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9 Essential Principles for Good Web Design

psdtuts.com — Web design can be deceptively difficult. Getting a design that is both usable and pleasing, delivers information and builds brand, is technically sound and visually coherent... So here are my 9 principles for good web design with examples and further reading!

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  • sherbertbones, on 12/17/2007, -6/+117Just use Geocities, it's elegant and comes with those kewl ads.
    • ny3103, on 12/17/2007, -5/+1I once sent a fax over email on the internets its so cool
  • BLusk0, on 12/17/2007, -7/+54This article's okay..... but where are the animated gifs and scrolling text marquees? Also, I'm pretty sure your page is supposed to have an imbedded midi file that starts playing when you go to it...
    • dangsta, on 12/17/2007, -8/+7/sarcasm
    • 31213121, on 12/17/2007, -1/+8k, I embedded everything in my new layout....NO line spacing, NO spacing at all... colors? yeah, BLUE, contrast? White on BLUE, alignment? left....

      to sum it up, I did about the opposite of what the article describes.... Please tell me if you like it (yeah, it's really my newest layout and I'm not kiddin'...)

      http://www.thefreesuite.com/
      • Nitesmoke, on 12/17/2007, -3/+1I didnt think it was too hard on the eyes. Even the colors weren't nearly as bad as any 13yo girl's myspace page. I constantly bug my friends who even have myspace or facebook sites to keep it simple, but for some reason they feel the need to bombard me with tons of useless crap. Plus, at least you are providing a service: get stuff free. I try to do the same with my site, I know its freewebs, but check it out, tons of free stuff and links to free stuff, and minimal gifs. If anyone who looks at it, give me some tips and I will check back and take them to heart. www.freewebs.com/nightsmoke
        And before you say it, I know freewebs sucks, but I'm poor, so if you know a better free web host, lemme know, and I'll switch
    • nicpedersen, on 12/17/2007, -0/+3http://www.plasticsgeneral.com

      this site incorporates many of your techniques. The funny thing is...they are still in business
  • bonjourmr, on 04/25/2008, -3/+5I think PSDTuts is a good site, and this tutorial is a good guide for starters and veterans alike. We all forget sometimes!
    But the lack of support of the awesome blink feature is disgusting.
    • FredFredrickson, on 12/17/2007, -0/+1It's slightly off-putting... but 'disgusting' is stretching it a bit.
  • FoxFaction, on 12/17/2007, -1/+6Basically, the website needs to be fun and cool to navigate while you are high. :)
    • Chirp08, on 12/17/2007, -0/+2Pretty sure my collectible figurine client with a target audience of ederly people with too much money doesn't want to go with "fun" ;)
  • noliberalbull, on 12/17/2007, -1/+8come on, just find a yellow myspace template, put pink text on it, and have your favorite pop tune play, and you're all set.
  • Rhuantavan, on 12/17/2007, -3/+2The article is a bit simplistic, but it is still a nice read. Good examples of web sites!
    • Chirp08, on 12/17/2007, -0/+3Only dissapointed in that I've seen these same sites in about 3-5 other articles, they are great for what they are, but they all fit a single style, with only the typography and architect's site breaking that web 2.0/gradients/bubbly look.
      The article was still well written, it could have used a more varied bunch of reference sites
  • HalfGiraffe, on 12/17/2007, -0/+3Excellent article with beautiful examples. Ok the use of the word "precedence" is a little weird, but otherwise a fine effort.
  • Predater, on 12/17/2007, -3/+52Get this guy to make your site : http://alexwebdesignstudio.com/alexwebdesignstudio ...
    • Chirp08, on 12/17/2007, -0/+9Cost = number of stars * $0.01
      would you like extra circa-1990 3d computer generated images with that?
    • Charlotte_Web, on 12/17/2007, -0/+101996 is calling... they want their website back.
    • charlietuna, on 12/17/2007, -0/+7Disco Stu needs no introduction!
    • bram, on 12/17/2007, -0/+11Posting that on digg caused his geocities page counter to roll over. Poor Alex is going to staff up expecting a rush of new business.
    • cooldude787879, on 12/17/2007, -0/+4Even his portfolio sucks...
      • SleepingOrange, on 12/17/2007, -0/+3and you expected it to be good.
        • SgtPeppers, on 12/17/2007, -0/+2Most of 'em is just frontpage templates w/ a new header. lol
    • Nitesmoke, on 12/17/2007, -0/+3Jesus, it was the B-movie of websites, so bad it was good. I loved how the woman stole the logo from Mortal Kombat. rofl
    • yourfavweapn, on 12/17/2007, -0/+4Boggles my mind when I see that bad of a site with a 'copyright 2007' at the bottom. It's as if they are completely ignorant of the rest of the internet.
    • meez, on 12/17/2007, -0/+2What the hell, that website just opened VLC... Also I think my fish just died.
    • PJ2889, on 12/17/2007, -0/+4View > Page Source...
      what do you find?
      < meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 6.0" >
      < meta name="ProgId" content="FrontPage.Editor.Document ">
    • cwabray, on 12/17/2007, -0/+2did anybody notice that his Thompson's Home Improvement website, found in his portfolio, goes to a Church website?

      Yet the graphic gives the impression it's an actual home improvement company, with the clip art of a construction worker. Maybe the domain name expired?

      oh, and give the guy a break! just trying to make a living - he doesn't tell you how to do your job
      • LoneWolf01, on 01/08/2008, -0/+1Let's assume that the domain expired.
        Also, the Church website, uses the Halo font for everything.
    • ACEdigital, on 12/18/2007, -0/+0Scrolling Text and Direction Link for $20? I didn't know marquee and a tags were that expensive.
  • mikehill33, on 12/17/2007, -1/+5EXCELLENT! A must send to or read for anyone involved in site design and management.
    • bram, on 12/17/2007, -0/+4Good one, like managers would understand it.
  • sjohnson0881, on 12/17/2007, -4/+4Too bad http://www.bofads.com didn't take this article's advice...
  • VexComputer, on 12/17/2007, -0/+0This site strikes me as containing as much personal preference as it does sound design advice. Personally, I prefer sites that are easy to use, logo across the top, menu underneath or down the left; and no confusion from poor design or failed attempts to direct my attention. Still, it's OK as a first glance overview.
  • Lythium, on 12/17/2007, -0/+210. Keep your ads from being so obnoxious / intrusive that your visitors would rather hang themselves with a phone cord than return to your site.
  • woflox, on 12/17/2007, -0/+511. use BLINK tags whenever possible.
  • hummer13, on 12/17/2007, -1/+2Is it good or bad when two of the businesses in your portfolio are not even around anymore?
  • xrmb, on 12/17/2007, -0/+712. use flash whenever possible, uses a lot of resources, makes links harder to find, can play music, video and other sh...
  • mystafreaze, on 12/17/2007, -1/+0dugg for being useful!
  • PURPLEDRINK, on 12/17/2007, -3/+2dugg if ur a newfag to the internet
    • TheBigSquid, on 12/17/2007, -0/+1I guess you just discovered 4chan.
  • dylan420, on 12/17/2007, -0/+2Besides Navigation & Usability, all of this should be taken as 'Basic DESIGN Elements'. Good article, though.
  • britno03, on 12/18/2007, -0/+1This would have been great to give to my client before having to explain to them the reason I designed a page the way I did. WE, as designers, may think this is simplistic, but this is new and a bit hard to grasp for a person/client who just "doesn't get" the page. A little understanding on our clients part would make this design world an easier place.
  • Cancerkitty, on 01/09/2008, -0/+0Nice article; the examples were great.
  • ciaoalexisb, on 01/24/2008, -0/+0Great article!
  • theadvinci, on 07/03/2008, -0/+1Great illustrations and well written web design article. Thumbs up.
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