The world’s first website, published in 1991, was a few paragraphs of text on a uniform background with a command line instead of links.
Since then, websites have come a long way. Currently, there are more than a billion web resources on the Internet, each of which consists of a variety of visual elements. The process of creating the appearance of sites has become a whole science, including not only the design of the graphical shell, but also thinking about navigation, organization of textual content and analysis of user behavior. This science is called web design.
Web design is the planning and creation of content so that a website is beautiful, functional, and user-friendly. To accomplish each of these goals, web designers use a wide range of tools.
To make a site beautiful, web designers select the right color scheme, choose appropriate fonts, add photos, images, and animation elements to the site, as well as special effects like parallax.
To make the site functional, web designers carefully consider the structure of pages, develop navigation, fill sections with informative and relevant content and add additional elements: for example, surveys, subscription form, widgets with social networks, interactive maps and much more.
To make the site convenient, web designers analyze user behavior. This helps to make interaction with the site intuitive and avoid confusion. For example, one of the basic rules of web design is to place the most important information at the top of the screen so that the user does not have to scroll down the page.
The specific set of tools used to create a page depends directly on the ultimate goal of the site. For example:
- A portfolio site showcases work and attracts clients or employers.
- An online game, clothing or electronics store sells products.
- A business site builds a loyal customer base around a brand.
- A blog shares information and builds your credibility in the industry.
- A restaurant website takes reservations
- A services website takes reservations and payment.