5 Principles of a Good Website Design
When designing a website it is often hard to gauge what design will work best. As a designer, the common mistake is to design according to what you think looks good which oftentimes is based solely on your personal perspective.
As the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. For this reason, you need to put yourself in the shoes of those you intend to target. Once you identify your target cater the design and layout of your site to them. Here are some basic principles to keep in mind when designing a website to ensure your site is successful.
1. Purpose
Ask yourself, what are am I trying to achieve with this website? Without a clear purpose, you won’t know whether your website is good or not. When your purpose is definite you will know how to cater to your visitors. Is your site intended to inform, entertain, sell, or gain subscriptions?
Whatever it may be, your purpose needs to be clear to ensure the quality which your users will be able to rely on. This will also help with retention. Users will know what you are all about and if your message is clear they will not click away.
2. Communication
Because we live in the age of information, clear, concise information on your website is key. People do not have time to sort through long texts. Make sure to use appropriate layouts, headings, sub-headings, lists, and bullet points where your users can identify important information quickly.
3. Color
Colors are important to compliment your brand and enhance the user experience. Use colors to create harmony (something pleasing to the eyes). If the design is not harmonious it will give the user either a boring or chaotic feeling which the human brain naturally rejects. Color harmony delivers visual appeal and order which the mind can easily process. According to Color Matters, visual harmony is a dynamic equilibrium between under-stimulation and overstimulation.
4. Imagery
More often than not a picture is better than a thousand words. Be careful with choosing the right pictures to complement your purpose and message. Images facilitate the learning process and help us remember things quickly. Make sure they are not too small, blurry, or obscure. For affordable and good quality, pictures use websites like ShutterStock.com
5. Font
Typography is essential for web design. Make sure the Headings are bold so they pop. The reason being, most people only read the headings when scanning through sites. Sans-serif and serif fonts are the most widely used fonts. The most widely used font for the body is serif. It is simple and elegant. No need to reinvent the wheel here. Using fancy and extravagant fonts can be risky. As far as size goes, 16 pixels for the Body and 24 for Headings are the ones most often used.
Whether you’re looking to build a personal, professional, blogging, or E-commerce site whatever it may be, contact us at Emerald Sky. We’ll be happy to design a site that will bring you success.
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