Website creation

 

Website creation 

Web design is the planning and creation of websites. This includes a number of separate skills that all fall under the umbrella of web design.

Some examples of these skills are information architecture user interface site structure, navigation layout colors fonts and overall imagery. All of these skills are combined with the principles of design to create a website that meets the goals of the company or individual from whom that site is being created.

This article will take a look at the basics of website design and the various disciplines or skills that are a part of this industry.

Design Is Key Part of Web Design

female web developer working on computer

Design, obviously is a key part of web design. What does this mean exactly

Design includes both the principles of design  balance contrast emphasis rhythm and unity  and the design elements  lines shapes texture color and direction.

By putting these things together a web designer creates websites, but a good web designer understands not only the principles of design but also the constraints of the Web. For example, a successful web designer will be skilled in typographic design principles while also understanding the challenges of web type design and specifically how it differs from other kinds of type design.

In addition to understanding the limitations of the Web a successful web professional also has a firm grasp of the strengths of digital communication.

Web Design Has Many Different Roles

When you work as a web designer you may be tasked with creating (or working on) entire sites or just individual pages and there is a lot to learn to be a well-rounded designer including the following:

HTML 

This is the structure of web pages creating the foundation of all websites

CSS 

 This is how web pages are visually styled. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) handles the entire look of sites including layout typography colors and more

JavaScript 

This governs certain behaviors on websites and can be used for a variety of interactions and features

CGI programming

 CGI and the next few entries (PHP, ASP, etc.) are all different flavors of programming languages. Many sites do not require any of these languages but sites that are more feature-rich will certainly need to be coded using some of these languages

PHP ASP ColdFusion scripting

XML

Information architecture 

 The way a site's content and navigation is structured and presented helps make for a successful site that is easy and intuitive to use

SEO 

Search engine optimization ensures that websites are attractive to Google and other search engines and that people looking for the products services or information features on that site can find it once they look for it online

Server management 

 All websites need to be hosted. The management of the servers that host those sites is an important web design skill

Web strategy and marketing

 Having a website is not enough. Those sites will also need to be marketed with an ongoing digital strategy

E-commerce and conversions

Design

Creating the visual look and feel of websites has always been an important aspect of the industry

Speed 

A successful site is one that loads quickly on a wide variety of devices regardless of a visitor's connection speed. Being able to tune the performance of sites is a very valuable skill

Content 

People come to websites for the content that those sites contain. Being able to create that content is a critically important component in the world of website design

There's also so much more areas and skills that cross into the field of web design, but most designers don't try to cover all of them. Instead a web designer will generally focus on one or two areas where they can excel. The other items in web design that are needed are ones that they can partner with others one as part of a larger web design team.