Saturday, October 4, 2008

Graphic Design, the Most Important Things to Consider

With modern software tools, website design and publishing has become easier than ever before. No longer do you have to figure out the language of computer codes, instead these tools provide a simple, intuitive, graphical template with which to design. But this simplicity does not guarantee you a great web site. It is still up to you to put thought into your design, otherwise you could easily churn out and unreadable or even unusable site. This article will help you avoid this by offering general guidelines important for good website design using any web design software package.

The most important thing to remember about using graphic design to create a web page, is to keep it easy to read. The fancier web sites use complicated backgrounds that cause the text to become unreadable. The background should highlight the color of the text. When a fancy background is appropriate to use, the text blocks should be offset and use a single color background using only a single color, such as a black background with white lettering.

Text size should be large enough to read, but not so large that a small block of text dominates the page. Link colors should likewise be easily distinguished from regular text. Text should be centered for headlines, and justified on both sides for paragraphs. Most modern browsers support fully justified text. Older browsers which don't support fully justified text will simply disregard the command and present the text aligned only on the left side. Fully justified text will make the page more appealing to the majority of web site visitors.

Simple navigation of a website by a user is the focus of the next step in graphic design. Users must be able to access to every page in your site in no more than three clicks. A table of contents makes the site more organized and therefore easy to navigate. A frame containing a table of contents can be inserted on the left side of the page and then the links will open in a frame on the right side. This will allow the user to be anchored to the main page.

A web site should be easy to find. The use of carefully chosen keywords sprinkled throughout the site will make it easier for search engines to list the site appropriately according to the subject matter. A properly listed site will be easier to find by people using search engines. Many search engines provide forms for search engine submission. Using these forms will also help the search engines find and properly categorize the web site.

Utilizing website software development tools and paying attention to the basic rules for good graphic design, even the most inexperienced web designer can create a functional, attractive site. And by putting in a bit of computer time and effort, a beginning web designer can amass the experience needed to acquire one of the plentiful web design jobs that are available in today's marketplace.

The most important thing to remember about using graphic design to create a web page, is to keep it easy to read. The proper use of keywords is critical to making a web site a popular web site. Search engines also provide forms for search engine submission which will further help the search engine serve your site to people who are seeking sites on a particular subject. These design guidelines, with help from up-to-date software, will help a web designer create a site that will interest the audience. After getting a little experience, a web designer can work toward applying for web design jobs that are available.

No comments: