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Minimalist Web Design

06 May 2010 | By admin


The saying that less is more has been applied to everything from art to advertising. When it comes to website design, it has never been truer than it is today.

With all the cutting-edge technology and so many fabulous graphics to choose from or create, designers often want to throw everything they can into a website design. The result, rather than impressive, is hectic. With no focal point or easy-to-use and locate navigation bar, the user becomes confused and is often unable to navigate the site easily or at all. They leave and the website owner loses not just a visitor, but likely a sale.

A minimalist website, on the other hand, offers users a website that’s easy to use and to navigate. With a well designed minimalist website, visitors can easily and quickly find exactly what they’re looking for. They don’t end up endlessly clicking to page after page, viewing information they can’t use or have already seen on the site. Finding a site like this is like find an oasis in the middle of the desert. Whew! What a relief!

Think of Google, for example. Simple, basic and extremely efficient. Could anything be easier to use? It’s the perfect example of just how effective website minimalism truly is.

While you probably don’t want a website that’s quite that bare, you do want a website design that is that simple and clean. Minimalist websites can be quite beautiful when designed well and exude class rather than scream too many messages. Great color and just enough graphics combined with the right amount of white space make a site less busy, making it simpler for a visitor to navigate. This is a refreshing and calming change for a web user, and makes a minimalist website one that they will appreciate and want to visit often.

Content on a minimalist website needs to be clear and concise too. While we’ve all heard that content is king, this doesn’t mean that there needs to be tons and tons of content, especially if it has little substance. Information that is easily accessed and precisely written is far more effective than having too much content to sift through to find necessary information.

Too many website designers, unfortunately, overlook this need for easy navigation. Trying to get around clunky navigation to find the information you want is a bit like being plopped down in a flea market where everything is jumbled together. Infant clothes tossed in with women’s clothes are then topped off with a stack of men’s shirts. The effort to get through it all to find what you’re looking for is exhausting and usually not worth the effort.

Minimal yet precise copy offers website visitors many benefits, primarily the advantage of being able to read on screen information without too many elements competing for their attention.

Finally, with technology making it possible to view the Internet on much smaller screens, minimalist website design is crucial. There just isn’t room on a cell phone or palm pilot screen to see a great deal. With each advance in technology, less really is more.

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Web Page Design

05 May 2010 | By admin


How many times have you come across sites that are so cluttered with information and graphics that you feel completely lost? Isn’t there a problem of plenty with animated graphics, pop ups, revolving text, blinking images and so on? It typically leaves you confused and irritated, doesn’t it?

The mantra for an attractive web page design is simplicity. Keeping it simple and clean with the minimum of graphics but adequate yet concise information is half the battle won. Zero in on what it is you want the visitor to do; do you want her to purchase a product from you, read information or gain knowledge – and design your site accordingly.

To design a site that will attract viewers, you have to know the factors that affect a web page layout. Once you understand these issues, you are well on your way to creating an eye-catching site. We’ve researched and put together the 5 necessary elements that go towards making an attractive design. So, go ahead and start designing your website with these basics in mind.

Screen Resolution – Use a screen resolution of 800×600 pixels when designing your web page and use percentages to specify the width and length of your page. It will then resize to the particular resolution your visitor is using.

Graphics – Avoid cluttering up your page with too many graphics. Remember, the more images you have, the more time it takes for downloading. Strike a good balance between graphics and text.

Color – Since the web is a visual medium, color plays an important role in how viewers perceive it. Have you ever gone to a site that had a dark background and darker text? I bet you didn’t stay long enough to try and figure out the content! Always use a light background with dark text. If you are ever in doubt, use black on white.

White Space – This is the empty space used to separate various elements and draw attention to the content. If the page is too cluttered with information and graphics, it will annoy the viewer. Try to make the page look clean and simple; it must be both legible and navigable. The proper use of white space is one of the critical elements that distinguish a professional design from an amateurish one.

Links – Where do you want the visitor to go? Don’t leave them hanging mid-way with nowhere to go. The key to good web page design is to make all the information on your site easily accessible. Will one click take you back to the homepage? Do not have multi layers within your site – the viewer may simply lose interest and move on.

Well, we’ve given you the 5 elements essential for a good web layout. Here are some more guidelines for you to make your website attractive to your intended audience:

o Plan the design of your site before you start building it. All the content, graphics and links must be carefully thought out during this phase.

o Ultimately, it is the content that your viewer is interested in. So, design your website with the content in the forefront. Avoid any type of web page design that overpowers the information; please, please resist the urge to go wild!

o A white background reflects a professional, businesslike attitude while a black one evokes an air of creativity and mystery. What do you want to be?

o Choose a design scheme that is appropriate for the message you’re trying to convey. A design that is good for a corporate site is usually wrong for an entertainment website.

o Weird fonts, bizarre punctuation or bright colors can distract the visitor from your message. Good design is never in-your-face. Rather, it simply creates a sense of visual pleasure for visitors to enjoy.

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