Web Design 101

Fundamentals Of Graphic Design

For A Visually Attractive Website

PIVP

The very essence of graphic design can best be summarized by the acronym PIVP. That is, graphic design must be:

• Purposeful -- it should be able to convey concepts and ideas to a target group of individuals.
  
• Informative -- to impart specific information in a manner that the artist chooses.
  
• Visual -- to show instead of tell, through innovative illustrations as well as appropriate fonts.
  
• Process -- the end product is the culmination of an evolution from a general medium to a specific piece.

Color

In completing a design, much care must be given to the choice of color. Colors conjure emotions, and the use of different hues and tones is a way of manipulating the audience’s feelings. Yellow, for example, is a stimulating color that invokes glee. Red, on the other hand, is a repressive color that implies desistance.

The artist is also required to guide the audience, taking into consideration   viewing patterns. Determining what order to pursue is the first task in formulating a layout.

Composition

Once that is in motion, the artist should pay attention to the 4 principles of composition:

• Balance, which demands an equal portioning of influence
  
• Rhythm, which is a repeated pattern that can be used to produce a desired effect
  
• Unity, which should assure that all the elements of the design belong together
  
• Emphasis, which determines what part of the design shall be seen first.

The artist can also influence the transmittal of the idea by using the design elements of line, shape, texture, space and size. Different exploitations of these elements would produce varying effects. An increase in size could invoke importance, for example. A smooth texture could summon a feeling of calmness.

The artist’s choice of perspective can also affect the piece’s illusion of depth. To illustrate, a 1-point perspective where the light converges in 1 vanishing point can lead to a more accentuated environment, though a 2-point and even a 3-point perspective can convey a more open atmosphere. With the advent of 3-D rendering, the artist can now stress how light affects the appearance of an object without having to worry about overlapping forms.

Words

There are ideas, however, that mere illustrations would fail to reveal, hence the need for words. Words are presented through the use of typeface and fonts. Typeface refers to the consistent visual properties of the characters used, while fonts are groups of characters using similar styles.

There are many free downloadable fonts in the web. They range from the traditional, to the cool fonts that reflect typesets in popular culture. TrueType fonts are the new universal standard, as they have displaced PostScript in many publishing environments.Indeed, many tools are available for the artist on the web.

Everything should come together to form an overall package of excellence. A veteran graphic artist would be able to determine this by instinct. It is something that only experience could teach us. And experience is like a destination, we won’t be able to reach it if we don’t take that first step.

So hold on to that desire of building the most visually attractive website that you can. Everything starts with desire, after all.