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Principles of Design
Hierarchy
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When designing any page, you need to have an easy to understand
hierarchy of information.
Large blocks of text are hard to follow so make sure they are broken into easy
to read chunks!
Headlines have to be the first thing that catches your eye.
To attract your viewer's attention to a specific headline you can apply a wide
range of skills.
Making it bolder is the most obvious solution.
Consider using more creative elements like the positioning of the headline and
the "whitespace" which surrounds it.
Other tricks that attract your viewer's attention are CAPITALIZING or changing
the color, line spacing, letter spacing or the orientation of text.
Do not conform to the above stated methods alone. Find other creative ways (based on
your content) of attracting attention to specific words or phrases.
Layout Grid
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Your page layout needs to conform to some sort of grid which makes the
information appear organized in a logical manner.
My motto for making a truly creative design grid is: remove anything
superfluous!
Start off with black and white type.
Add appropriate color. Imagery comes last; like icing on the cake.
The only case when this is not true is for artsy designs or primarily
non-textual content.
Never add more elements just for the sake of it.
If something is not related to your subject or does not make your design
stronger, remove it!
Leaving an Impression
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Designing is all about your content.
Your subject matter should dictate what decision you make.
Try to reflect what your content says through your design.
If you are talking about something very traditional or conservative for example, your design should be very plain.
You might use a traditional Serif font and have your text neatly laid out with no overlap or cropping.
When designing a page about trash metal, your design should also express a sense for the music.
In the latter case, you might mix things up and make the layout chaotic.
Your images could be interfering with the text or something like that...
Come up with an original and memorable design for your site that reflects its content.
Legibility
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As you have read above, there are plenty of tricks you can apply as a designer, but it is very important to arrange your information in a legible manner.
If people can't read your content easily, they probably won't.
Pay close attention to the colors you use, the point sizes of your type and the line spacing.
The System
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When you have to design more than one page, make sure you have variety. Doing the same thing over and over again bores your visitors.
Try to mix things up, but not so much that your design changes its "feel."
Never make an entire web site based on one single template.
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Tips
Typography