Web Design

Web site design starts with knowing your GOAL.
Designs4Sites.com is for anyone interested in web site design.

Overview:

- Concept (mission statement)
- Visualization (storyboard)
- Analysis (testing concepts)
- Production (content, xhtml and testing)
- Evolution (updating)

Layout's most common form is:
distributed top and left margin.

Margins will be for your content links, logo
and banner adds.
For sites with a large amount of content (50 pages+)
even distribution may be required in the form of columns.
These sites no more than four columns.

Content Dictates Design, Color and Complexity

All elements such as images, color and links are there
to guide the reader through the content.

Database driven content is more flexible for dynamic sites.

Mortising is piecing together images/content using tables.

Some facts to consider in design:
Monitor Resolution being used
1024x768 50%
800x600 40%
640x480 01%
others 09%

Color Depth being used
32bit 50%
16bit 33%
24bit 15%
8bit 02%

Often pro's will still design for 640x480 resolution
because of minimal content or loading time; however,
213 web safe color palette is dead (02%)
Many top designers still aim for total page size of 50KB.

E-Commerce can best be described as, the electronic
exchange of information between a buyer and a seller.
The biggest advantages of e-commerce are:
- speed
- accuracy
- efficiency
- cost savings
- global market

Business Models
B2B (business to business) high volume,
lower priced items, overall higher transaction value.
B2C (business to consumer) such as an at home user;
low volume, lower margin and often a greater choice,
to world-wide consumers.

Storefronts
In-House Solution to costly for average business.
Must develop (or buy) and maintain software,
hardware and internet connection.
Instant storefront
Online Storefront Solution has the entire
commerce package on the server and is supplied
as a service at a monthly fee. (very little
technical or control required by merchant)
Offline Storefront Solution gives some control
to merchant to develop storefront look while
offline and then ftp onto server.

E-commerce is the new economy; Brick and Mortar
businesses must adapt or fail, this is the reality.

The 7 essential ingredients for success:
- Generate demand
- Ordering
- Fulfillment
- Processing payments
- Service and support
- Community

There is a need to redesign 20 million sites.
XHTML is the new reality in design; it uses XML/HTML 4.01.
It is case sensitive and all tags must be closed.
All attributes must have a value.
CSS (cascading style sheets) is used for all formatting,
leaving only the structure to html.
Include files (covered in server-side) allows modular coding.

Three image formats for the web

GIF: 256 colors, 89a for animation, best used for;
line drawings, text, solid colors and transparencies.
JPEG: 16 million colors best used for; photos,
drop shadows and graduations.
PNG: under used on the web, best of both GIF and JPEG.

Tables used for Page Structure

I am not going to give a tutorial on tables; however,
it is important to mention that tables are the only
effective way we have at this time, to place elements
on the page in a controlled manner.

Diagramming
out a page using tables is the first step.
This is more a concept of layout and the placement
of cells in such a way to control the design.
A sketch pad and pencil approach is required for anything
more than your basic 2 rows 2 columns page.
At this point one should be working with a WYSIWYG editor,
(to speed up your coding of your tables) and using notepad
to tweak the code. Frames... I'm not covering, because
I have better thing to talk to you about (let me just say
if you have to you have to, if not, don't).

Designs4Sites.com is for anyone interested in web site design.