Into tech? Well itechnot is a blog by a student emerging into new aspects of communication technology in the learning environment. I am Krista Moores currently a student of Comm 350: Emerging communication technology at Western Washington University. Join me on my adventures into the world of blogging, website design and podcasts.
One of our assignments is to create a website, so we were asked to research and come up with the top 10 rules of website design. This is my take of the top 10 as a newbie.
1. Don't use too many colors. I didn't understand this at first because I thought wouldn't more colors make your site eye catching, but this can often be overwhelming if you have too much going on. So sometimes less is more.
2. Navigation: to the point. One of the things I've noticed about a lot of websites it that often it can be difficult to get to what you are looking for, so I would prefer something simple and straight to the point that is easy to use.
3. Text and Background: colors. Have you ever tried to watch a foreign movie were the subtitles sometimes blended in with the background... well, if you haven't I can tell you it's very difficult to read. This should also be applied when designing a website. Make the text and background colors contrast so they are easy to read.
4. Font: pick your favorites and stick with them. You want your fonts to go together and make sense to the reader. On webdesignerdepots top ten list they described this as every font having it's own personality and too many personalities can clash. I think this was a great analogy and it makes sense to me. Don't overwhelm your page with a million different fonts.
5. Site Goal: This goes with what we discussed on the second day for our group projects. You want your viewer to get _____ , ________ and ________ out of your website. Make your goal obvious so once the person leaves your site they know exactly what the point was.
6. Content: Your site shouldn't be all about design make the content interesting and make sure there is enough of it on each page.
7. Multiple browsers: mac, pc, firefox, google chrome, internet explorer. You want everyone to be able to use your site make sure that it is compatiable with as many browsers as possible. You don't want to lose viewers before they can even see your site.
8. Consistency: This goes along with choosing a few select fonts and using them throughout the site. It is also a good idea to do this with layout and design. You want your pages to be cohesive together. Every page doesn't have to be different, make them work together with certain similarities. When a fashion designer puts out a collection all the pieces are different but they go together. Same should be said for your site.
9. White space: Don't fear it. I know my first instinct will be to cover every inch of my page, but sometimes having white space is okay. It can make other elements stand out more.
10. Proofread: Spell check. You don't want your site going up with spelling errors and other common mistakes. You could lose your credibility instantly and you don't want that!! Just make sure you check for errors and go over everything before you post. Which reminds me I better proofread all of this before I post!
http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/06/10-web-design-rules-that-you-can-break/
http://www.sharpened.com/web/about/rules.htmlhttp://www.roi.com.au/web-design/top-10-rules-of-best-practice-website-design/
No comments:
Post a Comment