CAILAB

Design principles

When designing a web page, you need to keep some basic design principles in mind. These principles are simple to understand, but sometimes more difficult to actually apply when building a web page.

Four basic principles of design are: alignment, proximity, repetition, contrast

Alignment: Things should be lined up properly.

Proximity: Related elements should be close together.

Repetition: Design elements should be repeated through the whole site. For example, the menu should appear in the same place on each page so the user doesn' thave to search for it, and the color scheme and overall design of each page should be consistent.

Contrast: Use colors that contrast. This is especially important with regards to text. Do not use a background that makes it difficult to read text.

We will be looking at a lot of web pages in this class, and you look at a lot of web sites on a daily basis anyway. As you look at web sites, think about how the designer has or has not applied these principles. If you see a site that looks really good, try to understand which of these principles the designer has effectively used. On the other hand, when you see a site that looks really bad, try to determine which of the principles the designer has violated.