Web Design Dos and Donts

[tattoopunk 0]

There are alot of mistakes people make when it comes to designing a webpage. First is over designing a page, you don't want too much information on a single page. This includes pictures as well as text. Noone wants to scroll through pages of text to get to the info they are looking for. The best thing to do is to create a different page for each topic. Pictures, try a thumbnail gallery with individual pages for each image, not a bunch of different sized large ones, it just looks unporfesional.As far as color is concerned, never use yellow (or other light) text on a light background. Also along the line of background selection, try and choose one that is not very busy. Text logo's are a terrible choice, they just don't look good for a background. A nice solid color or a high transparancy pattern can be nice (bonus if you darken the area around the main interface area as to give a nice 3d effect. Also, black tends to be overused, and I'd stray away from it unless it works really well.

[MajesticTreeFrog 0]

Another overlooked piece of web design is to keep it as simple as possible. Figure out the way to arrange and divide sections so that it is easy to find what you are looking for. Avoid things looking 'noisy'. Which generally means keeping things large and clear, using desaturated colors, with good but not extreme contrast.

[ChronicLoser 0]

heh, i am probably one of the worse when it comes to text colors cause I tend to like to make everything color-cordinated...thus making the text a bit hard to read =P but i completely agree with you two. Easy to read content and keeping a webpage moderately long is very important

[whafizi 0]

one thing i know about web design:nvr feel satisfied to what you did. you need others to "judge" your design.it's like having a mirror to see yourself.(too poetic? sorry )

[ChronicLoser 0]

lol, i've noticed that most serious web designers are never satisfied with the result of their site. Perhaps they are simply looking for someone to disagree so they can bask in the self-satisfaction that someone feels otherwise...but they always seem to be unhappy with the result. lol

[tattoopunk 0]

I agree with cronic loser, i think i need to stop being serious and just have some fun. plus i need to figure out whats up with my pages not uploading.

[whafizi 0]

if you talented enough, that's maybe true.but, for a beginner like me, i dont really grasp what the "best design" that users like the most. on the other hand, i like to focuse more on functionality (i.e in web applications), rather then the design, because i like programming/scripting more than designing. that's why i cant really sure if my design is well suited to users eyes.

[tattoopunk 0]

it's not that i'm great, it's just that im a bloddy artist and can't help not being fully satisfied. I just wish I knew more programing.

[Silent Soul X 0]

I have fun designing web pages becuase i find it another challenge that is fun to do, also i have found that it has helped my in certain areas of doing other tasks in programs and just a general understanding oh how it works, and yes i agree it's ment to be fun and also i agree that black is being used to much in web designs. But i suppose it just depends on the content of the website

[iGuest 3]

Seems like some of you guys can team up and create works of art in both design and programming?Things about web design, having the latest in it (software/technology) is not always the greatest.Look at web site statistics, how long does the average user stay on a page, why do you think it's that long? Did they stay at the site, or did they move on.Look at other sites, like their colours, schemes, layout? Dislike anything about it, do you know how you could improve this?I like simple layouts, reason being is I put more work on the scripts, that if I want the site up quickly it'll have to be simple, it doesn't matter at the start, I always have the ability to rechange the whole site layout and the scripiting will still work, but for the meantime my priority is to get something out there and then work on a site that can appeal more.I can do both, but time is of the essence. If I'm given the time, then more than likely I will use time management for the project and hopefully not be pressured by meeting deadlines if it's managed correctly.There's a lot of things you've got to think about on your site, what's the most likely information somebody will be looking for.e.g. I visit a Open Source 3D Games engine site, what will I want to look for? Well, being a developer I want access to their Documentations on their API, I want their Download link, I want their FAQs page or somewhere I can find which platform it will run on and maybe I want to see examples of what has been done about it, like screenshots, later on I'd want to know of their news, but for now that's not important, but I find a lot of sites like to boast about their new releases, etc on their frontpage, although not important to a new comer, it is quite important to those who have been using the software.This is partially a true story for me, if I didn't find the relevant information, especially seeing screenshots of what people have done with it so far, etc, I won't stay long, so you must plan what information people are going to be after, and make sure that these are easy to navigate too. I can honestly tell you, I forgot what their logo looked like and how their page was laid out, it didn't matter, I was determined on finding what I wanted and that was it. Kinda like my style for shopping (which I hate shopping/well mainly waiting, I can't understand how women/girls can spend so long in a store), I know what I want, and I'm straight in and straight out.MC

[MajesticTreeFrog 0]

Seems like some of you guys can team up and create works of art in both design and programming?

 

MC

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

On that note, I am a capable artist so if people need that I am willing to help out and do graphics for your site.

[ChronicLoser 0]

lol, i've never tried a teamed project....it'd be interesting. But unfortunately i don't have time for that anymore....but if anyone's willing to wait till the middle of summer i might be interested in joining a web design "team" lol

[kraizii88z 0]

These are all good points , but i think that the simpler the better, with intriging site design &/or images.

[wedjarl 0]

personal point of views..Do's1. A website should have concept. If your website is about games or whatever, it should have that "gaming concept" etc...2. Well-structured, concise and useful content, are the most important components of a successful site.3. Be logical on your content. If your website is geared for tourist destinations, the best way to attract them is to post images, not through writing lengthy paragraphs.4. Think about your audience. Are they newbies which needs clean navigation, direction and interface, are they professionals, or are they advance users which considers simple websites as boring.5. Monitor screen sizes consideration. Personally a website fixed for 1024x768 looks awful in a 800x600 monitor.6. Clear navigation is a must. If your visitors get lost, they would leave the site.7. Test your site in different browsers. Dont stick on IE. Test it on Opera, Firefox, Safari, etc..8. Good color combination. Use "web friendly colors".9. Think about the people who will be maintaining the site. Are they capable of understanding complicated scripts and coding?10. Compress images. We have friendly softwares like photoshop.11. As much as possible, follow W3C standards.12. Keep your site fresh.13. <Meta> title, keywords, description in relation to your content. Dont's..1. Bad Graphic layout. Out of the concept graphics, most creates sites without figuring out first what will it look like in the first place. We have Photohop to aid us on this. Create a layout first in Photoshop, navigation, texts, etc.. then cut it up and creativity follows...coding, scripts, contents etc..2. Microsoft Frontpage Extensions. Its really unprofessional I should say.3. If you can't be rigorously self-honest about your weaknesses and limitations, site output will be poor..Set self limitations. If your a bad writer, get an aid from professional writers..if your not good in graphics, dont pretend as if you are one. Seek the aid from more knowledgeable ones. Be open for suggestions.4. Avoid keyword spamming.

[tattoopunk 0]

only one question, whats keyword spamming?