Some Advice on Web Design
Updated September 6, 2003 | See also companion article.
Basic Tools and Tips
Before you get started with the gory details, check out Jakob Nielsen’s website on usability and web design (Nielsen is the arguably THE person to consult on designing a user-centered site). It’s time well spent. UseIt.com
Another piece of advice concerns the emergence of CSS2 and XHTML. In my view, you should use these techniques to design your site. To learn more about the topic, read my essay, Webdesign for the Year 2003.
For graphics you need to learn Adobe Photoshop. If you’re just playing around, you can do a reasonable job with a lesser program such as Paint Shop Pro … but if you’re at all serious, and especially if you want to do this professionally, there is no substitute for Photoshop. There are also many other software programs that can be used for special effects, but Photoshop is the workhorse, the one true essential.
On the HTML front, Windows users should purchase a copy of Homesite. Macintosh users will want BBEdit. Do NOT use a ‘WYSIWYG’ HTML program such as Microsoft FrontPage or Adobe PageMill. They just don’t work. Code created in them is unavoidably sloppy, and although you might be able to get away with this for a while, eventually it will bite you in the ass.
The one exception to this rule currently is Macromedia Dreamweaver. Dreamweaver has a ‘WYSIWYG’ interface, but it also lets you edit the code directly. And unlike every other ‘WYSIWYG’ page-building program on the market, it doesn’t write screwy code. Not coincidentally, Dreamweaver is integrated with Homesite on the Windows platform and BBEdit on the Mac. The Macromedia site lets you download a free 30-day trial.
CSS Layout Reservoir wants you to borrow, steal, abduct, and/or torture the documents contained in the Layout Reservoir. Though you need not give credit to BlueRobot.com, a comment in your source code would help other developers to find this resource. Enjoy. And what a resource it is !! Other excellent CSS layouts at:
Book Recommendations
For an excellent introduction to the basic principles of design and typography, read The Non-Designer’s Design Book by Robin Williams. It’s very plain-spoken and accessible and will keep you from making the most common and egregious mistakes. But it’s not just a list of rules — she includes very cogent explanations of the reasons for basic design rules, which helps you figure out when it’s a good idea to break them. She also came out with The Non-Designer’s Web Book, which is not as good (i.e. don’t buy it).
If you’d like to delve more thoroughly into typography in particular, buy a copy of Stop Stealing Sheep. This is one of the rare books that will speak to rank beginners and hard-core typography geeks alike. I’m still learning things from it. It’s so accessible that you can open it to any random page and start reading, and not only will you not feel lost, you’ll learn something interesting.