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Web Design is ART

+Art Inspires…Design motivates

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Perhaps the most fundamental difference between art and design that we can all agree on is their purposes.

That purpose is almost always to motivate the audience to do something: buy a product, use a service, visit a location, learn certain information. The most successful designs are those that most effectively communicate their message and motivate their consumers to carry out a task.

The most renowned (and successful) works of art today are those that establish the strongest emotional bond between the artist and their audience.

+Art Is Interpreted…Design Is Understood.

+Messages in Design

Another difference between art and design is how the messages of each are interpreted by their respective audiences.

Art connects with people in different ways, because it’s interpreted differently.

The fundamental purpose of design is to communicate a message and motivate the viewer to do something.

+Good Art Is a Taste. Good Design Is an Opinion.

+Good and Bad Design

Art is judged by opinion, and opinion is governed by taste.

Design has an element of taste, but the difference between good and bad design is largely a matter of opinion.

A good piece of design can still be successful without being to your taste. If it accomplishes its objective of being understood and motivates people to do something, then whether it’s good or not is a matter of opinion.

+Colors and Navigation

Colors

Choose a color scheme that is attractive, and fits the kind of image and mood you are trying to convey. You might choose warm colors, cool colors, bright colors or earth tones; an environmentally friendly website might use earth tones

Navigation

Across the top, down one side or the other, or across the bottom. Many websites have one set of navigation links that are more prominent and decorative near the top of the page, and another set that are smaller and plain, at the bottom. The key is to keep them uniform on all pages so the user can find his way around.

+Fonts

Sans serif fonts are better for body text on a computer screen.

To achieve a contrast, use a bold font or a serif font for headlines.

As with any design that uses text, avoid using several fonts as a general rule, but limit the choice to two or three.

Use color and variations within a single font family to achieve contrast between different elements or to make something stand out.

+Mistakes to Avoid

The biggest mistake in web design is to overwhelm or confuse your reader.

The design should be simple enough so the reader understands what his options are and, if you have a desired action, that he is directed toward that action.

Your page should have a unified look rather than a busy or disjointed appearance.

+Web design examples

http://www.webdesign-is-art.com

+Principals of Design…

Balance – a feeling of equality of weight, attention, or attraction of the various elements within the composition as a means of accomplishing unity

Movement – the suggestion of action or direction, the path our eyes follow when we look at a work of art

Repetition and rhythm – the act of repeating an element either regularly or irregularly resulting in a rhythm of the repeating elements

Emphasis – the stress placed on a single area of a work or unifying visual theme

Simplicity (a.k.a. visual economy) – the elimination of all non-essential elements or details to reveal the essence of a form

+Principals of Design…continued

Contrast – the difference between elements or the opposition to various elements

Proportion – the relation of two things in size, number, amount, or degree

Space - the interval or measurable distance between objects or forms (two dimensional or three dimensional)

Unity – the relationship between the individual parts and the whole of a composition. This is the desired result in all great art.

+Elements of Composition

Line - A mark (actual or implied) that spans the distance between two points used to define shape in two-dimensional work. Implied line is the path that the viewer’s eye takes as it moves along a path from form, color, or shape within a work of art.

Form – The mass of the shapes created by the forming of two or more shapes or as three-dimensional shapes when showing height, width and depth.

Texture – The actual or implied structure and minute molding of a surface (rough, smooth, etc.) which can either be seen or felt with the sense of touch. 

Value – The degree of lightness or darkness of any given color within a piece art.

Color - A pigment used in artwork, such as the primary colors – red, yellow and blue.

Shape – Any flat area bound by line, value, or color. It can be geometric (for example: square, circle, hexagon, etc.) or organic (such as the shape of a puddle, blob, splatter, etc.).

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