I found an article by Jennifer Kyrnin about the Basics of Web design at about.com. It summarizes a list of proper applications of design elements when building a web site. It is a friendly reminder for those who started feeling too confident about their HTML and CSS skills. Although it's plain language, it helps you to keep the balance between impressive and effective design.
Jennifer breaks down the elements into graphics, layout, fonts, advertising, and remembering your readers. She emphasizes the “think small” mentality of the web. Graphics should be small and relevant to its content without becoming a distraction for its audience. Kyrnin recommends standard layouts, showing her preference for the three-column format. White space is also important, comparing this to the success of newspapers; which explain Kyrnin knowledge and relationship with the printing industry. When it comes to typefaces, as most of us know, standard font families are the way to go. However, she also mentions the use of Serif for headlines and san serif for text, explaining that the low resolution of the screen blurs the kerning which could make serif fonts hard to read, contrary to prints where serif are preferred for text.
In terns of advertising, they should not dominate your design. Designers have to treat advertising as any other element and these need to be relevant to their content. It is important to remember that if your site is about video games, users are more likely to click on ads that reflect their needs.
Last, designers have to test their pages in different browsers and operating systems unless there are planning to be viewed by a group that shares the same capabilities.
All these considerations alleviate the process of designing a web site, and allow the artist to focus on the purpose of its nature, a versatile interactive media.
With all due respect.
