FEATURES OF WEBDESIGN
As websites and online resources become more and more a part of our everyday lives, there is an increased demand for web design skills — but what exactly is “web design?” Simply put, web design is the planning and creation of websites. This includes a number of separate skills that all fall under the umbrella of web design.
Design Is Key Part of Web Design
Design, obviously, is a key part of “web design.” What does this mean exactly? Design includes both the principles of design — balance, contrast, emphasis, rhythm and unity — and the design elements — lines, shapes, texture, color, and direction.
Web Design Has Many Different Roles
- HTML: This is the structure of web pages, creating the foundation of all websites.
- CSS: This is how web pages are visually styled. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) handles the entire look of sites, including layout, typography, colors, and more.
- JavaScript: This governs certain behaviors on websites and can be used for a variety of interactions and features.
- CGI programming: CGI, and the next few entries (PHP, ASP, etc.) are all different flavors of programming languages. Many sites do not require any of these languages, but sites that are more feature-rich will certainly need to be coded using some of these languages.
- PHP, ASP, ColdFusion scripting.
- XML.
- Information architecture: The way a site’s content and navigation is structured and presented helps make for a successful site that is easy and intuitive to use.
- SEO: Search engine optimization ensures that websites are attractive to Google and other search engines and that people looking for the products, services, or information features on that site can find it once they look for it online.
- Server management: All websites need to be hosted. The management of the servers that host those sites is an important web design skill.
- Web strategy and marketing: Having a website is not enough. Those sites will also need to be marketed with an ongoing digital strategy.
- E-commerce and conversions.
- Design: Creating the visual look and feel of websites has always been an important aspect of the industry.
- Design: Creating the visual look and feel of websites has always been an important aspect of the industry.
- Speed: A successful site is one that loads quickly on a wide variety of devices, regardless of a visitors connection speed. Being able to tune the performance of sites is a very valuable skill.
Content: People come to websites for the content that those sites contain. Being able to create that content is a critically important component in the world of website design.
Web Design Overview
The web design process starts with a visual concept, which you could sketch by hand or with software like Photoshop. Then, you use HTML and CSS to build the website. HTML and CSS are the codes for writing web pages. HTML handles the basic structure and ‘bones’ of your page, while CSS handles the style and appearance.
Responsive design is a popular technique for making websites look good and function well on additional devices, like phones and tablets. It does this by setting different CSS rules for different browser widths.
Treehouse Design Training
While there is a lot of coding training available on the Internet, design training is something you will not find a lot of. Treehouse, a technology training website, is unique in that it offers both web development and web design training.
Treehouse is our main online training recommendation because it has a focus on web design, is recommended by many of the world’s most trusted and recognized web designers (such as Chris Coyier) and most of its teachers are themselves web developers or designers.