Don't Go In Without A Plan
Increasingly sophisticated programs such as Adobe Photoshop
and Macromedia Fireworks allow a huge array of tools for
Web designers. If you whip open your copy of CS3 and try to
summon a design from a blank screen, do you have any idea
what'll happen? Not much as far as profitable Web designing
is concerned.
Most spontaneous design is plighted by indecision. You
could spend an hour altering the blending options on a
single layer, only to delete it and move on to something
that looks slightly better. You'll spend another hour here
before minimizing and reopening your template at a later
date - and what do you know? It doesn't look as good as it
did when you were fiddling around in Photoshop at the time!
This, ladies and gentlemen, is why the professional Web
designer works to a careful plan. If you're going to design
a template from scratch, have enough respect for your own
time to produce a hand drawn illustration of what you WANT
and NEED the interface to look like.
This does two things. Firstly, if gives us something
concrete to work towards when we open our graphics utility.
Secondly, it channels your business mind in to implementing
the features that you need - rather than the features that
look nice when you work randomly towards a workable design.
Avoid Unnecessarily Complicated Design
Unless you have plans to run a business by irritating your
customers, stick to the basics. Avoid all those crazy
innovative designers drawing up wacky concept Web sites.
Remember, remember, remember. You're not trying to win a
cyber beauty contest. You're trying to sell a product. So
keep your Web template relative to what everyday Web users
are going to be used to. This means placing the navigation
where the navigation usually goes, dumping slow loading
videos and choosing efficiency over experimentation.
If a design concept catches on, brilliant. But that field
is to be pushed by the experts who make a living from it.
We're interested in using the technology of the present to
appeal to as many customers as possible.
Use Eye Friendly Colours
Pink, green and scarlet red may look somewhat eye-catching
at first glance, but is it what a customer wants to see
when browsing a commercial Web site? Themes aside, the
answer is a resounding "No!".
Stick to the tried and trusted colours of e-Commerce. If
you haven't heard of such a colour set, draw up an image in
your mind of shades that wouldn't be deemed offensive to
the naked eye.
The colours are there. Use silvers, light blues, delicate
greens and good old fashioned white. They might leave you
feeling creatively uninspired but they serve the best
interests of the customer. That is, they don't draw
attention to extravagant colour schemes over rich content.
Remember, it's the content of your message that sells your
product.
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