Design Principles
Simple principles of web site design based on re-use.
Most web sites that discuss the basics of web site design, just start with the wrong premiss. The assume that you will have to design your new web site from scratch. And hence, they discuss all kind of web page design principles that are not relevant when all you need to do is choose a good web site design template that can adapt.
Fortunately there are plenty of good free web site templates available. Unless you are running a web site design service, there will be no need for you to ever design a brand new web site structure. So the first principle of web site design should simply be Never design from scratch. Re-use is a well known principle in current software engineering, and you should adapt it for web design too.
Designing a web site will be a simple straightforward process if you just start with a good web site template. Hence, you can avoid expensive HTML editors, such as Dreamweaver and Frontpage, which generate brand new web page designs for you in sometimes horrible complex looking HTML. If you have a good web page template, all you need is a simple HTML editor that shows you the structure of you HTML page. And, fortunately again, there are some very good free HTML editors available
Flexible web site design with CSS.
The latest generation of web site designs get their power form CSS. So If you choose a well designed template for your web site, you can easily tinker with the CSS file to give your web site its own unique look. Your web site does not need to look anything similar to the web site you see when you select the template. And, after the initial effort of becoming familiar with its web site structure, you can use it again and again if you ever want to design more web sites. If you need to be convinced of the power of CSS, you only need to spend 5 minutes on the Zen Garden web site. Of course, the zen garden page has been designed for maximum flexibility and the html code is far from simple. But the lesson should be clear, choose your web site template for its simplicity and flexibility first! You can always change the look of your web site with a new CSS file.
How to choose your web site design template.
Unfortunately, most web sites that supply free web site templates will only show you how the web site looks. So, you will have to download the template first before you can examine its simplicity and flexibility. Fortunately, some of the structure of the web site will be visible even without access to the HTML and CSS. For instance, the number of collumns of text, the navigation structure and the presence of certain page elements can be easily decide upon by looking at the presentation of a web site template. In the next few pages we will therefore discuss these design issues. But before we go into such detail, first the final principle of web site design: Plan for the future!
Your needs today will not be the same as your needs in the future. So, when you start browsing for your ideal web page design template, examine the different web page elements that they display, and consider: might I need this sometime maybe? If you are not sure, write it down on your list of web site design requirements. For instance, this web site does not have any graphics in it's design. I plan to rely on advertisements to bring some color and variation, but I do regret that I did not put in one or more page elements that would have given me more flexibility in future graphics design. So, don't necessarily choose the design template you need now. If you can adapt a slightly more comprehensive design, by disabling or hiding some of its elements (in your CSS of course), you will have planned for the future.