The Typography Rules That Every Web Designer Should Follow

What do you think visitors to your website care most about? The colours? The images or sounds? Chances are that the only thing most visitors really care about is the text - this is where they will find the information that they're looking for, after all. This revelation only makes typography (the art of arranging type) even more important for every web designer to take into account. The following rules are the ones that should not be broken when it comes to typography:

1. Read through your text

It seems that most web designers believe their role when it comes to text is to simply copy and paste content that has been provided by the client from a text file. What every designer should be doing, however, is read through the text to get, at the least, a basic idea of how it can be integrated into the website. Reading through the text once you have uploaded it to the site can also give you a good idea of whether you have gotten the spacing correct.

2. Show a hierarchy

Every website should display a clear hierarchy of where a visitor should begin reading and where they should continue on from there. Typography is a great way of creating that hierarchy, as you can use font size and typeface to clearly define what parts of the content are more important, which design alone can fail to achieve. Whilst there is more to the hierarchy than just text, designers should still begin here.

3. Pay attention to macro and micro typography

Firstly, what is macro and micro typography. Macro refers to the overall structure of the type, how it appears in comparison with the entire design, and its appeal when considered on its own. Micro refers to the finer details, such as spacing and whether it is easy to read. If a web designer were to ignore either factor, it would more than likely be to their detriment.

4. Choose type colours carefully

Whenever web designers are asked to work with coloured typography, it is imperative that they tread carefully. This is because it can be very easy to loose the text in the background of the website, especially if similar colours are chosen. The easiest way to prevent this from happening is to choose a type colour that is vastly different to the colour of the background, such as black text on a white background.

There are, of course, other rules that every web designer should be following when it comes to typography. The four outlined above, however, can be highly beneficial in helping your website to become successful with very little effort on your behalf. The most important thing to keep in mind is that typography should never be forgotten and tacked on at the end - it should be taken into account from the very beginning of the project.

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Why Space Is Just As Important As Words In Graphic Design

One of the key components when it comes to any sort of graphic design work - from websites to business cards and pamphlets to blogs - is the type that you use. Choosing the font, size and colour of your type can form a major part of the project. An area that should be of equal importance, however, is the spacing around each of the letters in your type and the leading that is used in the block of text as a whole.

Firstly, what is leading? Pronounced ledding, the term refers to the spacing between each of the lines of type. It is often confused with line height, but this actually refers to all of the space from one baseline to the next (the baseline is the spot where the letters sit). Leading is the smaller space that exists between the bottom of a letter on the first line and the top of a letter on the line below. It could be looked at as being the line height minus the text height. It's importance for graphic design lies in the fact that leading can have a big effect of the readability of the text - if the letters are too far apart or too close together, the text will fall sharply on the eyes.

Unfortunately, there is no secret formula for deciphering how much leading your work will need. This is because there are actually a number of graphic design factors involved in making this decision, including: type size, colour, readability and the desired effect of the text as a whole. Using the same point size of the font you are using for your leading is often a good starting point, but it may still require some tweaking to get this spacing just right.

Tight (or negative) leading is the term used when the lines of text are closer together than the point size of the type. Even if the spacing doesn't appear that close together, if it is below the point size it is considered as being tight. On the other hand, loose (or positive) leading is the term used when the lines of text are further apart than the point size of the type. It is also important to keep in mind that the background colours used in your graphic design project can have an effect on your leading. For example, darker backgrounds tend to read better with loose leading, whilst lighter backgrounds can benefit from tight leading.

Now that you understand why space and leading are just as important as the words that are being used in your graphic design project, you are in a much better position to use this to your advantage. Try experimenting with different types and leading to see what sort of spacing tends to suit your style of design better and what sort presents your work in the best light.

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How to Build an Online Store: Making the First Impression

The 3-second Test

It only takes 3 seconds for anyone or anything to make an impression. The first three seconds of looking at your site should build a good impression.

• Clear Online Store Niche

Will your customers see and understand what you are trying to sell them clearly within 3 seconds? An online shopping store should clearly convey what it is about to sell to the customers in the 3-second test.

Some Elements to Enhance to Say It All in 3 seconds

Site Colors or Theme - Colors play an important role in creating an impression. Black and blue is good for online stores selling vehicles, medical supplies, and jewelry. The color orange is highly recommended for site selling food and other goodies. Green is great for online stores selling organic products and health supplements. Since colors can be worked out in order to make a good impression, use colors appropriately.

Site Header - The website header is the place where you can show your site logo or images that will strengthen the impact of your website. It is a place in the website where you can display product images that clearly states what products you're selling.

• Establish Rapport and Credibility

Credibility starts with the name of your website or business. It is important that your domain name or website name sound with authority. Choose a business name that is relevant to the niche of your website that is easily understood by customers in one glance. To establish rapport, your website layout should be organized and neat, but as well as engaging because you need to make your customers feel that they can trust your website with their confidential contact and credit card information.

• Online Shopping Website Menu

At first look, online shoppers need to see where they should start right away. Place the navigation menu where it is obvious, use fonts that are legible and simple, and lastly, use colors that relates to the overall theme of your website.

• Speed

According to Jupiter Research, online shoppers using a high-end internet connection only gives a website 2-4 seconds to wait for a website to load. Otherwise, they will be happy to go to other websites that give the satisfying website download speed to complete their purchases.

The three-second first impression test is very hard to establish as not all web designers have the ability of creating a website that gives users a good and comfortable feeling that makes them want to pursue online shopping. Get help from usability and functionality sites in order for you and your website designer to get a good kind of feedback before launching your online store.

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The Changes That Website Design Has Gone Through

Initial Stages Of Website Designing

There have been plenty of changes that have taken place as far as website design concepts are concerned and it has evolved as the time progressed. The first page was just a black plain text that was uploaded as a webpage on a website. There was no use of color or any graphics in the earlier times and even photographs and images were used in a website only after few years. The introduction of color text and pictures in a website design was accomplished only in the 90's era. It was only in the late nineties that the website looked more like a colorful brochure with all colored tests and colorful pictures and drawings in it.

Popularity Of Internet

The growing demand for internet paved way for more and more designers to create good and attractive websites for their clients. As the number of people who wanted to make the best out of online business mushroomed, so the demand for good and professional and out of the world thinking web design programmers started to also mushroom. Many people started to pay good amounts to the web designers to get excellent and eye catching websites created and the internet world was never the same again. Though the HTML, DHTML and Flash concepts were used to carry out web design works, there was certain coding as well as picture representation limitations with the table design that really caused a hindrance in the smooth creation of websites.

Latest Trend Of Website Designing

The latest trend that are utilized for website design purposes by professional and qualified website designers is the Cascading Style Sheets options that does not need long codes for adding text as well as graphics or pictures in the website. Nowadays, the need for table design is absolutely zero and the CSS concept is what is used by web designers to create attractive looking websites that has the right combination of textual mater as well as pictorial representations. Nowadays, website designs give huge importance to the content of the website and only add graphics or pictures in the website whenever the need rises. The layouts that are created for the websites are really eye-catching and enterprising to look at. It is important for you to hire good and reputed website developers who know how to attract the people to your website with excellent layouts and make them go through your content rather than just see the designs that your web page contains. It is ideal for you to provide a simple and not flashy and boring backgrounds as the visitor to your website might be put off by such flashy or boring layouts that he or she does not read the good content that is printed o the website.

Conclusion

So, with proper emphasis on good and attractive yet simple layouts, good content with proper spacing and use of pictures and photographs wherever relevant is the ideal website design option that you can ask your website developer to create for your business in order to attract a lot of visitors to your website and hence increase your online business.

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Web Design Tips Centered on Usability

Websites should always be easy to use. Studies show that the reason a viewer abandons a website is either because the page will not download or they are confused by the website. Don't make the mistake of underestimating the power of usability. Here are a few tips on making your website as user oriented as possible.

We Hold These Website Design Elements to Be Self Evident:

Everything on your website should be visually clear to the user. Create a visual hierarchy using font size and prominence. The headlines should always be larger than the content and they should stick out to the user. Always place a headline or a main idea higher on the page so that the user knows it is important. If you want certain content to receive visual priority, place it higher on the page. Also, make sure you group your pages according to similar content. Each page should have a clear theme, idea, and purpose. Each page should also have similar style, but at the same time be definitive so that the user knows the difference between an FAQ page and the shopping cart checkout page. Links should be clearly defined and clickable items should be obvious.

Break it Up:

When users are searching for something in particular, they will seek the page link that corresponds most to their needs and ignore the rest. Separate content by page and make sure there is little or no overlap. Also, avoid hiding advertisements in your content; keep ads separate as they can distract from the content and force the user to ignore the page altogether.

Follow Conventions:

Breaking from convention is good in many instances, but web design isn't one of them. There are certain things users expect when they go to a website. For instance, navigation links are usually on the left side of the page, log in and username input is located at the top right of the page, and navigation links are usually at the bottom of the page. Hyperlinks are underlined in blue (or some other color that stands out) and, if you are selling online, always use a small shopping cart logo in the upper right hand corner. Following these conventions will prevent users from having to search for elements of your web pages that should be obvious to them.

Don't Underestimate Simplicity:

It's tempting to create a web design that is a work of art with lots of colors, font styles, and words. But to make your website more user friendly, tone down the number of words, font styles, link styles, colors, and images. Keeping it simple will allow the content to stand out while the design serves as a compliment. Minimize the use of background images and background colors. Don't be afraid to use white space and allow the text to speak for itself without the help of too many additives.

User friendliness should be the number one priority when you design your company's website. Creativity and captivation are important, too, but the user wants to feel welcome and confident when they visit your website. Follow these tips on maximizing usability on your company's website and ensure that your website gets traffic and viewer satisfaction.

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How To Get A Great Looking Website

Why would you want to make a website? There are actually several different reasons and many people will actually turn to professional web developers. The fact however, is that you can do it all yourself, and you don't need to spend a lot of money -- at least not during the construction process.

Choose your Tools

When you are ready to build a website, you will need to choose the tools with which you will create it. Some tools can be purchased, and others will be integrated into your browser. If you are simply trying to create a personal site, then using a browser based application might be the best solution. For those who wish to create a business website however, using a standalone application might be better.

Decide your Direction

What direction would you like your website to go in? For example, what will be the primary function? If you plan ahead, you will not end up with a lot of junk pages. By creating an outline you will be able to push through and create a decent website right off the bat.

Page Layout

What kind of layout will your page have? You can choose to have a navigation bar, and you will need to choose where that navigation bar will sit. some people will actually opt to have a navigation bar on the top of the page, as well as on the bottom. This is okay so long as you make each one look a little different, and do your best to avoid placing a navigation bar on both the top and the side. There are many different layouts to choose from, so have fun with it!

Choose a Host

Choosing a host for your website is one of the more important things you can do toward the end of the development process. Make sure the host you select can support any plugins you use, and of course make sure it has the right amount of bandwidth. Shared vs. Dedicated hosting must be considered as dedicated hosting will allow you more control over your hosting solution.

There are clearly a lot of things to think about before you get started, but you do NOT need to seek a professional webpage designer. Instead, you can find advanced tools, read some tutorials, and ultimately create your own outstanding website. Whether it is a business page or a personal page, you have options, and you need to exercise them. Your digital future is in your hands.

How to Design a Quality Web Site   Top Seven Tips for Choosing a Professional Web Designer   Don't Exclude   Why We Need a Good Web Design   Does Your Website Seek To Impress?   Proper Website Design Can Really Improve Your Leads