What is Web Designing?
Web design is the skill of presentations of content that is delivered to an end-user through the World Wide Web, by way of a Web browser or other Web-enabled software like Internet television clients, micro blogging clients and RSS readers.
Web design is similar to traditional print publishing. Every website is an information display container, just as a book is a container; and every web page is like the page in a book. However, web design uses a framework based on digital code and display technology to construct and maintain an environment to distribute information in multiple formats. Taken to its fullest potential, web design is undoubtedly the most sophisticated and increasingly complex method to support communication in today’s world.
The process of designing Web pages, Web sites, Web applications or multimedia for the Web may utilize multiple disciplines, such as animation, authoring, communication design, corporate identity, graphic design, human-computer interaction, information architecture, interaction design, marketing, photography, search engine optimization and typography. I would recommend you a web design course from ADMEC Multimedia Institute which offers such an advanced course in web with these types of skills.
Now a days following technology combination is being used in order to design a website:
- Markup languages (such as HTML, XHTML and XML)
- Style sheet languages (such as CSS and XSL)
- Client-side scripting (such as JavaScript and VB Script)
- Server-side scripting (such as PHP and ASP)
- Database technologies (such as MYSQL)
- Multimedia technologies (such as Flash and Silver light)
For the typical web sites, the basic aspects of design are:
The content: The substance and information on the site should be relevant to the site and should target the area of the public that the website is concerned with.
The usability: The site should be user-friendly, with the interface and navigation simple and reliable.
The appearance: The graphics and text should include a single style that flows throughout, to show consistency. The style should be professional, appealing and relevant.
The site must also be easy to find via most, if not all, major search engines and advertisement media.
A web site typically consists of text and images. The first page of a web site is known as the home page or index. Some web sites use what is commonly called a Splash Page. Splash pages might include a welcome message, language or region selection, or disclaimer. Each web page within a web site is an HTML file which has its own URL. After each web page is created, they are typically linked together using a navigation menu composed of hyperlinks. Faster browsing speeds have led to shorter attention spans and more demanding online visitors and this has resulted in less use of Splash Pages, particularly where commercial web sites are concerned.
Once a web site is completed, it must be published or uploaded in order to be viewable to the public over the internet. This may be done using an FTP client. Once published, the web master may use a variety of techniques to increase the traffic, or hits, that the web site receives. This may include submitting the web site to a search engine such as Google or Yahoo, exchanging links with other web sites, creating affiliations with similar web sites, etc.
Web pages and Web sites can be static pages, or can be programmed to be dynamic pages that automatically adapt content or visual appearance depending on a variety of factors, such as input from the end-user, input from the Webmaster or changes in the computing environment (such as the site’s associated database having been modified).
With growing specialization within communication design and information technology fields, there is a strong tendency to draw a clear line between web design specifically for web pages and web development for the overall logistics of all web-based services.
Process of Web Design
Tools and Technologies
Web designers use a variety of different tools depending on what part of the production process they are involved in. These tools are updated over time by newer standards and software but the principles behind them remain the same. Web graphic designers use vector and raster graphics packages for creating web formatted imagery or design prototypes. Technologies used for creating websites include standardized mark-up, which could be hand-coded or generated by WYSIWYG editing software. There is also proprietary software based on plug-ins that bypasses the client’s browsers versions. These are often WYSIWYG but with the option of using the software’s scripting language. Search engine optimization tools may be used to check search engine ranking and suggest improvements.
Skills and Techniques
Marketing and communication design: – Marketing and communication design on a website may identify what works for its target market. This can be an age group or particular strand of culture; thus the designer may understand the trends of its audience. Designers may also understand the type of website they are designing, meaning, for example, that (B2B) business-to-business website design considerations might differ greatly from a consumer targeted website such as a retail or entertainment website.
User experience design and interactive design: – Users understanding the content of a website often depends on users understanding how the website works. This is part of the user experience design. User experience is related to layout, clear instructions and labeling on a website. Users who are skilled and well versed with website use may find a more unique, yet less intuitive or less user-friendly website interface useful nonetheless.
Page layout: – Part of the user interface design is affected by the quality of the page layout. For example, a designer may consider if the sites page layout should remain consistent on different pages when designing the layout. Page pixel width may also be considered vital for aligning objects in the layout design.
Typography: – Web designers may choose to limit the variety of website typefaces to only a few which are of a similar style, instead of using a wide range of typefaces or type styles. Most browsers recognize a specific number of safe fonts, which designers mainly use in order to avoid complications.
Motion graphics: – The page layout and user interface may also be affected by the use of motion graphics. The choice of whether or not to use motion graphics may depend on the target market for the website.
Quality of code: – Website designers may consider it to be good practice to conform to standards. This is usually done via a description specifying what the element is doing. Failure to conform to standards may not make a website unusable or error prone, but standards can relate to the correct layout of pages for readability as well making sure coded elements are closed appropriately.
Web Designing has earned a high-quality name in past few years. The needs of business, education, industry and public sector have made very good use of web services. With booming IT industry Web Designing has a large scope in India as well as abroad. One of the main advantages of choosing web design profession is that the demand for websites is not expected to come down any time in the near future and the percentage of individuals using the internet is increasing regularly.
Career in Web Designing
Career in web designing can be accurate option for those having a sense of designing or creativity. A Web Designer can join in various fields such as advertising agencies, design studios, marketing firms, audio-visual media, manufactures and department stores etc.. Many web designers work on a freelance basis, designing websites for smaller companies. The growth is depending on creativity and experience. Web Designers must be up to date with the changing of web technologies, designing software’s, develop new ideas and respond rapidly to changing needs.
To start your learning, joining a web design training institute like ADMEC Multimedia would be an ideal choice for you.
Web design courses like Web Master Plus course and Web Premium course are planned by ADMEC to deliver industry-oriented training to aspiring candidates.
