Ten Web-Design Don’ts (for The Graphic Designer)

1 . No longer start a layout without having a concept/idea.

Prior to starting, ask yourself: who have is I planning this pertaining to? What are the target’s tastes? How am i not going to make this kind of better than the client’s competition? What will become my central «theme»? arnaudcharpentier.fr Wouldn’t it revolve around a certain color, a certain style? Will it be clean, grungy, traditional, contemporary etc .? What is going to be the «wow factor»?

Then, before jumping to your favorite component – sitting everything out in Photoshop, right? – have a sheet of paper and sketch the idea. This will help to you organize the elements better and get a general idea of if an idea would work or certainly not, before you invest too much effort designing in Photoshop.

2. Don’t obsess over the tendencies.

Shiny keys, reflections, gradients, swirls and swooshes, grungy elements – all these are staples in contemporary web development. But with almost everything else, being modrate is very important to be successful with this. If you make everything shiny, you will end up just simply giving your visitor an eye sore. When everything is a great accent, almost nothing stand out anymore.

3. May make all of the same importance.

Egalitarianism is desired in culture, but it won’t apply to the elements in your web page. Any time all your head lines are the same level and all the photographs the same elevation, your visitor will be baffled. You need to direct their vision to the site elements in a certain buy – the order of importance. One heading must be the key headline, while the others will subordinate. Generate one photo stand out (in the header, maybe) and keep the others smaller. If you have several menu to the page, choose one is the most crucial and draw in the visitor’s view to it. Build a hierarchy. There are plenty of ways in which you are able to control the order where a visitor «reads» a web site.

4. No longer lose sight of the functionality.

Don’s only use factors because they are quite – provide them with a legitimate put in place your design. In other words, can not design for yourself (unless you are coming up with your individual websites, of course), except for your buyer and your client’s customers.

5. Don’t try yourself too much and all too often.

It’s easy to receive tricked in to reusing your own factors of design, specifically once you still have to master those to perfection. However you don’t wish your collection to be like it was designed for the same client, do you? Make an effort different web site, new types of arrows, borders models, layer effects, color schemes. Find alternatives to your go-to elements. Impose you to ultimately design the next layout with out a header. Or perhaps without using shiny elements. Break your habits and keep your thing diverse.

6. Don’t dismiss the technology.

Should you be not the one coding your website, talk to your developer and find out the way the website will be implemented. If it’s going to end up being all Expensive, then you want to take advantage of the possibilities for that layout and not make that look like a common HTML site. On the other hand, in case the website will be dynamic and database-driven, an individual want to get too unconventional while using design and make the programmer’s job impossible.

7. Can not mix and match totally in accordance with numerous structure elements to please your client.

Instead, offer the expertise: mention how varied elements look great in a certain context nevertheless don’t work in another one or perhaps in combination with other elements. That isn’t to say that you shouldn’t tune in to your client. Take into account all of their suggestion, yet do it for their best interest. In the event what they advise doesn’t work design-wise, offer fights and alternatives.

8. Avoid using the same uninteresting stock images like everybody else.

The happy customer support representation, the successful (and politics correct) business team, the powerful new leader – they are just some of the stock photography industry’s clich? t. They are sterile and clean, and most of the time look so fake that will reflect precisely the same idea above the company. Instead, try using «real people», or search harder for creative and expressive inventory photographs.

9. Don’t make an effort to reinvent the wheel.

Staying creative is your job explanation, but may try to get imaginative with the facts that ought not to change. With a content serious or a portal-style website, you wish to keep the selection at the top or perhaps at the left. Don’t replace the names designed for the standard menu items or perhaps for such things as the shopping cart or the wish list. The more time visitors needs to find what they are trying to find, then more likely it is they may leave the page. You may bend these kinds of rules at the time you design for the purpose of other creatives – they are going to enjoy the non-traditional elements. But as a general regulation, don’t undertake it for other customers.

10. You inconsistent.

Stick with the same baptistère, borders, colorings, alignments for the whole website, if you do not have solid reasons to refrain from giving so (i. e. in the event you color-code completely different sections of the site, or in case you have an area specializing in children, to need to make use of different web site and colors). A good practice is to build a main grid system and build all the pages of the same level in accordance with it. Consistency of elements provides website some image that visitors can become familiar with.