Articles
What is good web design?
At clear breeze | design we believe in working with the web rather than fighting against it.
Building a website is effectively trying to grapple control with something that is dynamic. Trying to force a pixel-perfect design on such an animal usually results in lengthy confrontation and presents more visual problems than it solves.
The Internet was never conceived as a glossy-end, image-rich medium - it was intended as a vehicle to exchange information. We like to think that this is still its essence. That does not mean to say that a site cannot be attractive, interesting or even beautiful, but its end purpose needs consideration.
With this in mind, we endeavour to build attractive, information-rich sites that are accessible to users. This means that they are built to comply with current web standards so that they remain upward compatible and simple to maintain. A web page is not a printed page. It is viewed through different systems and monitors and will never look exactly the same to each visitor.
Furthermore, the potential of the website is that it can grow and develop. Building a site that is too constrictive results in an expensive site to maintain. Poorly designed and built navigation is the main offender in this. If a site relies on images to create text (see Can I use my corporate font on a website?) then whenever a new page is added and the site is expanded in anyway, a new image will need to be created, spliced, optimised and imported into the HTML page. In some instances physical space may be an issue where the original designer has created a fantastic-looking, polished finished site. However, the very nature of the Web suggests that a website is never a finished article and should not be treated as such. Only phases in its development are completed. That is the fundamental difference between a website and printed literature. A website is a dynamic, expandable medium and rather than force it to behave like print, we should be embracing its qualities and designing to accommodate these factors.
To summarise so far, we have established that a site needs to be designed with the end purpose in mind and with an informed approach that is sympathetic to its dynamic qualities. We cannot progress much further without mentioning the content of the site. This is the core of the site, the very essence - the design exists to clarify, enhance and portray this message. So often the words of the site are over-looked when they should be regarded in equal measure to the visual appearance. The message these words convey needs to be accessible via a navigation system that clearly directs the visitor through the site to the information he or she requires. Visitors will not loiter on a sit that confuses or delays them from their purpose. The path a potential visitor takes through the site needs strong consideration from the outset - how information is broken down and presented - which sections are of greater importance and so on.
The Internet was never conceived as a glossy-end, image-rich medium - it was intended as a vehicle to exchange information.
Building a site that is too constrictive results in an expensive site to maintain.
A website is a dynamic, expandable medium and rather than force it to behave like print, we should be embracing its qualities...