Graphic Design For The Novice Website Designer
To design and publish a website is easier, now more than ever, with modern software. These easy-to-use tools give simple, intuitive, graphical interface that takes the place of those cryptic computer codes. But a simple interface doesn't ensure production of a good site. For those who disregard careful web design, the usability and simplicity of such programs makes it simpler to create unreadable, lousy, and unusable sites. This article gives basic instructions for good site design that applies to any web design software bundle.
The most important rule of graphic design is that the web pages that are designed must be easily read. A lot of people have encountered web pages with complicated backgrounds behind text that they couldn't read. The text color and background color should be opposites, such as white and black. If you want a fancier background to improve the look of the page, offset blocks of text with one vivid, opposite background color.
Text size should be large enough to read, but not so large that a small block of text dominates the page. Link colors should likewise be easily distinguished from regular text. Text should be centered for headlines, and justified on both sides for paragraphs. Most modern browsers support fully justified text. Older browsers which don't support fully justified text will simply disregard the command and present the text aligned only on the left side. Fully justified text will make the page more appealing to the majority of web site visitors.
Your next guideline of graphic design refers to the easiness of the web page to navigate. The rule is every web page should be accessed in three clicks of the mouse. You can use a a table of of contents or another type of menu to help keep your site easy to navigate and organized, you can also use frames, which are pages within pages. The frame that consists of the table of contents should be on the left side of the page, while the links that open other frames should be on the right. This will keep your user fixed to your main page.
A website should not be difficult to find. Using carefully selected keywords placed in various locations throughout the site will make it much easier for the various search engines to list the site properly according to its purpose. This will then make it easier for those using search engines to find the site. Many of the search engines out there have search engine submission forms that help the search engine to both find and properly categorize the site.
Utilizing website software development tools and paying attention to the basic rules for good graphic design, even the most inexperienced web designer can create a functional, attractive site. And by putting in a bit of computer time and effort, a beginning web designer can amass the experience needed to acquire one of the plentiful web design jobs that are available in today's marketplace.
With the assistance of modern software, developing a web site has never been easier. Attention must still be paid to the elements of good design, as well as navigability, usability, and readability. This article offers insight into the fundamentals of good web site design that can be applied to any web design software package. The most important thing to remember about using graphic design to create web design jobs, is to keep the page easy to read. Remember that search engine submission will further help serve your site to people who are seeking sites on a particular subject.
Published September 24th, 2008
Filed in Internet
