Have you designed a website yet? Are you getting ready to design a website? The first web designed site was published in August of 1991. Over 20 years ago! It was coded in html. I have been designing websites for several years. There have been different trends in web design, just like in graphic design. Recently, I have noticed more websites spanning out across the screen horizontally. This is to take away from the traditional scroll down page or to make it easier to view and use. There are four majors tips that will help you overall as a web designer by ensuring better client satisfaction.
The first task you want to do when designing your website is to pick a color scheme and stick with it. Too often you find website palette colors that actually turn off the viewer. This is where the human factors come into play. It is best to do your research of your client and their target market to ensure better favorability and the proper company image. With that being said, you want to also make sure that the colors you choose are compatible or web friendly. If you are designing the artwork in Photoshop you will want to make sure you are designing in RGB mode. CMYK mode is for printing; which overall it darkens the image for print. The most common web page color schemes are (red, yellow, and white), (blue and white), (red, grey, and white), (blue, orange, and white), or (yellow, grey, and white).
Next objective is creating the content layout. This one can be tricky when the client wants a lot of different items on the front page. It is best to research different ideas to gain more of an inspiration when dealing with these types of clients. A layout trend now involves heavy graphics and little content. This catches the viewer’s eye and speaks a thousand words. It is important to include an about us with a mission statement; therefore, the viewer can connect with the product/page. It is all about giving the viewer or potential client an experience that they enjoy and want to return to or share with their friends. So it obviously, has to be user friendly. A couple user friendly tips is are, making sure the viewer does not have to click a lot to get what they want and making sure navigation is easily remembered when they want to find a certain item on the webpage.
Logo design is another item of vital importance. You are designing a brand to accompany the logo. I think designers often forget the business side of a webpage. It is important to market products in the proper areas. When the logo design is placed effectively it remains memorable and can be timeless. The top part of a web page is considered to be prime real estate because that is what the viewer first sees when landing on the page. This is where the logo should go. However, the alignment is completely up to you as a designer. I have designed webpages with the logo in the middle, on the left and right. It just depends on the layout and feel of the page. You want to make a bold statement with the logo so it stands out and makes an impact.
Social Media Customization is something that I have gotten into doing more recently. It gives the viewer another connection to correlate the company through a more familiar outlet. Social media has been known to give a company more life and to reach out to fans on a more personal level. In the past, websites only had contact forms or numbers to call. However, it is easy to tweet about a place, product or even post a related picture. That is why social media is important to any webpage because it is enhancing that experience.
As a beginning designer, there is a lot to learn about the ins and outs; but hopefully this article helped get you organized to start your project. Design is always changing and it is important to have the drive to continually learn as it will keep your work competitive and your mind sharp. There are many tutorials out there that you can learn and benefit from. Over the years, I have learned that designing is a process. Creative blocks do happen. In order to get back on track, take a break and look at some inspirational work as there is plenty of it out there. Now, you are well on your way to creating a good solid website that you can be proud of.