As more businesses are understanding the importance of building an online presence, websites are growing in prominence. For web designers, this opens up a huge opportunity as the number of jobs is steadily rising. Tied with it is the challenge of creating designs that are unique because to stand out in the saturated market, being good is not enough, you have to be better. In this article, we will take a look at five tips that will help you become a better web designer. Whether you are starting out in the field or looking to polish your skills, these tips will help you.
Learn Basic Principles
Knowing the basic design principles can help you create a solid foundation for your design career. Understanding the fundamentals is key as it can help you create good design decisions and guide you in all cases, irrespective of the platform, target audience, or concept. The rule of thirds, Gestalt’s law, Hick’s law, Fitts law, etc. are some of the fundamental laws every designer must be familiar with. Whether you are designing for enterprise UX or e-commerce applications, these principles will help and guide you.
Visual Hierarchy with Typography
In many ways, designing a website is similar to designing a newspaper or a brochure. Websites impart information and it is crucial to do it in a way that is understandable for the users. Implementing visual hierarchy with typography can help with this. Basically, it brings a sense of order to the websites and makes it easy for people to find the information they are looking for. It also helps to maintain consistency throughout the website.
Multi-level headers, weighted texts, font size, font colours, line spacing and padding are typography elements that contribute to visual hierarchy and provide a good browsing experience for the users. Before starting a website design, create a style guide and it will make your designing process smooth!
Reduce Visual Noise
Visual noise happens when you go overboard with colours in a design. With so many colours and shades to choose from, it is natural to get confused. But as a designer, you should define your aesthetic very clearly. Reduce visual noise by choosing a simple colour palette. You may choose to go bold and bright or subtle and neutral — that entirely depends on the project. For example, for a healthcare UX design project, you may go for a subtle colour scheme whereas, for an eCommerce platform, you may use brighter colours.
Whether you decide to go simple or bold, ensure that your colour palette has a maximum of three colours. Anything more than that contributes to noise.
Use Images Wisely
Images are important for the overall look and feel of websites. They bring balance to the website design but adding random images only defeats the purpose. You need to put a lot of thought into the images you are choosing. It may not always be possible to create custom images for the website and that’s okay. You can choose stock images or free illustrations. But always ensure that you choose good quality images that fit into the context of the website. You can also modify the images by editing or using filters, changing colour schemes, etc.
Also, remember that images influence page loading speed. To ensure that your page loads fast, you should compress your images and choose the correct file format. Otherwise, it will hamper the user experience because nobody likes a slow loading website.
Get Feedback
The ultimate hack to growth is to get feedback and work on yourself. If you want to become a better designer, get feedback on your work from others. If you have friends working in UI UX design firms or acquaintances who have an eye for design, show them your work and ask for feedback. Brace yourself for criticism and use it positively to improve your skills. Asking for feedback can also help you see the perspective of others. It will give you valuable insights that can be lifelong lessons in your design journey.
Web design is a great career with plenty of opportunities because whatever happens in the world, the internet will remain. It is a constantly evolving field, so in order to stay competitive, the designers must constantly polish their skills. These five tips are foundational to good design and can help you create valuable designs which users will love.
