Tips For A Web Designer

One of the toughest challenges facing any designer is the web page. There are perhaps millions of pages in the World Wide Web all jostling for attention. The question that is foremost is how you as a designer can make a difference. 

Study the subject being featured. Visit as many sites as possible that cover the same as well as related topics. Make a list of what works and what doesnt. Avoid using a design that is going to be uniform with others. Unless your pages are distinctive they are not going to work.

1. Try and avoid run of the mill things like page counters, java text scrolling, flashing images, GIF images, signs which say we are not ready. Or, too many illustrations or animations, black grounds or fade ins.

2. Create a design which coveys in a stylish way what it has to. Instead of using downloaded illustrations use original ones. 

3. Avoid things like heavy files or graphics. These will slow down your pages. GIF is better than JPEG files. 

4. Think of the target audience and subject being addressed when designing. The overall effect should be that of exclusivity. 

5. Avoid incorporating download plugins. While Flash is innovative and fun you will loose viewers if you dont provide an HTML alternative.

6. Design the pages so that they are not more than 50K.

7. Remember the rule of thumb; a web page should not have more than three screens. And, ensure that the viewer does not have to scroll horizontally.

8. Test your website pages with several browsers. Make sure they open quickly and completely. Do a reality check by asking a cross section of users to check the site. Usability checking will bring to the fore any mistakes made.

9. Dont use backgrounds with tiles or patterns it makes the design fussy and decreases readability. Avoid frames they make the pages difficult to book mark.

10. Determine accurately the rules of creative design and ensure that you apply them. If you have links make sure they work. Limit page content. Pay attention to search engine optimization. Ensure that the design follows the content and is not a separate element. Maintain archives. Use innovative fonts and titles. The content should follow basic elements of style or a style sheet.

When designing the web page think about the site as a whole not each page separately. There should continuity in design. Include a site map for easy navigation. Pay attention to imparting knowledge, include information on the subject of the site, give tips, make available how to articles as well as publications on the topic. The site and pages should be interactive without being a nuisance, so links must be well thought of and of practical use.

Keep in mind at all times the 5 golden principles of design: balance, rhythm, proportion, dominance, and unity. 

About the Author: Paul Wilson is a freelance writer for http://www.1888Discuss.com/web-design/ web design Singapore

Web Design Flaws

These days, everyone is trying to become a Web designer with a relatively simply web design Singapore packages readily available, but is this wise, or is it giving them a headache? If you have the time, the panache, and the vision for your organization's website, you will have no doubt in designing yourself. But have you ever thought why the visitors are turning off from your website? Well then there are a number of guaranteed ways to turn-off visitors to your web site. Turn-offs generally can be defined as anything that obstructs the user from quick and easy use of your site and so these factors requires special consideration and attention as you either design a site, or revise a site.

Your website is highly important for your online business and you should observe those rules of thumb and avoid common blunders with an eye toward making them less common if you want it to achieve good results. Some of the common mistakes are:

1. Overly wordy web designs that make your website loaded with problems including perception, a comprehension, and a design. It will be wise to slice it down by being brief to drive the online visitor to take action. 

2. Ugly web designs consists of pixilated graphics that were not sized for the screen, a lack of integrated design, and the use of free clip art instead of artwork designed specifically for your pages. 

3. Useless Website- that is your website does not have a point to make, a mission statement of its very own. Your website does not offers excellent content which can be graphics, text or interactive features. 

4. Lack of traffic flow planning is a common flaw in web design, especially inexpert design. A good website is equipped for its user with easy navigation tools effective enough to persuade the user to whip out their credit card, send an email, or download something fascinating. 

5. Lack of tracking features keeps you aloof of the necessary information of whether or not your website is meeting its mission which is very important for the progress of your website. Therefore the tracking feature is the only way to you will be able to measure the level of progress. 

The criteria for good web design Singapore depends upon the person and the purpose of each site and these common mistakes all point to a lack of forethought on the part of the would-be web designer.

written by: Brad smith

graphic design mistakes

1. Using web graphics on printed material.
With many young designers coming from a pre-dominantly web design background the transfer over from web design Singapore to traditional design for print can bring with it a multitude of design sins. Images supplied at 72dpi and crunched down to load fast on a website are going to reproduce very badly in print you can get away with small thumbnails but blowing things up to any appreciable size is going to be pushing your luck. There are a number of online sites offering free or very cheap quality hi resolution images which are a good source for suitable imagery.

2. Forgetting about or not allowing enough bleed.
A very common error is to send to print a document or flattened image that has no bleed at all. Generally speaking you should allow at least 3mm around every cut off edge. Failing to do so will give the printers no leeway and will either crop off the side of the page or give you a white border. It is always a good idea when supplying image files to save layered psd files then if things need extending or cropping you can do this on the background layer and hopefully cut down your work

3. Using obscure fonts and not embedding or outlining them for output.
We've all been guilty of this at some point and things are generally fine if you are going to be the only person accessing your artwork or documents. However if someone else needs to amend the files or use your vector logo on one of there publications. Unless you package up the used fonts, they are not going to be able to open the files correctly and some software programs may replace any unknown fonts with a default. This is a particular problem when you need to dig out stuff that was created several years previously and you no longer have your old fonts installed.

4. Supplying print ready artwork using spot colours or rgb
There are valid reasons for using spot colours in artwork, logos that need to reference particular pantone colours for example. In general design work however most print is sent through on 4 colour presses CMYK with occasional 5th colour for luminoius or metallic colour or for spot UV varnish. It is very common for lazy designers to just place rgb images into files and expect the vibrant colours seen on screen to reproduce in print.

5. Allowing design illiterate clients to lead you round the houses
The customer is always right, goes the old adage. However it is often said with gritted teeth and a sense of patience that recognizes that these morons will at some stage be handing over a fat cheque for your troubles. It is often a good idea when first submitting visuals to throw in a couple of stinkers to hopefully get them to appreciate the design you would like them to accept. There is the very real danger of course of them loving the piece of absolute arsewipe that you knocked up in five minutes to make them think you've been earning your money. Still it's a living. website design company Singapore

Advantage of Excellent Website Designing

A basic knowledge of how html and graphic design works will go a long way in designing a website you can be proud of. Color choice should also be dictated by other, less obvious goals, when designing or re-vamping a website. In designing your website, you should be conscious of all the components that go into successful development and how to use them to your most excellent advantage.

When designing your website, remember to get as much meat or substance to the top of your code just below the tag as you can. As a substitute of designing a sale-oriented website, all they're trying to do is designing a "thing of beauty". A company specializes in building, designing, implementing, managing and maintaining corporate website to boost sales of your company. It?s not designing the website that counts but how the website is designed.

You are designing a website for a client and are confused by the terminology, you may want to bring it to their attention and help them rework the copy, so that all their customers understand it. Design depends on individual taste and designing a website from a first draft that the client will like from the start, can be a real challenge.

There are some very important things you must do SEO-wise while designing your website. For help visit: Web Design Singapore the first step to implementing a website is to design the directory structure. Designing for color-blind browsers although designing a website for the colorblind will not limit your color palette, you?ll need to be wary of the color combinations that you use. Layout is particularly important in designing your website.

Business owners and marketers have a tendency to think in broad terms about their marketing objective by focusing on ones such as ?generating traffic? or ?designing a website. It always happens that html editors write clumsy tags, especially when you amend the webpage layout again and again during your website designing process, which may possibly deter search engines from reading your web page and in turn poorly affect your search engine ranking. Building and designing website is not as difficult as you think.

In summary, there is much to consider when designing a website. Color choice should also be dictated by other, less obvious goals, when designing or re-vamping a website. When designing your website you must make allowances for the lowest possible common browser.

Database templates also facilitate you to make changes to your site much more easily, and help you change certain elements without recreating the entire page from scratch.

Essentials of Small Business Website Design

Singapore website design is made with the aim of driving customers to buy products through the site. This means your service provider has to come up with a design to allure people and appeal them for a purchase. The design must be aesthetically pleasing and functionally satisfying! Here are a few tips to achieve your dream of having an effective Singapore web design: 

Having structured and defined paths 

It is difficult to influence customers to buy without a proper outline to guide them into the buying process. A definite, well-structured path will make it easy. Including a flowchart, for instance, showcasing the different webpage elements along with path direction for each simplifies the things for the visitors. A small business web design with attention paid to such details can really take the purchase rate up. 

Easily locatable and prominent product buttons 

It’s good if you have the product buttons displayed right on the home page. The product button would directly take the customer to the product page, and the purchase decision would be speedier. More clear the visibility of it more are the chances of having a successful purchase. A good custom web designing company understands this. You would find a high-quality website designing approach to include placing of these product buttons on the top left hand corner as this area is most frequently seen by customers. Size of fonts and selection of colors also play a vital role here. 

Accurate search results 

Not having search buttons in your Small Business web design is disastrous. Not just having them but them yielding the accurate results is also utmost necessary. A query or search result should ideally spot the desired product description webpage. By these features, you are actually making the customers narrow down their search of what they are looking for. 

Display of price 

Every vendor wants a maximum conversion rate. This is only possible if the customers’ online experience is hassle free. If they have to click too much for gaining product information, they may turn down. Displaying the price upfront will help minimize the number of clicks for product knowledge, thereby increasing the chances of purchase. 

A high-quality Small Business website design cannot afford to ignore the above-mentioned elements.

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Planning Your New Website

With over 15 billion searches being made each month (comScore research) you already know that your small business should own a piece of virtual real estate so it can take advantage of this enormous market place called the internet. But before you race off and slap up a website design, take a moment and think about just what it is you want to accomplish. 

Think about it for a minute. If you want to sell directly to a visitor your site is going to look different and function differently than a small local business website that wants to drive traffic to its brick and mortar shop or office. Your website is an extension of your marketing efforts and you should seriously consider just what you want it to do before you start building it. 

Here are a few steps to help you out with your website planning. 

Website Purpose 

As mentioned above, you have to understand why you’re creating the site. Take the time to reduce what you want from the website to writing. Brainstorm with your partners or friends, or even better, with your customers and find out what they would like to see. If you do a good job with this task you’ll end up with an impossibly long list of objectives ranging from lead generation to providing online customer service. 

Take that list and prioritize it by importance. Once you’ve done that, look at the top three or four objectives. These will be your primary goals. You’re new at this; don’t try to create the perfect website on your first time out. As you gain experience the website will evolve and at some point you will have covered every item on your prioritized list. The important thing is to get started and if you wait until you have what you think is the perfect design you will have missed out on significant opportunities. 

Website Appearance 

There is an incredible number of design options that are limited only by your imagination and budget. One way to make choosing a web design plan a bit easier is by doing a little comparison shopping. Visit your competitors’ sites and write down what you like and what you don’t. Go through the same exercise with sites that come up on the first page of a search engine after you enter a query that’s relevant to your business. Pay particular attention to the ease of navigation, number of panels in the layout, color schemes used and the type and placement of graphics, videos and photographs. 

Review your list and then sketch out what you would like your home page to look like. Once you’re satisfied with the rough design it’s time to think about building. 

Website Platform 

A platform is the software that the website resides on. The free platform WordPress has become extremely popular with small businesses because of its built in features that eliminate much of the technical design and development skills required. Of course there are other options as well, some free and some that cost. 

Before you make a decision on which platform you’re going to use, do some research and get a feel what other webmasters think of the product. Remember, your site is not going to be a static sales brochure. You’ll be making updates on a regular basis and you want a platform that is not only easy to use but that doesn’t take all day to modify. 

If you follow these three steps you should be in a pretty good position to go forward with an actual website design and launch. Remember, these sites are not carved out of granite. As you get experience with traffic you can modify and optimize your design to better achieve your objectives. 

So now go put on your webmaster hat with the Nike swoosh on it and “Just Do It”.

The 14 step process for creating a Website Design Interface

Step 1: Know Your User or Client. To begin, an understanding of the most important system or Web site component, the user or client, must be obtained. Understanding people and what they do is a critical and often difficult and undervalued process. The first step in the design process involves identifying people’s innate and learned characteristics, and understanding how they affect design. 

Step 2: Understand the Business Function. A system or Web site must achieve the business objectives for which it is designed. To do so requires an understanding of the goals of the system and the functions and tasks performed. Determining basic business functions, describing user activities through task analysis, understanding the user’s mental model, and developing a conceptual model of the system accomplish this. The system’s conceptual model must fit the user’s view of the tasks to be performed. 

Step 2 also addresses the establishment of design standards or style guides, and the definition of training and documentation needs. 

Step 3: Understand the Principles of Good Interface and Screen Design. A well designed screen must reflect the needs and capabilities of its users, be developed within the physical constraints imposed by the hardware on which it is displayed, and effectively utilize the capabilities of its controlling software. Step 3involves understanding the capabilities of, and limitations imposed by, people, hardware, and software in designing screens and Web pages. It presents an enormous number of general design guidelines for organizing and presenting information to people. 

Step 4: Develop System Menus and Navigation Schemes. Graphical systems and Websites are heavily menu-oriented. Menus are used to designate commands, properties that apply to an object, documents, and windows. To accomplish thesegoals, a variety of menu styles are available to choose from. Step 4 involves understanding how menus are used, and selecting the proper kinds for specific tasks. The principles of menu design are described, and the purpose and proper usage of various menu types are detailed. In these step guidelines for Web site navigation are also presented. Topics addressed include the elements of Web navigation such as links, navigation aids, and search facilities. 

Step 5: Select the Proper Kinds of Windows. Graphical screen design consists of a series of windows. Step 5 involves understanding how windows are used and selecting the proper kinds for the tasks. The elements of windows are described, and the purpose and proper usage of various types of windows are detailed. The step concludes with a discussion of Web browsers. 

Step 6: Select the Proper Interaction Devices. In addition to the keyboard, a system or Web site might offer the user a mouse, trackball, joystick, graphic tablet, touchscreen, light pen, or some other similar device. Step 6 consists of identifying the characteristics and capabilities of these various control mechanisms and providing the proper ones for users and their tasks. 

Step 7: Choose the Proper Screen-Based Controls. The designer is presented with an array of controls to choose from. Selecting the right one for the user and the task is often difficult. But as with interaction devices, making the right choice is critical to system success. A proper fit between user and control will lead to fast, accurate performance. A poor fit will result in lower productivity, more errors, and often user dissatisfaction. Step 7 consists of identifying the characteristics and capabilities of these various screen-based controls and guidelines for providing the proper ones for users and their tasks. Step 8: Write Clear Text and Messages. Creating text and messages in a form the user wants and understands is absolutely necessary for system acceptance and success. Rules for writing text and messages for systems and Web sites are presented. 

Step 8: Write Clear Text and Messages. Creating text and messages in a form the user wants and understands is absolutely necessary for system acceptance and success. Rules for writing text and messages for systems and Website design are presented. 

Step 9: Provide Effective Feedback and Guidance and Assistance. Effective feedback and guidance and assistance are also necessary elements of good design. This step presents the guidelines for presenting to the user feedback concerning the system and its processing status. It also describes the system response times necessary to meet user needs. Step 9 also describes the kinds of guidance and assistance that should be included in a system, and presents important design guidelines for the various kinds. 

Step 10: Provide Effective Internationalization and Accessibility. People from different cultures, and people who speak different languages may use graphical systems and Websites. Guidelines for accommodating different cultures and languages in a design are presented. People with disabilities may also be users. Design considerations for these kinds of users are also described. 

Step 11: Create Meaningful Graphics, Icons, and Images. Graphics, including icons and images, are an integral part of web design. Design guidelines for various types of graphics are presented. Icons are described, including a discussion of what kinds of icons exist, what influences their usability, and how they should be designed so they are meaningful and recognizable. The elements of multimedia presentation are also reviewed. Guidelines presented include those for images, photographs, videos, drawings, animation, and audition. 

Step 12: Choose the Proper Colors. Color, if used properly, can emphasize the logical organization of a screen, facilitate the discrimination of screen components, accentuate differences, and make displays more interesting. If used improperly, color can be distracting and cause visual fatigue, impairing a system’s usability. Step 12 involves understanding color and how to use it effectively on textual and statistical graphics screens, and in Web sites. 

Step 13: Organize and Layout Windows and Pages. After determining all the components of a screen or page, the screen or page must be organized and its elements presented clearly and meaningfully. Proper presentation and organization will encourage the quick and accurate comprehension of information and the fastest possible execution of user tasks. Step 13 addresses the rules for laying out all screen elements and controls in the most effective manner possible. 

Step 14: Test, Test, and Retest. A host of factors must be considered in design and numerous trade-offs will have been made. Indeed, the design of some parts of the system may be based on skimpy data and simply reflect the most educated guess possible. Also, the implications for some design decisions may not be fully appreciated until the results can be seen. Waiting until after a system has been implemented to uncover any deficiencies and make any web design changes can be aggravating, costly, and time-consuming. To minimize these kinds of problems, interfaces and screens must be continually tested and refined as development proceeds. Step 14 reviews the kinds of tests that can be performed, and discusses creating, evaluating, and modifying prototypes in an iterative manner. It also reviews final system testing and ongoing evaluations of working systems.

http://www.leveljam.com

Some Simple Tips on How to Optimize Alt Texts

One area where web design Singapore and search engine optimization (SEO) professionals usually butt heads is over the use of images as text instead of actual plain text, usually done in the navigation or other important elements of a web design Singapore. This can cripple an SEO implementation by limiting the effectiveness of elements that could have been textually based, as text is much more effective for interlinking. This is just one area where image alt text can be very useful. 

Alt text — which are found in the “alt” portion of image tag — allows you to add a short descriptor of the image, whether it’s a photograph, a navigational element or some other useful image or graphic. Alt text allows you to describe to users who hover their mouse over an image what they’re seeing, but for SEO, Services, it also gives the search engine more information than the image’s file name might. Optimizing image alt text is a part of any effective on-site SEO campaign, and in this article, we’ll give you some tips on how to optimize alt texts to make them more useful and effective. 

First, if there is text in your image, make sure your alt text matches it precisely. If it’s a one-word image such as menu item, for example, you would include this word in your alt text, as well as possibly a short description of the menu item. This gives the search engine some idea as to what that element is all about. 

Secondly, for pictures and other descriptive images, you want at most a sentence describing what users can see in that picture, and again, it has to match what the picture actually is. Google’s crawlers can’t see images, but humans can, and if one of Google’s engineers see that you’re filling your image alt tags with irrelevant information, it could raise red flags. 

Finally, not every image has to have an alt text in it. You wouldn’t add alt text to transparent spacer images used to align other elements of a page together, for example, but you would add alt text to all important and relevant images on a page. Alt text doesn’t carry the weight of actual readable text in the eyes of the search engines, but it’s better having it than not.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/web_design_and_development/article_2740.shtml

What Are The Basics Of Web Design?

Web design uses almost all those elements as used in print design. One requires exploring layout and space, manage colours and fonts, and arrange it all together in a format in order to put all the intended messages across. Those resources will enable one know details of web design even if one is a professional web developer or just on one’s beginning stage leading to the web arena. 

Understanding of Designing Elements: 

One must know that a good web design is equivalent to the good design. If anyone has the right understanding about the elements that appropriately suits with a good design, then one will undoubtedly have a Web page that works well. One applies those elements of good design if and when one is producing a web page, a business card, or a raiment logo, and once one makes out them and their necessities and differences, one will acquire the skills and expertise that requires for becoming a great web designer. 

Use of Colours: 

Colour is present everywhere. With it we make our world up and help ourselves see things from different angles. In short, it is what as we see the things around us and as we dress up our world. The ‘red’ or the ‘black’ is not mere colour; they have meaning beyond their apparent looks. And they have larger important effects on design elements. The pools of colours show influences in their varieties as how they could be used effectively in web designing services. 

Application of Web design software: 

"What You See Is What You Get" [WYSIWYG] editor is a popular preference among most of the web designers. It has become popular because this editor provides a visual interface to the design effects. At the same time, it should be remembered there are more opportunities and resources than they meet the eyes. Only web editor could not have brought about such a revolution unless there have been other designing tools. 

Fundamentals of Web Layouts: 

Layout comes at the very onset of web designing services. It is the proper arrangement of elements on web pages. It is very necessary to begin with basic design rules. If and when one understands them, one can proceed across how to place elements on one’s web pages. 

Usefulness of Images & Graphics: 

If one wants to apply and bring about an environment of fun and frolic, the graphics and their use will be best considered. The effects of graphics are so long extensive that it reminds us of the proverb "a picture is worth one thousand words". This proverb is also applicable to the web designing service and their uses of images and graphics. 

Usefulness of Navigation Interfaces: 

When a website is live on the internet, there are all chances that visitors may come to the web pages of the website. On visiting the website, visitors may want to know what the purpose of the website is. And for this reason, they may go to one page to another. This is called navigation. There should be all browser compatible navigation interfaces, where from the visitors can move through one page to another and see the objectives of the website as a whole and at the same time see the image and graphic application. 

The purpose of a website design is well fulfilled only if the website is professionally designed and in this case professional web designing tops the list of priorities. Only a professionally designed website can bring in desired business and return on investment on a quicker pace.

http://www.chromewebsolutions.com

Getting creative with CSS3

Getting creative with CSS3 

CSS3 is used in organizing the style and layout of Web pages. It is the latest standard in the CSS series. CSS3 offers a wide variety of new trends to make an impact with your web designs. With many exciting new functions and features, CSS can be used as a powerful tool in website designing and development. A CSS3 refers to the technical stipulation of a layout. It ensures that a web page will appear precisely the way the website developer has specified. 

As a website designer we have to look into the capabilities of CSS3 and need to make the most of it. The basic approach of CSS3 in web designing is to make the web page user friendly by removing loads of complications from it. The changes that CSS3 has brought into the website development market are quite amazing. Using CSS3 can speed up the process of website design and development and also speed up your web site. 

Using CSS3 to your Advantage 

Keep all the things side apart, here are some advantages of CSS3 for you: 

1. Better search engine results: 

With CSS3, you can keep your HTML code much cleaner which in turn helps search engine crawler in getting the real content from your site very easily. You can also put any content anywhere in your web page and no longer each individual page have to be simplified to replicate the new style. By using this website design technique you will make much greater consistency throughout the site easily. 

2. Lightweight coding: 

In the field of website development, no one likes to wait for anything to come. This condition also applies in loading of web pages. When a website page takes a lot of time to load, generally users leave that page. By using CSS3, web pages can be made lighter which will allow the site to load faster. As table layout format is not used in CSS3, the sites acquire less memory and load faster. 

3. Accessibility and usability: 

In website designing you have to make it understandable that the content of the site must be validated in all formats of the browsers. A web designer has better control over a website by using CSS3. CSS3 allows for more compatible style elements, including font size and line heights through which web pages can be used more easily by people with disabilities. Website developers can craft specific CSS files especially for printing, or mobile devices, as well as the customary computer screen and in doing so making websites fully multimedia applications. 

4. Isolation and Differentiation: 

With the introduction of the CSS3 format, website designers have a lot to offer in development of a web page. CSS3 allows changes and modifications to be made in individual modules. CSS3 format helps users in separating presentation from structures. In this technique, style sheets defined presentational characteristics whereas the document structures were defined in separate heading. This eases the maintenance of the web page in efficient and comfortable manner. 

When you start styling your content with CSS3 modules, you will probably never want to go back to using the old tags for styling. 

You must use CSS3 to determine its full potential. Flexibility is the most useful features of using Cascading Style Sheets. One of the important things you require to gaze at before using this technique is what browsers the greater part of your users uses to visit your website. The reason behind this question is that it sometimes may be very difficult to make your CSS sprites friendly with many of the browsers depending on the techniques you use.

http://www.sonitek.ca

Layout

Above the fold is gold. In the newspaper industry important stories are placed on the top half of the page - this is known as 'above the fold'. This is prime real estate because it's where readers first look. Use this approach when designing your website. Put your eye-grabbing content at the top. Don't eat up the top of the page with ads and graphics which force your visitors to scroll down the window to find out what you have to say.

Less is more

'Less is more' are words to live by. Since you only have a few seconds to capture a user's interest don't waste any of them with bloated pages that take too long to load. Potential visitors will just hit 'cancel' and move on to the next guy. Keep in mind that not everyone has a high-speed internet connection. Try to keep the file size at the bare minimum. That may mean you have to lose that 'really cool' graphic or flash intro - but ask yourself - does it add to what you are saying or is it just eye candy? Honestly, no one cares how long you worked on the razzle-dazzle - they just want to find the answer to their problem. Is the solution really going to be found in your photoshop masterpiece? If not, ditch it.

Be consistent

Make it easy for your visitors to find their way around by keeping navigation menus in the same place from page to page. The most common places are a vertical strip at the top left or a horizontal bar at or near the top of the page. Familiarity make users feel at ease, don't make them guess what to do with each page they load. The same goes for link colors - use the same color and style for links throughout your website so they know what is a link and what is not.

Break it up

Divide your content into logical blocks. Use headlines, subheadlines and paragraphs to guide your users through your copy. Nobody wants to fight their way through a big, grey wall of text. Cut it into bite-size pieces readers can digest.

http://www.websitedesignbasics.com

Untitled

Good typography is part of web page design and is necessary to communicate with your users. Your typography should be pleasing to look at and easy to read.

Designing for the computer screen offers unique challenges. Unlike text on a printed page, the web designer does not have complete control over how their text will appear on screen. Users can decide to change the fonts you have selected and their size. Another problem is that your webpage will appear differently depending on which browser it is being viewed. Keeping this in mind, design your website so that it will be legible with a wide variety of settings.

Typeface

The typeface you select will set the feel of your web site. Fonts are generally divided between two groups: serif and sans-serif.

Serifs are the extra lines added to the main strokes of the typeface. In print serif fonts are supposed to be easier to read because the serifs lead the eye across the text. The problem with this, is that printed pages can have a resolution of 2400dpi while a computer screen is limited to about 96dpi. This means that serif fonts on the screen can appear pixilated. Sans-serif fonts generally look cleaner on the screen.

The look of a font should reflect the content of the site. For example, Comic Sans MS is a whimsical font more suited to a children's page than to a corporate website.

Contrast

Contrast is the difference between the colour of the text and the background. Black text on a white background offers the most contrast and makes your text as clear as possible. Avoid using colour combinations that will make it difficult to read. The closer the values are between the text and the background the harder it will be to read.

Line length

Excessive line length can make it difficult to read from the end of one line to the beginning of the next. You can control line length by using BlockQuotes, laying out your page with narrow columns or using <BR> (break) characters where you want to force a carriage return.

Alignment

Text is more easily read if it is aligned left - also known as "ragged right" (the text lines up on the left hand side). Right aligned text and center aligned text are more difficult to read as viewers get lost when finishing one line and looking to find the start of the next.

Emphasis

When you want to draw attention to certain words or phrases you have several options but be aware that they can interfere with legibility. Use these sparingly: 
Bold: The most common and effective method. Don't overuse or it will lose it's impact. 
Italics: Be careful with italics since they can appear jagged and ruin legibility. 
Underline: This can cause confusion as it's understood on the web that underlined words are links. 
Colour: Colour can be an effective way to draw attention although it can also be confused for a link. 
ALL CAPS: Rarely do this as it's considered rude and it's hard to read entire sentences or paragraphs in all caps.

http://www.websitedesignbasics.com

Color - Choose your palette

Many people are terrified when it comes to choosing colors for their website. The vast selection of colors can be overwhelming - but it doesn't need to be. You make color selections every day - from what you wear to the color of rooms in your home.

People have an emotional response to color so you want to pick ones that will complement your website's content. For example you should use bright, saturated colors for a children's page.

Reds: energy, passion, danger 
Blues: calmness, tranquility, stability 
Greens: growth, nature, freshness 
Yellows: happiness, playfulness, sunshine 
Browns: stability, earthy 
Blacks: solomness, mystery, power

Basic color schemes

Monochromatic color scheme The monochromatic color scheme uses a primary color to create an overall mood. Tints and shades of the primary color are used to enhance the scheme. This scheme is easy to balance and is soothing to look at. It can be used with neutral colors like black, white or grey.
Analogous color scheme The analogous color scheme uses adjacent colors on the color wheel. The primary color is dominant while the others are used as highlights. The analogous color scheme is similar to the monochromatic scheme but offers a more vibrant look.
Complementary color scheme The complementary color scheme uses colors that are directly opposite each other on the color wheel. This color scheme creates a high-contrast effect. It is best to use one color as the dominant color and the second color as an accent in your design. This technique will allow you to highlight important information and make it jump out at your readers.

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