CA 272 - Professional
Web Site Development
Intro to Web Graphics & Design
Design Issues for Web Sites
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Page Layout
Color palette
UI elements and background
images
Graphics and photos
Web design process
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Wireframes - visual organization of content (page
layout) with NO design elements or color
Page mockups - static graphic rendering of Web
page(s)
Prototype - working model of page (links and
buttons work; text is real text, etc.)
… on to Site construction - mark up HTML, code
CSS, ‘slice up’ and optimize graphics, etc.
Page Layout
Page layout decisions are driven by
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Content needs - what groups/categories of related
content should be presented together?
Priority - what content needs to be given the most
visibility and prominence?
Usability - how can we make it easy for the user to find
the content they are looking for (and where do they
expect to find it)?
Flow - how does one content item lead to another?
Aesthetics - what would be a pleasing, compelling,
interesting design?
Content Issues
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(review) Content Inventory - exhaustive list of
all types of content to be included in site
Group related content - very subjective
process
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Card sorting
Benefit of multiple perspectives
Create site outline
Identify building blocks of Web pages
Web Page Building Blocks
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Web pages have elements that communicate
information:
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e.g., product descriptions, company profiles,
encylopedia entries, how-to guides, etc.
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Structured text (headings, paragraphs, lists, etc.)
Images
Multimedia
Web Page Building Blocks
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Web pages have elements that facilitate interactivity:
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Allow users to search and navigate site content
 Forms
 Navigation buttons
 Links
Collect info from user
 Forms
Play media (for entertainment, informational purposes,
etc.)
 Plug-ins for audio, video, animation
Blogs, forums, calendars, bookmarking, document sharing,
various Web applications - assorted elements
Web Page Building Blocks
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Web pages have elements that visually
reinforce site objectives:
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Create a mood/tone
Reinforce branding and marketing
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Images
Color
Fonts
Multimedia
Web Page Building Blocks
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Web pages have elements that support site
administration, business and legal issues,
search engine optimization and accessibility
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Advertising
Copyright statement, privacy policy, terms of use
Skip to main nav links, alternate content, etc.
Etc.
Page Layout Elements
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Branding - logo, masthead graphics, stock photos,
etc.
Navigation - nav bars and menus, secondary
navigation, footer navigation
Main content area - bulk of informational content
Sidebar(s) - supplemental content (examples)
Site tools - search bar, login, adjust text size, tag
page, etc.
Footer - copyright statement, other info
Other - contact info, forms, media plugins
Wireframing
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Wireframing is an excellent tool for working
out page layout independent of design
Box outlines, bubbles, grey boxes
Black & white / grayscale
Focus on priority and flow of content
Example Wireframe
Page Layout Schemes
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Fixed width - width set to fixed px value
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Most designers use fixed width because easiest
to design for
PRO: easier to design graphics for, can set
readable line lengths of text
CON: doesn’t take advantage of screen width for
users with large monitors; users with smaller
monitors may have to scroll horizontally
Page Layout Schemes
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Fluid - width set to % value, adjusts to width
of browser window
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PRO: makes full use of browser window; user can
resize
CON: may lead to very long lines of text; harder to
design for
See: http://www.drexel.edu/
Page Layout Schemes
(continued)
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Elastic - width set in relative units (ems)
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Page elements grow proportionately as user
resizes text size
PRO: ideal for accessibility - users can view at
whatever scale is comfortable for them
CON: very difficult to code; can lead to very large
widths as user increases font size
Rarely used
Page Layout Schemes
(continued)
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Hybrid Fixed/Fluid
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Some column(s) fixed, other(s) fluid
Optional ‘third’ column
Page Layout Dimensions
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Fixed design for pixel widths - must account
for browser ‘chrome’, scrollbars
800 x 600 monitor: 750px (or 760px) width
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1024 x 800 monitor: 950px+ width
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Safest width, but only 12% of users
Most users have this resolution now (53%)
1280 x 1024 is gaining (~23%)
Don’t worry about 640 x 480 anymore
Grids for Page Layout
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“Grids help designers create arrangements
and patterns that ‘feel right’ and that people
find comfortable to use” – Andy Clarke
Even grids - e.g., 4-column
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Divine proportion - 1:1.62 (a:b = a+b:a)
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See: http://www.subtraction.com/archives/2004/1231_grid_computi.php
See: http://www.quickanddirtyinternational.com/pages/proportion.html
Can bridge columns to create ‘supercolumns’
- not just fit all content in rigid layout
Breaking Out of the Grid
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Grid layout doesn’t need to be ‘boxy’ layout
With CSS it is possible to position elements
so they overlap columns or break out of
columns - or float independently of other
content
See: http://www.csszengarden.com/?cssfile=005/005.css
http://www.csszengarden.com/?cssfile=201/201.css
http://www.csszengarden.com/?cssfile=194/194.css
http://www.csszengarden.com/?cssfile=189/189.css
http://www.csszengarden.com/?cssfile=188/188.css
Design Principles
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Proximity - group related elements; separate
distinct elements
Alignment - creates visual cohesion and
‘orderliness’ - use grids
Balance - layout should achieve visual
balance through:
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Symmetric balance (horizontal, bilateral, radial)
Asymmetric balance (using different forms of
visual weight: size, shape, tone, placement)
Design Principles (continued)
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Repetition - consistent use of repeated design
elements (e.g., color, fonts, imagery) ties everything
together
Emphasis - draw attention to high-value content:
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Placement - give high-value content highest visibility (see
below)
Continuance - draw user’s eyes along path to content
Isolation - white space draws attention to content
Contrast - content with different color, size, weight will stick
out
Proportion - perceived scale relative to surrounding content
See: http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/articles/Designprin1/start.htm
Web Design Principles
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Design enhances content - does not compete with it
Usability - practice good user interface design
principles
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Ensure readability and ‘scanability’ (easy to find desired
content)
Meet user expectations
Affordance: make UI controls obvious and understandable
Clear task flow
Minimize clicks (applies to entire site organization)
Web Design Principles
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White space - enhances readability and
reduces visual ‘stress’
Put most important content ‘above the fold’
Consider how users scan Web pages:
Web Design Best Practices
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Keep KB size small to minimize load time
(images are most of file size)
Avoid both horizontal and vertical scrolling
(together)
Design Inspiration
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Identify desired mood/tone based on content,
audience, and the personality of you or your brand
Find inspiration in …
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nature
industrial imagery
geometric/abstract forms
cartoons
vintage graphic design/art movements
magazines, industrial and product design
importance of magazines for interface, layout,
typography design
Design Elements
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gradients (create with graphics program)
patterns/textures
 online sources
 photos/scans
photos
 your photos
 stock photos (e.g., istockphoto or flickr)
scans of objects
 textures (e.g., old paper)
 from nature
 magazine clippings, etc.
mood boards (collection of objects, photos, clippings, color
swatches, etc., that evoke mood/feeling)
Color Palettes
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consistent with mood, aesthetic
often good to pick from photo
usually at least 3 main colors
tools for creating palettes
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eyedropper on photo
http://www.colormatch.dk/ or http://colormatch5k.com/
(and other online tools)
try different shades and tints (see
http://slayeroffice.com/tools/color_palette/ )
start with greys to achieve good balance, then add color
Color Schemes
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Monochromatic - e.g.,
http://www.okb.es/
Analogous - e.g.,
http://shoneys.cabedge.com/
http://regines.net.au/
http://www.blinksale.com/home
Complementary - e.g.,
http://www.ufl.edu/
Split-complementary
http://www.neuemedia.com/
Triadic
Tetradic
analogous
complementary
triadic
split-complementary
tetradic
Web Colors
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Web colors typically written in hexadecimal format:
#000000 is black, #FFFFFF
This corresponds to R, G, B values of 0 to 255: 255
in hex is FF
“Web-safe” colors limited to 256 colors - holdover
from when browsers had limited color depth
Now can use 16 million colors (theoretically)
Colors do display differently between monitors,
computers and operating systems
Web-smart palette: ‘paired’ values, e.g., AA, BB, CC
Web graphics
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2 main graphic file formats:
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JPEG (.jpg) - for photos, gradients
GIF (.gif) - for solid colors or limited color range
JPEG
GIF
Web graphics - transparency
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GIF supports index transparency - e.g., white
background can be transparent
Web graphics - PNG and SVG
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Other main graphic format: PNG
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PNGs support alpha transparency - e.g., image
could be 50% transparent
Typically larger files
IE 6 and under do not support PNG transparency!
Also, SVG - scalable vector graphics
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Bitmap vs. vector graphics
Web Graphics Applications
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Adobe Photoshop - most fully featured app
for creating bitmap graphics, editing photos
Adobe Illustrator - excellent for creating
vector graphics
Adobe (formerly Macromedia) Fireworks specifically for Web graphics - combines
features of Photoshop and Illustrator
MS Paint -
Intro to Fireworks
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Open Adobe CS3 > Fireworks
File > New
500px width, 300px height, transparent
canvas color
Workspace:
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Document window
Properties
Toolbar
Panels
Fireworks Tools
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Select - select, crop, resize
Bitmap - bitmap selections, draw, erase
Vector - lines, shapes, text and pen tool
Web - creating slices and hotspots
Colors - setting foreground and background
colors
Fireworks - Tools (continued)
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Draw rectangle:
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Change colors in Properties
Set width and height, x,y coordinates
Change opacity
Add filter - drop shadow
Choose pointer tool:
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Click on canvas (unselects rectangle)
Click on rectangle to select
Drag to move
Fireworks - Tools (continued)
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Choose Text tool:
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Click to insert text
Type something
Highlight text (by dragging cursor)
in Properties:
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Change font, font-size, color
Add more text - drag text box
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Constrains text
Change alignment
Fireworks - Layers
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Look at Layers palette:
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Every vector object you create is separate layer
New objects on top
Can drag layers to reorder
Can delete and copy layers
Fireworks - Image Preview
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File > Image Preview - use to optimize your
graphics/images for Web
Choose appropriate file format (jpeg, gif, png)
Set quality/palette to minimum necessary for
adequate display
Fireworks
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Other things to try:
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Resize and rotate rectangle with Scale Tool
Crop document
Change canvas color, size
Create bitmap layer
 use pencil, paintbrush tools
 select part of bitmap layer with marquee and lasso tools
 erase part of bitmap layer
Use line, pen tools
Experiment with paths (pen tool, vector path tool, redraw
path tool, subselection tool)
More Fireworks
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Other things to try (continued):
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Create gradient fill in Properties, edit colors
Change line properties
Experiment with different filters
Align objects using Align panel
Edit colors in Colors panel using different sliders
Create text on a path
Try various image export settings
Homework
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Create masthead graphic for a site about you
Incorporate text, colors, and imagery that personify
who you are (like a graphic business card)
e.g., http://www.ca272.com/images/masthead-ex.jpg
750px x 100px
Export in format optimized for Web
Place at top of your homepage on Web4Students
Upload file and e-mail me by midnight, Wed. 11/6