Has it ever occurred to you that it is impossible to have a remarkable web design unless you put the right ideas together? Luckily for the designers, not everybody comprehends what destroys or builds a website design. All said and done, web design, to a wider scope, is an innovative process and therefore be looked upon as art and not science. Web design isn’t as simple as it sounds; skill and ability matter greatly,
1. Balancing Your Design
Keeping things balanced implies that you must ensure the design doesn’t focus mostly on one thing or the other. It should be more or less the same as the weight balance in attaining asymmetry or symmetry.
If you aren’t keen on how to go about things, your design is bound to become lopsided rather faster. You can control a design’s visual weight in several ways, including size, color, and removal or inclusion of items. Attaining asymmetrical equilibrium is an exclusively elusive issue requiring time to adjust and a competent eye to pull things off. Most of the designs you perceive as looking great bear a perfectly-built balance behind them.
2. Compartmentalize the Design with Grids
The grid idea is almost correlated with the one for balance. Grids, which refer to a sequence of vertical and horizontal rulers, enable you to classify your piece of design. Visualize columns. They enhance readability, turning the content on a page easier to decipher. Spacing and the Golden Ration, or (Rule of Thirds) application, makes things more appealing to the eye.
The Golden Ratio and Rule of Thirds represent the why sections. They make up at least a 1/3 of the page’s width, and the reason the main part of the content is almost equivalent to the width of the design divided by 1.62 (the phi in maths). Let the “why” issue be a story for another day, though it holds some water. Also, it is the reason the topic is skilfully captured photographs is typically located not at the center but the connection of an imagined 9-sq grid (3 by 3, with two vertical and two horizontal lines). Grid is more defined in simple designs.
3. Choose 2 Or 3 Base Shades For Your Web Design
Colour websites are created with a purpose. It would do you good picking your colors, the van Damme-style. Certain colors work better when combined; others don’t. Many theories regarding colors and their constituents, such as monochrome conventions and scheme contrasts, yet more trickle down to good judgment and its feel.
Therefore, you must check and find out the ones that work together. Peruse through various designs, including those on either of the numerous CSS websites (such as Best Web Gallery), to understand how colors relate.
Choosing lovely colors is as critical as choosing the correct colors (thus, suitable colors for your design project). A suitable website design for a tranquil small eatery would work perfectly with basic tones – browns, red, etc. There is nothing like a sure-fire recipe. Each color conveys a message, and it is upon you to interpret it correctly.
4. Ensure The Graphics Are Perfectly Matched.
Yes, a superb design doesn’t require fancy graphics. However, poor graphics are bound to harm your design. Graphics contribute to the optical message. A website such as WebDesigner Wall has inspiring illustrations, whereas others are minimalist. T. van Damme’s Max Voltar website contains only a few graphics, yet, he executes them with a lot of regards and utmost care. A stylish crown and a non-insensitive background image are among the graphics. To the eyes, they aren’t overly inspiring, but they all contribute to the website’s appearance and impression, and none is misplaced.
You don’t need to be a highly qualified photographer or illustrator; however, that doesn’t imply you aren’t capable of including high-quality visuals on your site. With some simple Photoshop ability, probably a few stock images paired with good taste you are set to go.
Ensure the graphics are perfectly matched and that they represent your target design. Not all of us are endowed with similar natural talent, still. You can learn from others; however, it is sometimes good to choose a style that best suits your preference (such as a sparkling style if you aren’t a great illustrator).
5. Improve Your Website’s Typography.
The skill of type is an intricate subject to discuss since it involves several elements. While it is considered part of the design, you can spend the best part of your life trying to master all its features without success.
Unlike print typography, web typography is incomplete. The main variance is our inability to fully control type appearance on the Web, attributing to its active character. It is no doubt that dynamic rendering bears its strengths, yet, Web designers boast of minimal powers over the outcome. Misplaced fonts on your computer, platform rendering and browser variation, and CSS subpar support turn Web typography not only a challenging but also infuriating task. There are other ways we can make things look more exciting and prettier.
Font Stacks
These are basic CSS, which enables you to outline the rendering order of the fonts. In essence, there are more to typefaces than fonts. To get the point, go to Jon Tan’s Typeface!= Font
It requires you to install a specific typeface on your computer. The current Mac versions have pre-installed Helvetica Neue, although it is missing on most Windows devices.
The most important part of font stacks is their ability to delineate “fallbacks,” implying that the browser finds what is next in line when a delineated typeface is lacking. It implies that the design won’t appear precisely alike to everyone, and per se, we lose control again. However, if you are unwilling to choose an alternative solution (like image replacement), this is the highest pure CSS can go at present (until we can use @font-face).
Only a few visitors will make out the headlines in Baskerville, but it isn’t a big issue. It adds an extra character to the design without affecting anybody who does not have it. While the font stacks may not be an ideal solution, they are a plus.
Measure & Leading
In this case, measure refers to the length of the lines, and Leading stands for the height of the lines. Measure in CSS is determined by outlining the containing box’s width (for instance, the paragraph item). Both have an impact on readability. If the lines are long or too short, users will likely find it uncomfortable construing the content; they often regard the issue with fluid layouts. A range of 40 to 80 characters for each line looks ideal.
You can decrease or increase leading by outlining the CSS property of the line height. Typically, a 1.5 line-height is ideal for paragraphs. It, therefore, implies that if the text size is 12 points, then the line height should be 18 points (1.5 x 12), which allows the text a bit of breathing space.
Hanging Bullets and Quotes
Another great way to enhance readability is by applying hanging bullets and quotes. Instead of leaving the bulleted text listings and quotes aligned by default, it would look great if you aligned it horizontally with the other text on that page. Tim van Damme applies hanging bullets in the latest Max Voltar website redesign.
Conversely, removing hanging quotes isn’t as direct. Many designers use a background image as quotation symbols and align as required.
Inapplicable Print Rules
Web and Print aren’t the same – While it may seem obvious, many people consider the two as one. Print is static, whereas Web remains dynamic. Taking full control of how your Website design will appear for everybody is not practicable.
Vertical measure, appropriately justified text (devoid of rivers and hyphenation), and multiple column outlines are some of the impossible print features on the Web. We should admit these dissimilarities at the moment: never take the Web for an online print version; instead, utilize the Web’s basic potential to the fullest.
Image Replacement
So, what does image replacement entail? We have looked at font stacks, yet are they not lesser than image replacement? However, it all depends on your perception: having the capacity to showcase the actual Font you wish for or creating vibrant, manageable and SEO-optimised content? Some image replacement methods have greatly advanced, yet they are still less flexible than plain text. It works better for excerpts and headers, yet it is never a body text solution
6. Include White Space to Enhance Elements in Your Design
Negative or white space is all about what isn’t there. Like leading and measuring, white space allows the text to breathe and spatial harmony. You can enhance the elements by including some white space about them. The copy, for instance, must not appear cramped. To guarantee readability, ensure paragraphs have adequate padding.
7. Make Sure All Elements Are Connected
In this case, connection speaks of a cohesive and consistent Web design. Both attributes exhibit the design’s professionalism (therefore, the designer). The attributes are very wide. Hence, design requires more consistent colors, font range, and icons. These features are critical; a design might look superior yet remain inconsistent.
If your design is not consistent, the unity on the user’s part will be missing. Unity differs slightly from consistency. It involves how the various design elements relate and team up. For instance, do the graphics and colors match? Does each element contribute to a unified message? On its part, inconsistency may be slightly erred, but it won’t affect the design.
Perhaps, unity is critical of both. Devoid of unity, creating a great design can be impossible. “Connection” remains the main part of the 7 rules discussed in this post. It involves all elements: grid, balance, color, graphics, white space and type. It works more or less like glue the holds everything together. Devoid of this adhesive, your design is bound to fall apart. You may have an appealing design and a dazzling and accurately selected color palette; however, if your graphics are terrible or don’t match or everything is poorly crammed together, the design will likely fall.
As such, it remains the most challenging part of web designing. It isn’t something you can easily learn. It requires some natural talent and professionalism to execute. However, it remains the same and ensures your design looks great, at last.