Must Haves for Seriously Good Web Design

When it comes to website development, we share our thoughts with you on the reg, but what about design? Let’s talk about what goes into the visible elements of your website – the parts your visitors will actually see and read.

Harness the Power of White Space

Allow your readers time to breathe, and the time to digest your information.

With the minimalist trend set to see us through another year, it’s a relief to see that white space (or negative space) is still being respected for all that it is.

When we talk about white space we are referring to a crucial webdesign element. Controlling the white space on your page allows you to subtly take your visitors on a journey as you guide them from place to place. Understanding white space, otherwise known as negative space, is a true talent, and it comes back to readability and scanability.

The space between design elements, sections, and even line spacing, is a fundamental parameter in web design. It’s also extremely underrated. Designers will know how to manage this in a way that is gentle on the eye and enhances the elements of which should be forefront. The idea is that this is done in such a gentle manner that the design of a page actually looks simple – fitting well with that minimalist trend we referred to earlier.

A clean, easy-to-read web page is essential for readability and will ensure your visitors enjoy taking in your content. Make it easy for them to read it, and read it they will!

Quality Copywriting

Quality over quantity. Say it with me.

More often than not, clients want to write their own copy for their website. This makes sense for the reason that you know your business better than anyone. The problem however lies in the fact that not everyone is great at putting their story on paper. Even the most passionate and charismatic business owners can struggle with writing.

On the flip-side there’s those who want to include EVERYTHING. It’s really hard for clients who are passionate about their business to omit any details. But as we said, less truly is more. It’s super important to be precise with your message. Say what you do, why you do it, and why your customer should choose you above all others. Essentially, everything else is fodder.

Most agencies will offer a copywriting service which guarantees sleek copy, optimised for SEO, and no typo’s when you hit live. If you decide to opt out of the professional copywriting option just remember that the content is all on you. If you can afford it, do it. That’s our advice.

So before we catch ourselves waffling on too much and breaking our own rules, always be precise, get to the point, and bring it back to your call to action as often as possible.

Fonts Enhance Design

Practice restraint. Too many fonts does not a good site make.

Yes there are many fonts out there. But it doesn’t mean we have to use them all.

We strongly believe that keeping the number of fonts to a minimum is best. If you’re creating a style guide for your brand, we generally recommend three fonts. Your main font will be the hero font – the one that defines your brand and features heavily in your logo design. The two secondary fonts will show up in tag lines, sub headers, and footers. Before you go picking your three favourite fonts, these need to speak to one another. If not from the same family, then they need to have some similarities which make them work together.

Here are 21 Perfect Font Pairings thanks to Creative Bloq.

And remember, keep it to just a few, or your site could end up looking a little bit crazy. We love this quote from Envato Tuts as it pretty much sums up what we’re thinking: “A site that uses lots of different typefaces haphazardly is like a person that uses a lot of different voices in the same conversation… it might seem like a good idea, but chances are that you’ll just end up sounding like a crazy person to someone passing by”. 

Create Mood With Colour

Colours matter, we know this. But do you know why?

Colours don’t just define your brand in its market. We all identify green with eco-friendly for example, but it goes much deeper than this. Colours affect us (and your visitors) on a psychological level. Colours can create feelings and reactions within our brains that lead us to feel all sorts of emotions. For example, designers will often refer to colours as either “warm” or “cool”. The two can be mixed ofcourse, but it takes a talented eye to bring harmony to a website that presents with many colours and tones.

Now that we’ve detailed that there’s more to graphic design than just picking your favourite shade of blue, let’s get into what each colour is best known for – just for fun.

Red: The colour of passion and drama. This colour attracts the most attention and is associated with strong emotions such as love and anger. Red is the colour used universally to signify danger, courage, strength, and power.

Orange: The colour of encouragement. The combination of yellow and red makes orange convey excitement, warmth and enthusiasm.

Yellow: The colour of optimism. Yellow is a compelling colour that conveys youthful, fresh energy.

Pink: The colour of sensitivity – The passion of red combined with the purity of white create this colour associated with love, tranquillity and femininity.

Blue: The colour of trust. Blue, the shade of the sea and the sky, is thought to induce calm and convey tranquillity, serenity and peace.

Green: The colour of growth and health. Think of nature and see green in all its glory expressing renewal and life.

Violet: The colour of spirituality. The energy of red with the calm of blue combine to create violet, a colour that inspires reflection and self awareness.

Brown: The colour of the earth. Stability and a solid foundation is the message that emanates from the colour brown.

Grey: The colour of compromise. Grey is considered to be an unemotional, detached colour seeking to avoid attention.

Black: The colour of mystery. Black is actually the lack of colour. It covers, hides and implies that there is a barrier.

Source: Graf1x

We love how powerful colours are for creating mood, and adding identity to a brand.  When we work with a client we ensure that the colour palette makes sense in order to achieve what you want for your brand while working harmoniously within its environment.

Interested in creating a seriously good website with us? See some of the websites created by SGD here.

If you are ready to get started on your website, get in touch today. We are ready when you are!

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