The secrets of a great website design

Website design is essentially a creative process and is more artistic than technical. However, there are a few unsaid secrets around it because all in all, it is a medium of presentation and the reason why some website designs stand out more than others is that they know these secrets. Now it's time for you to learn them to create visually appealing websites.

Keeping the design balanced

As a website designer, the first thing you apply to your designs is a well-constructed balance. which can be seen in the layout of a website. The visual weight of a website design can be manipulated by adding or removing elements like colour, text, imagery, etc. Say one symbol on the website is neon green, then the colour itself will set off the entire balance. Achieving a balance can take some time and training.

Always use grids

Compartmentalizing designs within grids is related to balance. Grids are vertical rulers that put a web page into columns. Columns allow the viewer the ease of readability. The widely used Golden Ratio and The Rule of Thirds makes things easier on the eye. In terms of professional photography, the latter means that the subject in a photograph isn't square in the middle but it is at the intersection

of a grid divided into nine parts.

Don't pick more than 3 base colours for the design

It is important you understand the colours that go well together and the ones that don't. With time, a feel and understanding of colour schemes begin to develop. You can begin experimenting by using two base colours at first then using tints (lighter) and shadows (darker) to create different colour palettes. A website for a wood-fired pizza restaurant would do well with brown and red tones for an earthy feel.

Add white space to make the elements stand out

Negative space or white space gives spatial peace to the viewer. If you want to make something stand out, there needs to be breathing space around it. Advertisements for luxury products deal in a lot of white space. To enhance readability and comprehension, you need to give sufficient padding to every paragraph. The design should support the product/service, not add noise to it.

Bringing all the elements together

Appealing website design is not dependent on just one of the elements but is a synthesis of all the different elements combined together. For a website to appear consistent, there needs to be a strong sense of unity behind the scenes.