#18231
Limitations? What Limitations?
Web tools are in their infancy, but they are snowballing along at an increasingly faster rate. Now the tools are moving faster than the standards. New browsers and browser versions are appearing all the time and boasting lots of new features. We are publishing web pages in the full probability that many of the readers will not be seeing them as we intend. The same HTML document will look quite different in every web browser used to view it. Some elements will be different in size and position, the colours might have changed, some will be absent completely! How can a designer who is concerned about his or her work cope with this pandemonium?
#18232
A web page will be within certain height and width limits. For the lowest common denominator, cross-platform web page, you should design to a minimum width of the Macintosh default of around 470 pixels and a maximum of 625 wide to accommodate people who have standard 14' VGA monitors. The majority of surfer now have 800 x 600 or larger monitors. Unless you really need to accommodate the lowest common denominator, and that comes down to knowing your target audience, you can work to a more realsitic width of about 760 pixels. Even at the larger sizes, it is desirable from a 'readability' point of view, to limit the text line width to 8-10 words.
#18230
Indiscriminate use of graphics, no matter how cool, will only antagonise the reader to the point that they will switch off the automatic graphics download in their browser - and all the designer's efforts will be wasted.
#18228
The purpose of my Web Page Design for Designers site is not to teach people how to produce web pages. There is little mention of HTML or any other technical stuff except where necessary. It is assumed that the reader already has a grasp of HTML programming, or has made the decision to use a WYSIWYG Web page editor. It is aimed at people who are already involved with design and typography for conventional print and want to explore the possibilities of this new electronic medium. They are probably already using page layout tools like QuarkXPress, Photoshop, Freehand and Illustrator and have discovered that designing web pages is something quite different.
#18235
Web Page Design for Designers: HTML Links
A collection of links to HTML tutorials and miscellaneous web design resources.
#18229
Web Page Design for Designers: Typography
Good typography is just as important on a web page as it is in any other medium. The fact that it appears on a computer screen and not on a piece of paper is immaterial, it should still be pleasing to look at and easy to read. In every situation where type is used - in publishing, signage, packaging, television etc. - the designer has to adapt his techniques to suit the medium.
