Alan’s Basic Web Design Principles

 

     Web design is an art requiring minimal skills and most importantly, an understanding of your audience. The discussion that follows will give you some pointers on how to set up your “e-portfolio.” What is an e-portfolio? It is a collection of Web documents used to support a stated purpose. While this term typically pertains to more business-oriented web pages, the same rules apply to designing all web pages. The following discussion comprises the basic steps that an individual must follow in order to establish a web page.

 

Step 1: Define the Audience and Purpose

 

      Why are you creating a web page? This question is the driving force behind how you structure and design your website, or as noted, your e-portfolio. The purpose of your web site should be apparent on your home web page. This can be done by simply a introducing an objective or purpose statement. Overall, your web page should be inviting and informative.

 

Step 2: Design Your Web Layout

 

     Web content should be concise, well labeled, and formatted for browsing. Ideally, your web page should contain information about who, what, when, and where, so that your visitor has a point of reference. Some web page designers employ what is called a common-zone based layout. This layout consists of a banner/header (usually with a title or name) at the top, content/text in the center, ands footer at the bottom that usually contains navigation links, point of contact, and age of the page. The left side of the web page is part of the content zone and contains a menu of links. Here is an example:

     When completing content information, simply providing a brief overview with links for additional information makes you web page more user friendly. Visitors have a tendency not to read long passages online.

 

Step 3: Site Structure

 

      The structure of a web site is how the various pages of the site are linked together. There are two main schools of thought when it comes to web page length: scrolling or clicking. Long pages of content require the viewer to scroll to see everything while short pages contain clickable links that provide the full content. Overall, Web users prefer small fast loading pages that allow them to click directly to the desired content (see Dallas Cowboys example above). In other words, most people prefer to click rather than scroll.

 

     Since your homepage should serve as the main point of entry, you must decide how you want to organize your links. Thus, your links become a series of additional web pages. Literature recommends that your links be organized in a linear, hierarchical, or grid manner to allow for simple navigating.

 

     Because your homepage is the entry point, literature suggests using the hierarchical structures. Using hierarchical structuring allows you to connect back to your home page and allows you to easily layer your links. The most important point of setting up your website is this: it should be easy to navigate and should be well marked and intuitive for the viewer.

 

Considerations as you progress through the steps:

 

Color

 

     Color impacts the look and feel of your site. Keep in mind that when people speak of colors, they speak of colors as being warm, cool, muted, light, dark and garish. When selecting your colors, there are four primary areas to consider: a color for each text, each link, visited link, and background. Both visited and unvisited links should easily be seen on your background and effortlessly distinguished from one another. Also, differing browsers can impact how the color is viewed on other’s monitors. Because of this, it is wise to be cautious with color selection. Visiting other web sites can assist you in making a decision about what range of colors may be best suited for your website.

 

Background Color

 

     Some issues to consider when selecting a background color are the impact on loading time, web content (would you want Army green for Navy oriented webpage?), readability of text, and image appearance.

 

Fonts and Formatting

 

     Headings should be easily identified and use sentence case, not title case as they would in a written document. You should also consider using tables and bulleted lists. Tables provide white space, make columns, and control the placement of graphic elements. Bulleted lists make items under a heading easy to identify.

 

Selecting a Web Site Host

 

     Some ISPs provide a home web page as part of their subscription. Others are free, such as Geocities and Yahoo. All have differing capabilities and limitations on what a web designer can do with them. Professional designers typically charge larger fees for designing more complex web pages that are aimed at marketing.  Selecting a host for designing your web page is very much dependent on your purpose.

 

     Regardless of the web host you select, all of the steps and development considerations discussed on this page are relevant. Your web host will provide step-by-step directions on how to establish your web site.