Web Designing Principles

The basic principles of web design are true for designing a great website. They are illustrated on how to put together design elements in a very effective manner. Designing a web is more than just putting HTML tags up onto a page, and by using these principles will help in building more useful and pleasing web designs.

Balance

Balance, the distribution of light and heavy elements on the page. Larger, darker elements appear heavier in the design than smaller, lighter elements. The principle of balance shows how to lay out pages so that they will work effectively.

Contrast

What do most people think of contrast, usually they typically think of colors or black and white. But there is more to contrast than color. There are contrasting shapes (square vs. circle), or contrasting sizes (large vs. small), or contrasting textures (smooth vs. rough).

Emphasis

Emphasis is what the eye is drawn to in a design. It's tempting to give everything equal emphasis or try to emphasize everything in a design, but this ends up making the design flat and bland. Instead, as a designer you should determine the hierarchy of the page and then apply the emphasis to the elements based on that hierarchy.

Rhythm

Rhythm, also called repetition. It brings an internal consistency to web designs. Patterns are easy for humans to comprehend, and repetition provides patterns that make the site easier to comprehend.

Unity

Unity is also called proximity. It is the principle of keeping like elements together and diverse elements further apart. Unity pulls elements together.