of elements, changing the text spacing and playing with the box properties to influence the padding and margins.
About The Author
Hunter currently writes for Dolphin Promotions SEO and Web Design Company http://www.dolphinpromotions.co.uk/
Web Design Basics
by: Hunter Blyth
When designing something, a designer should first go through the basics of designing. Whether he is designing a print design or web design, he must know the dos and do not’s. The following items will help you know the basics of web designing as well as some techniques that are specific to coming out with the best web layout.
1. Create a design that seems friendly.
There are actually a lot of web designs that scare people away and not attract them. If you want people to return to your website, make it soothing and light. Keep your site as friendly as possible.
2. Create a great homepage
When designing your website, you should keep in mind to conceptualize a homepage that would attract your viewers. Remember that the first page that your customers see can also be the last. So learn to create a page that will attract your visitor’s attention and then draw them deeper into your site.
3. Keep in mind the principles in designing web sites
Remember to apply your design principles such as balance, contrast, emphasis, rhythm and unity. This will serve as your guide and will help you conceptualize a good web design.
4. Think small in terms of graphics
Slow pages can be really very annoying. Whether you like it or not, one cause of slowing the pages is large graphics. To avoid such problem think of using images with a size of 10-12 kb.
5. Use graphics that fit the content
Just because you have a wonderful picture of you and your boyfriend doesn’t mean that you should include it on your website. Use images that are appropriate and that connect with your site’s content.
6. Don’t use blinking images
There have been studies proving that blinking images actually annoy people. If you want to use them, though, use them sparingly. You wouldn’t want your site viewers to leave your page just because of an annoying blinking image.
7. Stay with standard layouts
Try to use a layout that is simple as possible. The 3-column layout might sound corny and boring but it helps to keep your readers stay where they are and keep reading your site’s contents. Keep in mind that readers and site viewers stick with things that are simple and easy to understand.
8. Use standard fonts and limit the number of different fonts
Use standard fonts such as Arial, Verdana, Geneva, and Helvetica. They might seem too familiar but they look better on most browsers. Now, you don’t have to worry whether your fonts will work or not.
9. Don’t be greedy
Though ads help you make money by posting them on your site, keep in mind that people visit your site because of their perceived content and not because of the ads that you put in it. For all you know, these ads may drive your viewers away, if they are too many, and could possibly make you lose money.
10. Remember your readers
Understand that, unless you’re writing a site for yourself, your site’s content should include topics that your viewers might want to read.
About The Author
Hunter currently writes for Dolphin Promotions SEO and Web Design Company http://www.dolphinpromotions.co.uk/
