Basic Design Tips for the Beginner

Basic Design Tips for the Beginner
When first starting out to create a website, especially if
you are a beginner, there are a lot of things to think of.
For instance graphics, pictures, layout, fonts and so forth.
How you do it, and in what order, usually depends on who you ask.

Content and structure
It is an advantage to start off by deciding the content of
the website, i.e. what it should be about. If you are a
professional the subject is more or less already given.
What you next is to plan the structure of the site, making
a kind of scheme. The easiest way to do that is probably by
using a pen and paper.

Frames or NoFrames
There are advantages and disadvantages with both. The advantages
of using frames are however few, and in these cases really
only for the producer of the website. A definite disadvantage
of using frames is that you cannot bookmark a specific page,
something most users like to be able to do. Therefor it is
better not to use frames. That way you can bookmark that
specific page you are interested in. Another advantage with
not using frames is that the visitor can enter your website
on any page and still be able to immediately see where
he or she is on the website. This is not always the case when
you are using frames. So my tip is therefor to avoid frames.

Navigating
This is a very important part of designing a website. In order
to make it as easy and understandable as possible for the
visitor the navigation needs to very clear and most of all
consistant. The visitor should not have to guess what button
or link to click in order to get
where he or she want.
The placing of the menu is important as well. There are two
standards on where to place the menu. Either in a column to
the left, or in a row at the top of the page. If your menu
consists of graphical buttons it is a good idea to put the
same links in the form of text links at the bottom of the page.
That way you can get around on your website even if you cannot
see the graphics.

Colours
Very often you have something to work from, for instance
a company logotype. Then you can simply use the same colours
as are in the logotype. If you are creating a personal website
perhaps a favorite colour will do well. There are not really
any rules when choosing colours, it is more about using your
common sense.There are however some really good
recommendations.One is about the colour of text in relation
to background colour. To read black text on a dark
coloured or heavy patterned background is very difficult
and should be avoided. White text on black background can
be difficult as well. It could work for short pieces of text,
but should be avoided for longer texts, as it can be straining
on the eyes.

Fonts
If you want to confuse the visitor you should use as meny types
of fonts as you can. However, the best to do is to use no more
than one or two types of fonts, one for the headline and one
for the body of the text.
So which fonts should you use? The best thing to do is to use
fonts that most people have on their computers, like Verdana
or Times. Of course there are other fonts that you can use. It
is really up to you.However, my tip is to use a font like
Verdana for the text body,because it is easier to read off the
screen.With headlines, however,you can feel free to use pretty
much anyfont you like, but keep in mind that others might not
have it.

Pictures and graphics
The best tip when it comes to pictures and graphics is - do not
steel! Not only is it illegal, which is clearly stated in the
copyright law. It is also very boring.
Use your own pictures and graphics as much as you can. Then you
do not have to worry about copyrights and you can concentrate
on other things.A huge advantage by only using your own material
is that your website will be unique.
However, if you cannot or do not want to produce your own
picturesand graphics, you can always turn to so called free
graphics.There are a number of websites and companies on the
Internetoffering just that,for instance Microsoft.

Key words
Consistency - this is very important. No matter which page
on your website a visitor is on, it should be clear on what
website he or she is.Simplicity - a website with an extreme
amount of content, and perhaps some animated graphics,
could easily be considered to be messy.This could cause
visitors to give up searching your website and instead leave
it for another website.Uniqueness - try to be unique, to create
your own graphics and pictures. Do not steal. Having a
unique website increases the chanses for returning visitors.

written by Jorgen Brostrom.