5 Fundamentals Every Web Designer Needs to Understand
We all know intuitively what makes a website look bad: overused bevel effects, corny clip art, overcrowded layouts. These annoyances are easily corrected by developing with design fundamentals in mind-the same principles used by professional designers and artists alike. Great websites bring together form and function. In fact, well-designed websites are seen as more credible, according to a Stanford study and are actually easier to use (as studied by researcher Don Norman). So here are five fundamentals to help you keep quality design at the forefront of your practice. Follow the rules... mostly In design school, they'll give you a list of principles to abide by that assign rules to beauty-elements like layout, order and symmetry. But as you advance, you're then told to break the rules a bit to create places for a viewer's eyes to look by employing elements like variety, tension or contrast. Use imagery and icons to communicate when possible There ar...