When you visit a website, the overall look and feel that the site gives off is the result of something called web design. It is the process of planning and building the elements of your website, including the structure and layout as well as the images, colors, fonts, and graphics.
To create the ultimate experience of a website, web design consists of many different elements, including graphic design, user experience design, interface design, search engine optimization (SEO), and content creation. These elements influence how a website functions, appears and feels across a range of devices.If you want to learn more about how the process works, you should check out our comprehensive tutorial on the web design process.
You are going to learn more about the following subjects as you read through this blog:
What Is the Point of Web Design?
Web Design Vs. Web Development
Seeking Sources of Inspiration
Web Design Tools
Design Principles Applied to Websites
Website Layouts
Web Design Functional Elements
Visual Elements of Web DesignÂ
6 Types of Web Design
4 Types of Websites
What Is the Point of Web Design?
If you don’t have a strong web presence, you’re holding back your brand. Potential customers who search the web for your brand and come up empty-handed may believe you’ve gone out of business. If they look for and find something subpar, they will feel that you don’t care much about your business or services. Make every relationship that starts on your website a great one by getting your web design right.
Web Design vs. Web Development
What sets a web developer apart from a web designer? What are the responsibilities of each? During the early stages of the Web, the answer to this question was straightforward: designers designed, and developers coded. These days, that question needs a bit more subtlety.
Let’s look at these two concepts and the roles they play in building useful websites and applications.
What Is Web Design?
Web design controls everything related to a website’s visual aesthetics and usability of website color, information flow, layout, and anything else about the visual aspects of the UI/UX (user interface and user experience).
Some common abilities and tools that separate web designers from web developers are as follows:
- Â UX and UI design
- Â Design of a logo
- Layout/format
- Adobe Creative Suite (for example, Photoshop and Illustrator) or similar design software
- Â Graphic design
- Â Branding
- Wireframes, mock-ups, and storyboards
- Typography
- Color palettes
- Placing call-to-action buttons
However, many web designers are also proficient with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript—being able to generate living mock-ups of a web app is useful when pitching an idea to the team or fine-tuning the UI/UX of an app.Web designers often use templating services such as WordPress or Joomla, which enable you to build websites with themes and widgets without writing a single line of code.
We have learned about the concept of a web designer, so far in the web design process. The concept of a web developer is introduced next.
What Is Web Development?
All the code that keeps a website functioning is governed by web development. It is divided into front-end and back-end categories. The code that determines how a website will actually display the designs that a designer has mocked up is known as the front-end or client-side of an application. An application’s back-end, or server-side, is in charge of controlling the data in the database and sending it to the front-end to display.
As you may have predicted, the front-end developer’s job and the web designer’s work tend to have the most responsibilities in common with one another.
Seeking Sources of Inspiration
The designers hunt for ideas in all kinds of places. The following is a list of some of the most useful websites for stimulating your creative side:
Web Design Tools
Designing a website can be typically done in one of two ways: using a desktop application or with a website builder. Here are some questions to think about: How large is your team? What is your financial situation? What technical requirements would your site need? What is the overall look you want to achieve? The answers to these questions will also help you choose the kind of website builder or other design software tools you wish to use.
Desktop Application
For desktop applications, designers should build their designs and send them to a development team so they can be converted into code. Photoshop and Sketch are the most used desktop applications for designing websites.
Website Builders
These days, there are several website builders available on the market that provide a variety of features and services. Web site builders either create responsive or adaptable websites, which provide various building experiences
Design Principles Applied to Websites
As a point of reference, we can review the principles of design, a theory practised by artists and designers that outlines the visual qualities any composition should aim for. By applying these principles to web design, both novice and experienced web designers can design sites with a unified appearance and feel.
Obviously, these are not hard-and-fast rules. Instead, they are suggestions for how to use the different website design elements.
Let’s take a look at the principles:
- Balance
- Hierarchy
- Contrast
- Rhythm
- Emphasis
- Movement
- Unity
- White Space
Website Layouts
The arrangement and sequencing of the visual elements on each page of your website will be determined by the website layout, which is like setting the foundation for the building. This crucial phase in web design affects a site’s visual appeal, and level of use, and amplifying its message.
A multitude of things influences the optimal website layout, including the aims of your website, the message you want to convey to viewers, and the kind of information you’ll offer.
While there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution, there are two primary options
Layouts to Accommodate Your Content:
The layout you select should be appropriate for the kind of content. For example, if you want a layout that would promote products, you need to choose one with plenty of area for highlighting images. A blog layout, on the other hand, must present fresh content in an orderly way.
Common layouts:
There are numerous tested website layouts available. These tend to seem familiar to users since they draw on their current expectations or previous experiences with other websites. They can be beneficial to novices since they may result in a more intuitive, user-friendly interface.
When designing your own website, you can use website templates from a variety of categories to offer a solid for the layout of your site. We suggest starting with wireframes if you want to design a layout from scratch. This approach will enable you to draft out the layout of your website before the implementation phase.
Web Design Functional Elements
Website functionality relates to how your website works, from its speed and convenience of use to the specific actions that can be done on it.
Let’s go through the web design elements that will influence how your site works:
- Navigation
- Speed
- SEO
- UX
- Responsive vs. adaptive design
Visual Elements of Web Design
The visual elements of a website are equally as vital as its functional qualities, and they work together to define its overall appearance and feel. Color schemes, fonts, and video all contribute to user experience and the development of your brand.
In this section, we are going to discuss the visual aspects of web design, along with providing you with some tips to help you arrive at aesthetically satisfying conclusions on your own:
- Website header
- Website footer
- Animation
- Website background
- Typography
- Imagery
- Color scheme
Website Maintenance
The web design industry is always offering new features, tools, and solutions. The drawback of this rapidly changing world is that it necessitates you and your website being consistently up to date and implementing a website maintenance strategy.
After you’ve finalized your first design, you’ll need to update your website to ensure the information is current and the design is not out of date. While it may seem futile, any outdated elements on your website can have a detrimental influence on the interactions of your visitors, resulting in decreased overall performance and sales.
You should visit your website at least once every month to ensure that it is free of errors, that everything is operating as it should, and that the information you provide is up to date.
6 Types of Web Design
95% of first impressions is based on web design, so you need to make sure your business has a well-designed website. But when you first start designing websites, you might not know what to do with them.
- Static Page Layout
- Liquid Design Layout
- Adaptive Website Layout
- Dynamic Website Layout
- Responsive Design Layout
- Single Page Layout
4 Types of Websites
In addition to selecting the most suitable website layout from the options you have compiled, you should first decide what sort of website you need to create for your business before you can go on to the next step. Because the requirements of each business are unique, the type of website you need could be distinct from those of other businesses.
You can create any one of the following four types of websites for your business:
1. Blogs
2. E-commerce websites
3. Business websites
4. Membership websites
So far, we have attempted to cover all of the major aspects of the web design process.If you’ve ever thought about becoming a web designer, I hope this article has helped to answer some of your questions. Becoming a web designer will not happen overnight or by itself.
You need to hone your skills, nurture your portfolio, and approach potential jobs with the same dedication you would apply to any career.  But in the end, it’s worth it, because creating beautiful, intuitive websites is not just an art form; it’s an opportunity to make a difference in the world!