With every introduction of a better and easier-to-use web design tool, what’s in and what’s out in web design changes. However, no matter what’s trending, four aspects of web design will always stay relevant.
1. Judicious Use of Typography
Typography is not just using pretty fonts; the fonts must be legible. Designers should put a lot of thought into picking the fonts for different sections of the web page; for example, a large font can draw the reader’s attention to a specific section. Font color is another aspect that plays a vital role in visual appeal and the page’s readability.
2. Creative Use of Colors
A website is essentially the virtual personality of its owner or the company it represents, so it’s important to project the right image. The key to successful use of colors is simplicity. Colors influence people at a subconscious level, so designers must consider these factors when deciding a website’s color palette.
- Color theory: the art of mixing colors to create unique visual effects
- The age of the target audience
- The product for sale
- The overall visual impact
3. Meticulous Content Layout
One of the most important yet frequently ignored aspects of web design is information architecture — a user-friendly layout that presents content in an organized and appealing manner. The goal is to keep readers from drifting away from the page, so when creating the layout, designers must look at things from the users’ perspective.
4. Appealing Background
Backgrounds lend character and appeal to a web page. Every web page has two backgrounds, body and content. The content background is placed over the body background in one of three basic ways:
- The content and body background are layered. The content layer can either be transparent or solid.
- The body background itself is the web content, which requires choosing the right font color to ensure text legibility.
- The content background is used as body background.
These web design aspects lay the groundwork over which all other design is built. While design trends evolve and change, these serve as the basis for effective web design because they are the axis around which design elements and principles always revolve.
