Floating around the universe, are certain universal principles that transcend disciplines. I would like to explore a few of them here, and talk about how they can be applied to web design.
Dec
25
The source site for this is: http://www.zend.com
These guys designed their site like a billboard in a way. You can see as you enter the site, the first thing that jumps in your eyes is the "billboard", the header. It uses CSS & JavaScript to flip through graphics, efficiently displaying all the aspects of the site in one place.
Dec
25
Back in about 1906, Vilfredo Pareto created a mathematical formula to describe the not so equal distribution of wealth in his country; he figured out that twenty percent of the people owned eighty percent of the wealth.
I’m sure Pareto thought that sucked pretty bad, needless to say, he had no idea how good they had it back then!
OK, so what does this have to do with web design?
The 80/20 has since evolved into a proven principle that works in just about any field - web design in no different. A classic definition of the principle states: that a small number of the causes (20%) are responsible for most (80%) of the effect.
Dec
25
Every once and a while I use a question put to me, as the basis for an article. This time, we have Richard asking whether web design (as a profession,) will have bright future.
The email:
Thank you for having courses that make it easier for the average laymen to comprehend the basics which will allow the complex material to sink in. I have a question though.
I am in my fifties, have done many different things in my life, and I am looking for something as a career change to take me into my second half of life and into retirement. What do you think the opportunities are going to be in the future in this type of industry taking into consideration the advancements in technology?
Dec
25
Gallery/ The Principles of Beautiful Web Design« previous | next »
The Principles of Beautiful Web Design
Current rating: 4.9 (362 votes)
Dec
25
I find it very easy to take in information via audio and have found podcast’s an especially useful resource of great web design and business information and the medium is coming of age nicely. Following is my list of my favourite web design podcasts.
Boagworld Podcast
This podcast aims to provide news and advice on website design and management without overwhelming you with techno babble! Hopefully it has something for everybody, whether you design, develop or run websites on a daily basis.
Dec
25
Recently someone asked me a bunch of questions related to getting their first web design job as an independent contractor - and so I figured an article was a good idea.
Tim asked:
Stefan,
With me being a newbie in the web design business, I have some questions. Long story short, I was talking with my friends wife one day and mentioned to her that I had thought about doing some web design on the side to make some extra money.
Dec
25
The source site for this is: http://www.cafejurado.com
If you look at this site you will see they didn't just throw this design together in one night. It is an extensive, detailed and very effective design. It speaks quality, small town, hommy and comfortable. I can almost smell the coffee when looking at it. They did an awesome job on this design and I think it is a great example of a site done with passion.
Dec
25
The source site for this is: http://a.viary.com
After seeing a lot of websites that have amazing artsy design over the last three months I desided to create a Category for Artsy Website Design Ideas so I can capture the masterpieces here.
Dec
25
In the early stages of a web design project most designers I know offer 3 different designs for the client to pick from, the client picks which is their favorite of the three mock ups and this design is used for the project. I think this design process is unproductive for the project, and worse it wastes time.
Creating mock-ups usually involves opening up a blank Photoshop of Illustrator document and laying out 2 or 3 different themes as to how the website will look, the mock-ups are often greatly detailed and take up a lot of time to produce. Each Mock-up usually contains a fairly accurate layout structure, a color theme, some even have an initial logo concept.