Web design is the skill of creating presentations of content presented on the World Wide Web. Yes, web design like print design is a skill most often handled by gifted graphic designers. Whether one is a graphic designer or a novice at web design, there are some basic visual web design principles that can be learned and implemented to improve a website’s visual web design.
Why is there such an emphasis on good visual web design?
Good visual web design conveys a strong impression of a business, it communicates a companies’ personality and is often the web user’s first insight on a company.
What defines good web design?
Good visual web design enables site users to easily accomplish their goals.
Proper visual information organization of a website for end-users, provides an emotional impact, and can direct your audience to the important elements you wish to showcase on the website.
After reading some articles on color schemes and visual design, some elements of good web design can be summarized by some top tips I have found.
- Font choice / typography – Font should be easy to read. Use of fancy or non-standard fonts may not display the same across mutliple browsers. Too many font types can be distracting and confusing. Along the same lines, using too large a font, using too small a font, or too many fonts can cause a web user to find it hard to focus on a site. Beside user dislike, these issues can present a problem for readability and therefore accessibility on website.
- Including Images – Images help retain user attention, and reduce the user drop-off rates.
- Long Paragraphs, No Breaks – Long run-on content is hard for a web user to read. Content should be broken into different paragraphs for clearer and easier reading.
- Heavy Flash - Flash intensive sites can result in slower loading times, lack of accessibility (must download plugin in some cases), and maybe prove to deter some web users.
- Too Powerful Background - Using bold or busy image in the background can hinder the web user from reading content.
- Advertisements/ Popups OverKill - Users bombarded with advertisements or unnecessarily pop-ups can become easily annoyed and frustrated, pushing a user to leave a website.
- Invisible Links – Links should be marked by text decoration or coloration. A web user can be annoyed searching for a link.
- Color Schema – Choice of color is an important part of website branding as well as creates a “mood” for the website. Colors should be choosen carefully with target audience in mind.
- Whitespace – Whitespace can offer a clean presentation, providing padding or breaks in content as another tool of organization.
In summary, visual web design is an important factor in creating a good web presence, promoting accessibility, and retaining a web user.
Sources: Wikipedia, 1stWebDesigner, Opera Development
