website essay

But web-sites are purely visual and aural, one screen at a time. Encouraging the viewer to go beyond the first layer, even learn where to go for what is required is a common problem for designers. It is their job to bring the viewer inside through the "Dance of the seven veils", and once inside, guide them, not to confuse or frustrate them. How? Web-sites that work are sites that do what you want it to do. They do not insult your intelligence, but neither do they obfuscate. They must indicate the wealth of material lying beneath the first page, but also offer you options and alternate means of approach. The answer may lie in better selling of the "land" - in urban planning, to use a metaphor. The solutions to timeless internet problems - navigation, access to information - will be provided by design. Good design means; pertinent information, content, good "surfing", exploring, and gathering. The designer is the Web's real pathfinder. How does the designer achieve this goal? By drawing up an agenda for good web design. Section 3 and 4 Where does good web design come from? I believe that the principles print informed quality print design for hundreds of years and that these principles are equally valid online. TEN RULES OF DESIGN FOR THE WEB 1. Put content on every page. Design should not be decoration. It must convey information. Or entertainment. Content should come to the surface on every single level. Avoid useless and confusing icons, e.g. a navigation bar that has a for help. Make sure the content is easy to read quickly. Break the text into smaller segments. On the web people are in a hurry. They want the information they are looking for quickly, like a dictionary, that's still what the web is really about. 2. The first colour is white 3. The second colour is black 4. The third colour is red. This is a basic rule that has been around for 500 years. In Print white is the absence of all colours.