Cleanliness does not necessarily be equated with dirt free. It is also somehow or the other related to the absence of excess that usually leads to crystal clear and aesthetically pleasing look and feel, especially in the sphere of web design. For a web designer, it is a common thing to run into excesses when designing a website. Maintaining a balance between aesthetics and practical requirements is important for making a website that looks neat, clean and well organized. For web designers who want to succeed in the competitive industry, mastering basics of clean web design becomes a prerequisite. There is no watertight rule for succeeding in this kind of website design though. Web design professionals need to adhere to some basic principles for impressing users with professional looking, neat websites.
However, clean web design need not necessarily mean designing web sites with stress on minimalism. It is possible to use diverse elements in a website along with content yet maintain a neat and clutter free look. While minimalist web design does away with anything superfluous and stresses on content, in clean web design using creativity and aesthetic elements is permissible to an extent. In other words, a web designer aspiring for a neat, professional looking website should stress on refinement of used elements rather than eliminating them. This, however, cannot be achieved overnight and a clean website may require painstaking efforts running into days of work.
Choosing graphic elements that have punch
No matter what kind of website you design, using suitable and compelling graphics in it is of paramount importance. While it is content in a website that concerns the readers, attractive and relevant graphics also complement the content and adds to its aesthetic appeal. However, be careful about color when you use graphic elements in a webpage, whether it is still or animated. Using too many colors can create visual clutter and using a single color often sends a strong impact.
Using Space with care
Beyond doubt, one of the prerequisites of clean web design is absence of clutter. Web designers can use various elements like flash animation, video, 3D graphics etc in web pages with ease but they should steer clear from overuse of such elements. Nowadays, people resort to various portable devices for browsing web and neglecting needs of mobile web users would be a gross mistake. To design a clean website, everything from margins to whitespace needs to be used with care and precision. However, usage of excessive spacing can result in a website looking unappealing. It is very important to maintain the flow and fluidity in designing web pages without running into excesses.
Developing an eagle eye for precision
In any design related work, small details matter a lot and web design is no exception. For achieving success in clean web design, you need to develop an eye for scrutinizing small details. Things that designers tend to overlook when designing web sites like borders, shadows, highlights and texture can create an impression on viewers. In some instances, ignoring pixilation or image optimizing issues can result in affecting quality of webpage graphics. To design perfect images for websites, select apt image optimization in Photoshop and activate ‘Snap to Pixels’ in this app. Anomalies in content alignment in web pages can appear visually unappealing to readers.
Picking your fonts wisely
For succeeding in clean web design, pay as much attention to typography as you do for images. While there are lots of fonts to choose from, web designers need to consider aspects like target audience and nature of a Client Company wisely. Using suitable fonts for headings and content in web pages is a must in this context. Using sans serif and serif style fonts usually yield good results in clean website design. However, there are other options and you can combine other fonts for making category specific sites including kid’s website or women centric sites.
Colorizing your website with suitable hues
Using suitable color is necessary in designing any type of website and same can be said for creating a neat and clean site. Sticking to light and neutral shades is useful for succeeding in clean web design. Lighter shades help in shifting focus of users to website content. However, depending on type of website using bright colors in moderation can help. For instance, using dark and deeper shades in logo, headings and navigational elements in a web page with light background looks nice. There is nothing like you cannot use bold color in clean web design but such hues should be used with care and restraint. Sometimes using deep background color in a website may be necessary for connecting to target audience. Preferably, opt for solid colors rather than gradients in such websites. If you really need to use texture and gradient in a website, do not use them profusely.
Navigation and usability
When you are content with the design of a website and think everything is in pace, perform a reality check on it usability. How does the website feel from a third person’s perspective? You can ask someone not involved in site design to take a look at it before publishing. Keep the site navigation straightforward and refrain from using navigation elements that may baffle first timers or technology novices.
Author Bio
Michael Evans is a passionate writer and a regular blogger. He is good at Photoshop and has contributed different tutorials on web design and development that have managed to garner positive feedback.
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