Rules for Web Designing
From LoveToKnow Web-Design
Anyone can learn how to make web pages, but there are some rules for web designing that any would-be web designer should follow in order to make their site easy to use as well as simple to maintain.
The Importance of Web Designers
Anyone who takes the time to create web pages are essential to keeping the retail world moving forward. It is a web designer that is responsible for putting web sites like eBay, Amazon and other sites that generate billions of dollars of revenue on the Internet. They create, program and maintain every aspect of those web sites to keep them moving forward and changing with the times instead of folding up and dying. Even in a recession, these sites of commerce continue to earn money. Even sites like MySpace, Facebook and YouTube would not exist if not for a web designer. The rules for web designing can be stretched to some degree, because without experimentation we would never make any advancements in Internet technology.
The Rules for Web Designing
In the world of web design, just as in scary movies, there are rules that must be followed in order to remain relatively safe from the chopping block. These rules can include anything from color schemes and images to design style points. All of these things matter a great deal to the person making the site, the person paying for the site and especially to the person viewing the site.
Web Site Images
The graphics you use on your web site tell a story. If you are creating a site dedicated to the fashion world, you will want to include photos of the fashion (obviously). You may also want to include a picture of the models you like to use or the designers, and maybe even folks hard at work creating the fashions. A web site that has bare walls looks unfinished to someone that is visiting your site. Some rules to follow for images include:
- Make them 256 colors (you can take a photo, crop it, change mode and then change amount of colors).
- JPG images are the desired image format, though many people still use the GIF format.
- Use images sparingly, and stay within reason by not loading down a page with images that blink, flash or use sparkles unless you’re putting together a source of images for MySpace.
These days, web sites use graphics to frame out the page in unique ways. These should follow the same rules as normal images, but be sure to make them as one image then you cut and code around them to form your page.
Color Scheme and Background Images
The colors you use on your site are very important to the feel of your site as well as the style. If you are using images to frame your page, then your colors should match those images. Buy a color wheel and use it to your advantage, because it will tell you what colors look good together and what colors just will not work. You will turn people away from your site if you are giving them headaches from bad color choices - like using yellow and blue, red and blue or lime green and purple.
Background images are a trend that has lived a full and healthy life, but it’s time to lay them to rest. Images that are used as background tend to take away from the images that are actually needed on the site, and text rarely shows up well on them. The only time where a background image makes sense is if the web site uses CSS to create layers above the background.
Design Language
There is no set rule defining what language to use, and usually the best course of action is to combine the most popular languages. You can utilize HTML with XHTML, as well as incorporating StyleSheets. There are some outdated tags you will rarely see put use these days like frames and tables.
The Bells and Whistles aka Multimedia
Although adding multimedia content sounds appealing (and it is), it should be done tastefully. Background MIDI music is no longer used because it’s very annoying, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use music. Set the mood with MP3s, but set them up so that they can be turned off. Embedded videos are great, as are flash movies and animations, but many of those require plug-ins to see them, and some people don’t like installing extra software to their computers.
Keep it Simple
In the end, the rule of the day is moderation. Keep the site simple so it’s fast to load, regardless of the visitor’s connection. Also keep monitor size in mind, and use programs like FrontPage for its preview option, so that you can preview your site in different browsers and at different sizes. This is an invaluable tool that can help you design your site for everyone to enjoy.
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This page has been accessed 503 times. This page was last modified 17:24, 18 February 2009.
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