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Designing Clear Web Pages |
This article covers the most important features of designing clear web pages.If, after a hard work, you have defined what your web site's content should be, and worked out where your content elements will sit on the page, you may choose to design a clear web page.
That means to arrange various elements on the web page and to maximize the web user's chance of using the site successfully. One fundamental principle is simplicity or economy: Don't use more techniques than it is necessary.
Clarity is all about the relationships between elements
The most important element of effective visual design is creating relationships to show:
- what is part of what
- what is different from what
- how different elements relate to each other
Tools for designing the display layer
Next, we will describe each tool and discuss how we can use each one of them for our further design purposes.
The primary design tools include:
- Contrast
- Colour
- Richness
- Dynamism
Contrast
Contrast is the primary tool of eye control. It is the difference in color and light between parts of an image that attracts the eye. In order to work, contrast needs to be balanced against areas of low contrast.
Colour
Colour usually attracts the eye and it is one the most important tools. It must balance with other colours and areas of low colour. Use colour sensitively to make a page attractive and easy on the eye, and also pick out items with special attention.
Richness
Richness can be created through use of colour, pattern, layering, and 3D effects such as gradients, shadows and highlights. The eye can linger on richer areas, so use specific areas of rich detail in key areas.
Dynamism
Movement is another factor that attracts the eye. This doesn't mean that an element must actually be animated - some shapes (such as diagonals) and busy patterns can suggest movement.
Approach
Before you design the actual visual interface, get clear on the relative priorities of the elements on screen.
Usually, the most important elements will be those that:
- Identify the site/page (answer "Am I in the right place?")
- Link on (many pages are stepping stones to others, rather than ends in themselves)
- Provide content or feedback
Other design elements may have softer purposes, but can still be important, such as:
- Branding which creates a certain feel or personality
- Subtle guides to help a user use a form or navigation interface effectively
The trick to successful visual design is finding a balance that achieves as many of these (sometimes conflicting) objectives as possible.
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