Fonts

There is usually some amount of text on a web page. Some pages have very little text and others have a huge amount of text. This text can either be actual text or graphics that appear as text. To begin, I will deal with text as text and then move on to text as images.

System Fonts

When using text on a website, you might be inclined to use some type of fancy font. Avoid this if at all possible. Several system fonts have been created to display well on web pages. If you use a special font and the person viewing your page does not have that font on their computer, your text reverts back to a system font. Also, system fonts are different on Windows or Apple computers. (Some things are never easy!)

A good rule of thumb regarding fonts is to not specify fonts at all unless necessary. If you have to use a font, make sure it is a system font. Finally, if you NEED to use a font you know is not a system font, turn the text into an image.

Fonts as Images

When necessary, you can save text of a particular type as an image. The problem with this is that the text is no longer selectable, and search engines cannot find it. Also, these images slow down your page’s load time.

Fonts and Color

You can also color the text on your web page. When dealing with text, try to use black text on a white background. Colored text and colored backgrounds can make things very difficult to read. At the very least contrast the color of the text and the color of the background in such a way to make it easy to read. Some examples are green text on a black ground or blue on a white background.

Images

Images probably will be an important part of any design you create. It’s a good idea not to include too many images in your web pages because they can slow down the rate at which the pages download and also visually overwhelm the pages. Try to find a few strong images that support your content well.

Cascading Style Sheets

The best way to keep your web page’s design consistent is to use a cascading style sheet (CSS). This acts as a guide for your web page to format certain elements in certain ways. If you want all your links to be red and underlined, you can set up an element in the CSS and control the formatting of all the links.

Design Best Practices

There are no hard and fast rules in creating a design for a web page, but there are some best practices to help you avoid common mistakes. Remember to keep your design simple and consistent, and your site will look great.

Keep It Simple

Keep your design as simple as possible. You don’t want a visually confusing or complex site that loses or overwhelms your visitors.

Don’t Use Attention Grabbers

Resist the urge to use attention-grabbing design elements such as neon colors and blinking text. Like Times Square all lit up, it can be overwhelming and off-putting to the visitor.

Be Consistent

Keep your colors, fonts, and images consistent. For example, if you use colors on one page of the site, use the same colors on the other pages.