WEB DESIGN: The Number One Must-learn Secret

The Web Design world is a continuously growing industry that is swarmed by hundreds of good designers. But not all designers are capable of becoming more than just “good” designers as they fail to practice one thing: control. As designers, putting our best foot forward is almost always the name of the game.  But putting our best foot forward doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to show off all your ingenious design skills in one go just because you can. It takes a lot for a designer to just stop, breathe, look at the work he’s doing, and ask himself, “is this what my client needs or is this my over-creative mind working?”

The process of simplifying

Simplicity in web design can be a challenge especially considering that websites are one of the most crucial marketing vehicles today, with companies and organizations assuming that they have to “communicate” as many information about them as possible. What needs to be understood about simplicity in web design is that it doesn’t always mean less content and more white space—simplicity in web design is about making things uncomplicated for web users.

So how is simplicity achieved in web design?

1. Remove

In the first stage of the website design process, you should immediately be able to trim down certain elements in the mockup that doesn’t really serve any purpose for the whole website. Images that have no value in the totality of the website are usually the first to go. Apart from images, you should also look out for irrelevant design tweaks that make the page look heavy, cluttered, and overly-decorated such as image borders and text shadows.

1. Hide

Depending on the nature of the business and/or organization, one can’t always remove content as designers please. But that doesn’t mean you can’t simplify it. Hiding certain elements in a design could involve a drop-down menu and a “show more” link.

1. Combine

In the design stage, look at all the elements of the website and try grouping them to see which among the elements can afford to be combined for the sake of simplicity and usability. For example, “company profile” and “company history” pages can be combined under one page. By doing this, not only do you make it less confusing for the website users, but you also make the website more functional.

Why simple CAN stand out in the web

Creating a simple website is anything but quick and easy. Ironically, a simple website is painstakingly difficult because of the design and content limitations surrounding the whole design process. But once a designer successfully emerges from a project like this, the advantages would be tremendous—both for the client and their users:

1. Easy navigation for website users

Especially useful for website users, they will find a simple website easier to navigate and less overwhelming.

1. Content is at the forefront

It’s a fact that most website users are more of lookers than readers. An overly-decorated website tends to drown its relevant content because of all the decorative elements that distract users away from the core of their business. By making the site less overwhelming and focused, website users can scan the text and easily get what the website is talking about.

1. Faster website

A simple website usually comes with a smaller file size—an important advantage for website users. Simple websites load faster and makes navigating the website more breezy and easy for website users.

The challenge of being simple

A simple website is a challenging project as it pushes designers’ creativity to the limit—ironically and metaphorically speaking, that is. With only a handful of elements to work with and a hundred of tempting design trends, creating simplicity can indeed be complicated. There are more ways as to how designers like you can achieve simplicity but let the few tips enumerated above be a jumping point for better, more imaginative ways to do just that.