Thread: Simplicity In Web Design

Hello, guys!
I was thinking a lot about simplicity in designing of a website/blog/forum. And I consider a task to be quite challenging and innovative. Following present trends in web design, a website should be simple, but attractive at the same time.
Small fonts, glossy logos, bright colors and busy background are out of trend today. Here are some advantages of web design simplicity.
1. Easily to recognize.
2. Memorable.
3. It reduces visual and emotional tension.
4. Easy to understand.
5. It allows for a direct and consistent message across all brand channels.

Hm, it looks like that you love minimalistic style

I do. Do you think I' m wrong?

I still think that such designs load faster, allow to scan a content easily, smaller file size means less server space and bandwidth, and of course
it's easier to make work on different platforms and browsers.

wow, you`re right - check out 1 my site - Shopping Templates . The designer like only minimalistic.

Wow, cool collection indeed! So many awesome designs!

Originally Posted by Oliviabest

I do. Do you think I' m wrong?

I still think that such designs load faster, allow to scan a content easily, smaller file size means less server space and bandwidth, and of course
it's easier to make work on different platforms and browsers.

Nope. Finally Google has added value to sites that loads faster. They even have a new tool for that called "Page Speed Online". You just have to Google it, as I'm not allowed to post links.

"Finally Google has added value to sites that loads faster" at last they did it.
Will check that tool, hope it will be helpful for many websites

simple web designs are the best. Many of famous sites are like that > EG. google,youtube,facebook,twitter !! People usually like simple sites that loads fast.

Google's page speed plugin is very helpful. You can use it in Firefox. First you need to instant Firebug plugin for Firefox and then install Google page speed plugin.

Using Page Speed for Firefox

Someone I love about this plugin is it will give you optimized version of images in your site. You can download those and replace with original images in your site.

"Less is more" should be the motto of designers now days. I have seen so many designs that are simplicity in themselves, with minimal imagery and excessive color etc.

Something a lot of designers need to remember when they plan out a site is that of your target audience. No everyone in the world is a designer and not everyone will know how to navigate through a complicated site immediately, and it can really impact on your site's drop rate. People won't be interested. Another area I would say is content. Short, to the point, engaging and making sure that quality rules over quantity. These are all good combinations to keep a site interactive. Many sites use JQuery to enhance the visual aspect of their sites as well. I personally find it really cool to look through a clean design, with a beautiful slideshow, giving me all the information I need without having to delve into page upon page of useless information.

Phoenyx , the motto you've mentioned impressed me very much. Agree that following such approach will lead to better and in a class by themselves web designs

Definitely Thank you.

I have had many times where I have looked at a page I have designed, and thought to myself, "ok, what would a visitor do when he lands on the page". Almost always, the first thing I see is the site itself. People look at that before they even see the content. It will annoy them though, if the page loads slowly and they have to wait to get the visual impact of the site, or wait too long for the content to show. Which is probably why I don't really like depending on a site that is mainly, or entirely created in Flash. The visual impact can be astounding yes, but if you're in a hurry to read something, the loading times are going to annoy you, unless the site has something to engage you while you wait.

What I find, that really works the best, is if you use a minimal of color on the main background, 1 or 2 colors maximum, and then incorporate color into other areas of the site, like the adverts, slideshows etc. the impact is much greater, because the main page provides the framework for what you want your visitors to focus on, the content and the imagery. So you would have a "peaceful" frame for a vibrant image (content), it just helps the page stand out more.

The more complex of your web design, the slower loading it might be, i just stick to simple and fast loading web design, people will come regularly and they don't feel depress about your website loading

CSS layout designs helps a lot for this. Those take lot of load off from pages and make pages lighter and faster.

1. Easily to recognize.
2. Memorable.
3. It reduces visual and emotional tension.
4. Easy to understand.
5. It allows for a direct and consistent message across all brand channels.

100%. I would like to add more in it.
- User Guidance.
for example if user has made some invalid inputs, the error message must be precise and guiding that what wrong has happened and what user should do to get out of it, rather very long descriptive message popping out from the databases. This factor in fact falls under the 'User Friendliness' aspect of the site.
These attributes I normally miss in the sites.

no doubt, that fact should be taken into consideration.

such detailed guide, you are talking about, will be quite helpful for those who aren't versed in such matters

While color background and black text gives simplicity too.

Originally Posted by Evogamez.com

While color background and black text gives simplicity too.

Very true, but at the same time you don't want it to be a plain jane site. You need to have a factor that wows a visitor and keeps them coming back. That could either be design, content, or both I think.

Originally Posted by Phoenyx

You need to have a factor that wows a visitor and keeps them coming back. That could either be design, content, or both I think.

yea, every site just has to have any catchy feature to boost a reader's satisfaction

I have seen many new sites and many of the are overloaded with javascript and flash. These might make a site look pretty, but at the end of the day also does virtually nothing for SEO purposes because SE spiders prefer to read HTML. Keeping the design simple works not only for your visitors, but also for your website's ranking, which in the end is the real reason for building and optimizing your website.