5 fundamentals every web designer needs to understand

Front End Development, Tip and Tricks, Trends, Web Design, Web Development
designer, fundamentals, rules, Web, web designer
6 August 2014

As a web designer, there are many skills and technology that you have to become aware of and learn. Even from a regular person’s point of view, we all know some features that make a website look dysfunctional: too many fonts, overcrowded designs, low quality images, etc. There are design and development fundamentals that when kept in mind can result in a beautiful, functional, and exceptional website.

Without these fundamentals, you risk the web design project turning out less than what you expected. So, what are some essential fundamentals a web designer should become knowledgeable about and utilise in their websites?

Fonts Compliment a Design

There are plenty of premium and free fonts to choose from for a design and even some that look the same. Fonts can be mixed around as body font and different headlines. You must choose wisely to create the ideal outcome. An overload of fonts can complicate a design, so a general rule is to use a maximum of 3 different fonts in an unlimited number of weights. Not all fonts play nice together. Try and find 2 or 3 solid fonts that work well side by side. A sans-serif is best for the body text while either sans-serif or traditional serif could work for headlines.

Colour isn’t a Decoration

Many designers use different colours for the purpose of “sprucing up” a design, but colour has many other purposes. Colour plays into designing for emotion and there’s a colour wheel system that explains which colours work together in harmony. As with fonts, too many colours aren’t visually appealing. Narrow down your choices. Tell your businesses’ story and set the mood before saying a single word. For example, the colour purple stands for royalty. If your business is top notch quality that never settles for less, purple would be a great colour to suit your website and print designs.

Images and Icons

Nothing livens up a design more than quality images, icons, and other graphic website elements. There are icons that the human mind is already equipped to know at first glance. For instance, if a magnifying glass is shown anywhere on your website, the user will know they can use that icon to search. Humans are visual creatures, and this provides visual shortcuts that make it easier to navigate a website.

Never Stop Learning

Even when you’ve graduated from college and watched all of the adobe tutorials, your learning experience still isn’t over. With new trends and technologies being released every month, you’ll want to stay ahead of your competition by constantly updating your knowledge, skills, software, and trends. This can be done by simply reading blog posts and articles that teach you something new.

Get Help

There will always be a web design leader you can learn from. Don’t be afraid to get involved in the community and ask questions when you need help. Ask for feedback on your designs and communicate with other web professionals as much as you can. JTB Studios is a team of professionals that is dedicated to perfecting web design and development. Get in touch today and visit http://www.jtbstudios.com.au

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