Transcript
Definition of Web Design What is Web Design?
Wikipedia:
“Web Design is a skill of creating presentations of content (usually hypertext or hypermedia that is delivered to an end-user through the World Wide Web, by way of a Web browser or either Web-enabled software like Internet television clients, microblogging clients and RSS feeders.”
Introduction Think of something anyone can do?
Answer: Make an ugly Web page.
To avoid making an ugly Web page, we need to learn the basic design principles.
Four basic concepts: alignment, proximity, rhythm/repetition, and contrast + one additional: spelling
Results: From dorky to professional looking pages
How do users think? In order to use the principles properly we first need to
understand:
How users interact with Web sites.
How they think
What are the basic patterns of users’ behavior
How do users think? Users don’t read, they scan.
Web users are impatient and insist on instant gratification.
Users don’t make optimal choices.
Users follow their intuition.
Users want to have control.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo_a2cfBUGc
Alignment Alignment: Items on the page are lined up with
each other Two types of alignment: Horizontal alignment Vertical alignment.
Choose one horizontal alignment and one vertical alignment. Use them on the entire site. Don’t mix alignments.
Get the text away from the left edge. This means indent your text so the text doesn’t appear in long, dorky, difficult-to-read lines.
Type sits on an invisible line called the “baseline”.
Proximity Proximity: Relationships that items develop when they
are close together, in close proximity.
Be conscious of the space between elements.
Group together
Space them apart
Difference between a paragraph and a break: <P> and <BR>
Rythms & Repetition Rhythm: Associate elements by repeating a
common stylistic feature or arrangement Repetition: Throughout a project you repeat
certain elements that tie all the disparate parts together.
Repetition elements that unify the entire site: Navigation buttons Colors Style Illustrations Format Layout Typography
Contrast Contrast: What draws your eyes onto the page.
Contrasting elements guide your eyes into the page, create a hierarchy of information, and enable you to skim through the vast array of information and pick out what you need
Contrast Contrast elements:
Style
Colors
Graphic signposts
Spatial arrangement
Exception: If you want people to sit and read through an entire piece, avoid contrast so the page can be bland and uninterrupted.
Squint Test Easy way to assess the overall contrast of your page
Technique: Close your eyelids so your eyes are about three quarters closed, so that normal text becomes blurred and unreadable.
Contrast Create a focal point: Something must be the
dominating force, and the other elements follow a hierarchy from that point down. The focus is created through contrast.
Spell it Right! Bad spelling and bad grammar can destroy the
professional effect of your web site
Use spell checker
http://spellr.us/files/university-release.html
Combine the principles Applying any one of these principles will radically
improve the design of your web pages, you will generally find yourself applying more than one principle, and probably all four.
Summary of the principles: Spelling Contrast Repetition Alignment Proximity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF_mWi6r-9I
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