Design for the web has always been a little different from creating layouts in programs like Publisher or InDesign. For some print designers, the difficulty in getting web pages to ‘look’ exactly as they specify is a source of frustration.
In the past, the standard operating procedure for transferring a print design to a web page was to chop it up in a program like Photoshop and then hold all the pieces together with pages consisting of dozens of nested tables.
With cascading style sheets controlling layout, it’s now possible to create these effects and more, without using tables. Your website will also be more legible on handheld devices – increasingly important nowadays.
There is also the usability aspect of web design. In a sense, every web site is a new operating system that your visitor has to ‘get’. You do not want to confuse them or interrupt their ability to find what they are looking for. You only have a few seconds of their attention.
For the designer, the ultimate irony is that some of the websites that enjoy the most amount of traffic also seem to have the least amount of design! An ideal web site meshes good web standards (user-friendly) with excellent design (form and beauty).
