4 Mantras a Web Designer Should Live By

A lot goes behind coming up with good, aesthetically appealing web design. A web designer is a person who often needs to step into different shoes as per the requirements. Versatility and multi-tasking should be his greatest assets. Web designers need to be very knowledgeable about building effective and usable site layouts.

 

While web design is an area which can only be mastered with time and experience and making mistakes only helps a designer to learn, there are certain quintessential basics he should always be familiarized with:

  1. Optimize Web Graphics for Better Page Load Times

Web graphics can be optimized by selecting the most appropriate format and ensuring that it is as small as possible. This is because not everyone has access to high-speed Internet even in the year 2013. Add to this the arrival of hand-held gadgets which don’t really conform to broadband speeds and the pages on them load slowly due to higher image file size. Thus, a web designer also needs to be a good “economist”.

A rule of thumb can be followed here: images having solid colors should be saved as PNGs and GIFs while the ones with continuous colors (for example photographs) are best saved as JPEGs. By cutting down the number of images which are used to the least and by using them smartly, a designer can enable quick loading of the webpage and thus render valuable contribution in the improvement of overall webpage performance.

  1. De-clutter, Keep it Simple

A good web design is something much more than just being visually stunning. It also needs to be user-friendly. A clean and simple design goes a long way in determining usability of that webpage and is not confusing for the visitors. Too many site features and components on one page mean that you may distract the viewer and snatch away from him the purpose of visiting that website. So some questions need honest answering here:

  • Does this really need to be in my design?
  • What is the use of this particular element and how will it be useful for the user?
  • If I take out a particular element, will it affect my design in any way?
  • How does a particular element contribute to the purpose of the site?
  1. Innovation and Simplicity

While innovation is greatly encouraged in the world of web design, a designer needs to ascertain that the design is accessible and intuitive for your users. Generally, website users are used to a certain design pattern and interfaces. A truly unique design is welcome as long as you ensure that it is not too confusing and obscure.

  1. Navigation is the King

Smooth navigation is the lifeline of any website. Without it, the users will get stuck and might just go away from that site thereby defeating the very purpose for which that site was built. A good deal of thought needs to go into planning and designing site’s navigation. It is not something to be taken for granted, a mistake which is commonly committed by a lot of designers.

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