Design

Web design is in its infancy. Even its most experienced designer, at best, has only three or four years experience. And the industry changes daily as new technologies emerge, forcing us all to ever remain novices.

But the same design principles that have applied to the printed page for years apply to web pages. Just because someone can write a little HTML or code a Java applet, doesn't make him or her a designer. So, while there are limitations to the web, you should still insist on a visually appealing site, above and beyond some expertly written code. Be careful, though. A site rich in graphics, video, animated GIFs, and audio may add some appeal, but most web surfers are looking for information and will quickly click away from sites that use up too much of their time in the download.

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR ONE WEB SITE
TO LOOK AS GOOD ON EVERY SYSTEM

There are entire books written on the subject of design, so I am not going to use this space to tell you what looks good or not. That is subjective, and you know what you like. But what you should consider is whether or not your web site will look good on all computers. Why should that even be a consideration? Because unlike print material that always looks the same, it is impossible for a web site to look identical on every screen. How so? Some have large 24 bit, 17 inch displays, while others use 4 bit portable laptops. Some use Macintoshes, others PCs. Some have fast T1 Internet connections, others slow 14.4 modems. Some computers have a certain font, others don't. Some use Netscape 4.0, others use version 6. These are just some of the differences web designers must take into consideration when designing for the web as they all affect the appearance and functionality of your site. To say the least, the web in all its glory is a designer's worst nightmare.

INSIST ON GOOD DESIGN
BUT MAKE COMPROMISES FOR THE WEB

So what do designers do? They can design for the lowest common denominator, but most consider the projected audience and their usual platform and design accordingly with certain compromises. What are those compromises?

For slower modems
While many of your viewers may have DSL modems, the standard is still 56K. Designers usually will design with this in mind by keeping graphic sizes down to a minimum. They do this by using compression which affects picture quality as well as limiting the actual physical size of those graphics. Additionally, careful designers will also recommend that you keep the bandwidth-hungry bells and whistles to a minimum.

For smaller monitors
Designers will also design for smaller screens since 15" is still the common monitor size. But they must also consider those viewers on 21" monitors, as well as those business people using their laptops en route as they travel across country and be sure their site accomodates all screen sizes.

Color differences
As I mentioned before, it is impossible to design a page that will look the same on every computer and color display is a good example of that. Part of the problem is that few monitors are calibrated accurately with one another. You can see that for yourself by visiting a photo-rich site on your computer and then viewing it on your friend's. Gamma settings, which control brightness and contrast, also vary widely as most evidenced between Macs and PCs which display much darker. How do we compensate? Most often we choose from a special palette of web-safe colors that are not supposed to shift. What this means is that we are limited in our color choices. To be sure that the color settings we've chosen are acceptable, good designers will always perform crossplatform checks and adjust images as needed.

Browser differences
Yep, thanks to Microsoft and their drive to be on top, the two top browser developers are engaged in a head-to-head combat to gain superiority. What this means to us is that not all HTML code available is recognizable by both browsers. Add to this mix the fact that many outdated browsers with even more HTML limitations are still in use. Because of this, not all your visitors may view your smartly colored tables, see your site in frames, or watch buttons change color when rolled over, to name a few. Will you design just for the Explorers or for the Navigators or for both? It's up to you.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOU?

Choose your web designer carefully as not all take these variables into consideration. When interviewing your prospective web designer, be sure to ask how he or she adjusts for these variables. Then request to see a portfolio and check out the samples on different platforms yourself. One other simple test, without having to change platforms, is simply to change the size of the browser window. Consider the following example in which one design firm made the following error by not performing a monitor check.