The Basics Of Web Design

Today’s world is the world of innovation and technology. The human race has seen a great change in our every day life with the advent of World Wide Web. The Internet is now the most important communication and information exchange platform. As the World Wide Web is gaining more and more importance, the art of web design is also gaining significance. Web design has evolved from constructing very simple web sites to the modern day web sites that support media streaming as well. The newer versions of websites are even more advanced technically.

The important question here is that what web designing actually is. People very commonly use this term but not all of them understand what the word actually means. The art and science of web design is the presentation and designing of websites. The way you see the web sites on the Internet are that way because of the web designing factor. The web applications of all kinds are also graphically presented on the web through web designing. The basic web designing is done most often by the use of HTML. The use of CSS as the basic design for web designing is also common. Currently the use of a more innovative version of HTML, which is called as XHTML, is also used in web designing. This is the latest trend.

The competition in the online world has increased a great deal. It is now very important for all the web sites to stand out of the crowd. All the new entrants in the online world have to worry about keeping their websites different from their competitors. This is important to them. If they do not pay due attention towards this fact, they will not be able to create a unique selling point for their website. For this fact, many websites today use newer technologies while building their web sites. The context of web based businesses and online trade is also important for the construction of a website. The technical advancement required by the web site depends on the nature of its use. A social networking website needs other facilities as compared to an e-commerce site.

Web designing is sometimes confused with web development but these are two different techniques. Configuration of Web server is included in web development. Web designing is very much related to construction of web sites.

Web Design For Novices

Paralysis of Choice

So you want to create your first web site but are feeling more than a little daunted by the thought. First step… relax. Just about everyone who has ever created a web site has been here before. The feeling is not uncommon. Perhaps one of the scariest things about the whole prospect of creating a web site is the sheer number of choices out there.

There is a phenomenon that I like to call the paralysis of choice. It goes like this… give me a choice between two or three items, no problem. That’s easy. But now make it a choice between twenty items and a paralysis starts to set in. There are simply too many choices! And with people afraid of making the wrong choice, they decide that the safest choice is no choice at all. At least this way, they haven’t made a mistake. So instead of getting wrapped-up in things like HTML, XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Php, let’s go more basic where there are fewer choices.

Do-It-Yourself

The first choice is whether to do it yourself or pay for someone else to do it. For many people, this one is decided by budget alone. Web sites built from scratch can cost a lot of money. So let’s assume that you’ve already decided that you want or need to do-it-yourself otherwise you probably would have already shelled out the money and wouldn’t be reading this article. Am I right?

Web-Based Services

The second choice is whether to use a web-based service or to construct the web site on your own computer. Many hosting services have built-in online web site building tools. While you can certainly construct a web site, the end results are usually pretty rudimentary. This avenue is probably just fine for a little personal web site, but most likely not enough to impress more important visitors, like clients and customers.

A Step Above

A step above the online web site building tool is the stand alone program that allows you to construct a web site without knowing any HTML or other types of coding. Among the better ones is Incomedia’s Website X5 which comes in two flavors: Compact and Evolution. Think of these as personal and business.

You start from a number of template choices and then color combinations. Between those two elements alone, the chances of your site looking just like someone else’s is pretty slim. The main idea of Website X5 is to divide each page into a grid. In each square of the grid you decide what’s going to go there: text, a picture, a flash movie, or a slideshow, etc. Adding those elements is easy. Not bad. And it gets you an end product better than those online web site builders. But I’m still a less than wowed.

Web Templates

OK. As is usually typical I’ve saved the best for last! Unlike the canned web site templates that come with software like Microsoft’s FrontPage (now dubbed Expression Web); professional web site templates are much more sophisticated and give you much more control over each design element. Each template typically comes with a list of software you would need to edit the template before you buy it. Higher level templates may require specialized software like Flash. But for a typical price of between $55 and $75 for most templates, this is short money compared to paying someone to design a web site from scratch.

Most templates also come with Adobe Photoshop (PSD) files. Even the low-cost Photoshop Elements can fully edit these. The beauty of this is that for the price of less than $100 you’ll have the ability to edit every single little design element. This makes customizing your template much easier. For most templates, the only other software you would need is the design software like: FrontPage, Dreamweaver, Expression Web, SharePoint Designer, and more.

If you’d like to add Flash elements to your website, but can’t afford Macromedia Flash (now Adobe Flash) there are the poor man’s alternatives like SWiSHmax. SWiSHmax allows you to create Flash (SWF) files without having Flash and costs only a fraction of the price. Take a look at SWiSHzone on the web for more information. If you’d like to use SWiSH as an alternative, simply look for web templates that list SWiSH as one of the softwares.

Customizing

Many people don’t realize that most templates can be professionally customized for an individual. Simply look for template customizing services where you buy your template. Since you are beginning with a template that you’ve picked out, you have a much better idea how it’s going to turn out after some custom tweaking and there are fewer surprises. There’s much less risk involved than with a web site designed from scratch.

You can generally save hundreds of dollars by starting with a template even after adding in custom tweaking if you prefer someone else to do it. Remember, you’re not starting from scratch. You already have a fully function site, so the costs of editing a template are small compared with the cost of constructing a full web site.

Web Design In Manchester

Manchester is the capital of the county of Lancashire and is the largest city in the North West England. It is located 200 miles northwest of London and 30 miles from Liverpool. It has three premier league football teams, Manchester United and Manchester City and Bolton Wanderers. One of its major sports stadiums the Old Trafford is home to Manchester United which is the most famous football club in the world. The other major sports stadium is home to Lancashire County Cricket Club. The 2002 Commonwealth Games, were hosted in Manchester which boosted tourism and visitors

Greater Manchester boasts over 50 museums and galleries and has the largest concentration of theatres in the UK outside London. It contains the UK’s largest university which has over 30,000 students. The attraction to Manchester for students began in the 80’s when many bands from Manchester were making headlines. Bands such as The Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets, The Smiths and Oasis all made their mark on Manchester around this time and this gave Manchester University the highest population of Students in the UK.

If you live in the Manchester area and have a business and are thinking having a website designed for your company then you need think about a few important factors. Do you have a domain name? Do you need hosting? What is your budget? Do you need an ecommerce website with a shopping trolley to sell products? Will you need to update your site yourself in the future? Once you have answered these questions you can then go about finding a good company that offer all of these services.

Finding a competent company that has a portfolio of work is very helpful. You can look through their portfolio and see some of the websites they have designed for previous customers. The eCommerce design is very important to the success of any web site. You want to be sure that your website is designed right. One of the first things you notice about a website is whether it is pleasant to the eye. Bright flashing coloured text is very off putting as is a flash intro. A very important key is to make sure your site loads quickly. You will loose a great deal of customers if your pages take over 5 seconds to load.

It is a lot easier if you can find a company that can do everything for you. A company that can sell you the domain name as well as the hosting. Some hosting companies also offer web design which would make the whole experience a lot easier. Dealing with the same people for your domain name, hosting, email, web design makes the who process a lot easier. For one you only need one contact telephone number. A company with good customer support is a must. Not all companies offer this and this and it can be very frustrating. You want to know that if you have any trouble you can just call for customer support or technical support.

Web Design And Navigation

As people “browse” the Web, they “land” on a page and “navigate” on a website. To find their way around they need a “navigation” system. Navigation is as important for web design as for a real life drive: when you drive on a new road you want to see clear marked destinations, exits and parking lots. You want to know where you are and where you go. So do your visitors. Fail to provide a clear road map and they will go back to where they came from. Navigation should be clear and simple. Or better: standard. That means: don’t go around renaming buttons. Use “home” for your index; not “back to base”. Although this “back to base” is rather clear, not all the web users are in the mood for riddles, nor do they have the time to start learning your rules, your style, or your symbols.

There are three major types of navigation: global, local and hierarchical.

Web designers use global navigation for medium-sized and small websites to categorize the main points of interest. Hierarchical navigation refers to large websites – such as web directories, article directories, news portals and so on. This approach is somehow confusing for web novices: they cannot really find their way, especially when the navigational structure is not clear (some web designers omit important navigational elements such as “you are here”, “back”, “next page” etc.)

One important note about local navigation: it works great when you need cross traffic. You could use embedded links to lead your visitors to information that is somewhere else on your website or on a different website. But if you need to link to another website use a target=”_blank” approach that will open the link in a new window. That’s how the visitors will not lose the path back to your website.

Many times web designers use a mix of the three navigational styles, depending on the size of a website, its categories and the importance of these categories. As a rule all sites have a global navigation principle: the navigation bar. Standard placements of the navigation bar are on the top or along the left side of the screen. Some designers place the nav bar on the right side – but users are not really familiar with this approach. The worse practice is promoted by flash designers who ignore web usability standards and make the visitors “guess” where the links are.

No matter where you want to place the nav bar, remember: keep it simple. Take a look at the websites of big corporations. For example Philips placed the nav bar at the top to define the main categories and uses a java script to help users navigate to particular points of interest. On secondary pages Philips is using a left navigation bar. All in one, the web designers that created the website for Philips used all three major types of navigation, but the design respects one radical principle: “Sense and simplicity”. That’s right: Philips’ slogan applies perfectly as a fundamental rule when it comes to web design

Color And Web Design

Color is one of the most important but least understood elements of web design today. Whether they know it or not, visitors to a site respond to colors and other visual elements on the site on a psychological level. Color affects the emotion of the audience, and emotion drives decision-making. An intrigued visitor is more likely to engage in the goal of your site -- whether it is meant to inform, entertain, or to sell products or services. If the colors are unsuitable, the eye will reject the site and your product may be rejected too, no matter how good it is.

A well-considered color scheme is frequently the difference between an okay web site and a great web site. It can also make a site unusable if the scheme used is too outrageous and hard on the eye.

Keep it Simple

A color palette that uses three or fewer overall colors contributes to the clarity of a web page. The reader will be able to find information quicker on a simple site versus a complex site that may make them feel frustrated and lost. Be consistent. Color each element (links and the menu items etc.) the same on each page so that your audience will instinctively know where to look for information on your page.

Use White Space!

This relates to the previous point of keeping it simple. There are a lot of sites with too much information cluttering up the screen. Your audience will have trouble searching for navigation and the information they need amongst a bunch of clutter. White space balances colors, lets the design breathe and can make a large site feel less complex. If a customer is not overwhelmed, they will stay at your site longer.

Know Your Audience

Designers have to know who the target audience is before choosing a color scheme. Before you begin your design, you should ask yourself what colors the audience would find compelling and right for your product.

Different colors evoke different emotions in different cultures. This is important to keep in mind on the web if your site has an international audience. For example, in China red symbolizes happiness and good luck, in India it symbolizes purity and in South Africa it symbolizes mourning. To complicate matters further, many colors have both positive and negative associations in the same culture. In North America, for example, black can symbolize death in some instances and formality in others.

Web Designers should also use different colors if their target audience is a specific gender or age. For example, bright, primary colors like red yellow and blue are great for kid’s sites, but if you are designing a site for an audience over fifty you may want to use desaturated, softer colors. Younger audiences also tolerate a black or dark background with lighter text better than an older audience.

Here are the meanings of a few basic colors:

Red -Energy, strength, passion, risk, fame, love, -top, take notice

Blue -Wisdom, protection, spiritual inspiration, calm, reassurance, gentleness, water, creativity,-Depth quality; large companies often use it for their logos.

Yellow -Sun, intelligence, logical imagination, social energy, cooperation, sunshine, joy, happiness, intellect, energy, cheerfulness

Green -Healing, monetary success, fertility, growth, personal goals, resurrection, renewal, youth, stability, freshness, nature-Plants and environmental awareness

Grey Security, reliability, intelligence, dignity, maturity, conservative, practical

Temperatures of Colors

Yes, colors have perceived temperatures! The perception of your site will be affected by your choice of warm or cool colors. Cool colors are water and sky colors like blue and purple; warm colors are on the opposite end of the color wheel: red, orange and yellow.
The Importance of Contrast

Contrast between colors on a web page can help draw attention to certain elements.

Contrast between text and its background is a necessity for legibility. For example, black text on a white background is better than light blue text on a yellow background.

Se Friendly Web Design

An SE friendly web design, or a search engine friendly web design, is one of the essential components to generating traffic to your ecommerce website through search engines. Of course, your web site must be appealing to the eye of the consumer, but it must also be appealing to the 'eye' of the search engine. Search engines 'read' websites in order to find and rank the ones most appropriate for each keyword phrase entered by a potential customer.

Designing a search engine friendly website is not difficult. Some of the elements you should implement in your design may even seem like plain common sense. You may be surprised, however, to learn how many people don't follow these simple rules and create websites that search engines find difficult to read.

First of all, the text should be in a simple font. The fancy cursive like scripts may look pretty, but they aren't very easy for the eye to scan. Neither are they easy for the search engine to read. This means keeping the font basic, the color plain, and the size normal. Black, 12 point, Times New Roman, Courier, or Arial are preferred. The actual text is not where you want to draw the attention. Instead, the subject that the text conveys should be in the spotlight.

Furthermore, arrange your text naturally just as you would on the page. Use proper paragraphs and bullet points as well as other devices to break up the text into bite size pieces. Take it easy when using capital letters, bold faced print, and exclamation points. Using as much text as possible (at least 250 words but no more than 750 words) will help search engines not only find you but rank you as an expert in the field and place you closer to the top of the list.

Avoid flashing text and cutesy graphics at all costs. Not only are they distracting and amateurish, but search engines read graphics and pictures like blank space. Blank space doesn't boost page rankings. Make sure that every page utilizes text and specific key words associated with the product or information that you are utilizing to pull in targeted traffic. Text is the focus as far as search engines are concerned. Graphics are for the customer, and each one should sell an aspect of your product and carry meaning. But if search engine friendly design is your goal, take careful consideration of your text.

Another thing to avoid in creating a solidly SE friendly website design is spam. This can show up in your site in the form of hidden text in the HTML code. Instead, make sure that your HTML code includes Meta Tags. These aren't the big hook to catch the attention of search engines that they once were, but they do help. And every little bit adds up to a higher page ranking!

Another element of search engine friendly web design and, possibly the most important, is the layout of your site. Unwieldy navigation with dead end links on your site does not just annoy the potential customer, but it confuses search engines, as well. Confusing search engines is no way to boost your rankings, your traffic, or your sales. Use a sitemap if you need to and make sure that the hierarchy of pages makes sense. Use a Google sitemap if you have a large site, and make sure that your navigation tools are concise and specific – no creative misnomers or questionable graphics.

Though the elements of search engine friendly web design emphasize simplicity and therefore come across as simplistic, ignoring them will not only turn off customers but search engines as well. Make your web site search engine friendly and watch your traffic increase exponentially in no time.

History Of Web Design

History is the replica of the present. Thus, we have to press our flashback imaginary buttons in order to have a sojourn in the times of yore.

We have to know the beginning in order to relate it to the present and the future. In the case of web design, history is conclusive and clear and it is interesting to dwell a tad in a world of imagination, art and craftsmanship. Together we go back…

In the late 1960’s, internet was used to transfer data between computers through the telephone network system. The transfer was made possible by transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP). It was developed by Advanced Research and Projects Agency. It was primarily developed for US military needs however, it was later used by some universities.

In 1969, aside from the creation of ARPANET, Generalized Markup Language (GML) was also created. This was made possible by the brilliant minds of Charles Goldfarb, Edward Mosher, and Raymond Lorie. GML was then used to facilitate text management in large information systems.

It was in 1980 when American National Standards Institute (ANSI) committee built on GML and published a working draft of Standard GML, or SGML. This was later on adopted as the standard system by government agencies, research companies and schools. Few years after, a scientist working at CERN, the Nuclear Particle Physics Laboratory in Switzerland, by the name of Tim Berners-Lee, invented the HyperText Markup Language (HTML) to define the structure of Web pages. It is a standard hypertext language protocol and browser program that interrupts the html version and converts it into text. HTML was used in a lot of contents and multi-media images or anything that uses tables, graphics, audio, video, and mathematics symbols.

Berners-Lee is also responsible for the early developments in the web’s ability to link academic papers like books researches and studies electronically. Another contribution was the inception of the concept of internet to answer the intellectual and emotional queries of people around the world.

It was also in 1980’s when the web experienced a rapid evolution. The changes are now used by business, education, government and other companies and entities. This is the ear when the World Wide Web was developed by a scientist who has explored communication methods through computer network.

Early on, browser programs were only capable of viewing texts, but nowadays, they have already developed into a wide range of computer platforms. Aside from that, there is also lots of authoring software available these days. In fact, it has turned very user-friendly that children can very well understand and use it!