DESIGN FAQs

Q1 :    How to design and build a Web site?
Q2 :    How to select perfectly matching color combinations

How to design and build a Web site?

These are the steps to take to define, design, and build your Web site

Step 1: Define

The Web is about information, and before you can begin your Web design, you have to collect and identify the information that will make up your site.

You also need to break the content down and consider how visitors will navigate all the information you will be presenting. You also need to know your audience. The more accurately you can define the content the more accurately you can define your Web site.

Now that you know who will be visiting your Web site, it's time to identify your goals and the features you will be using to accomplish your goals. Will this site need DHTML? Back-end Databases? SSL support? CGI forms? Flash?

Step 2: Design

Different people have different ideas when they think of the design of the site. For someone with an arts background, design means the way the site will look, what colours will be used, and how the page will be laid out. For someone with a technology background, design implies how the various programming components will act and work together. The design of the Web site must address both of these factors, and more.

• Outline the site: The outline helps you organise your site in a logical order. Always try to get the simplest solution to get the job done.
• Create a site map: A site map allows other people to see the site structure. It shows the relationships among pages in a web site similar to the this one. Lines in this picture represnt links and rounded boxes with dotted lines show pages outside this Web site
  
• Sketch the layout grid: Select the Web layout style you want to use. Then, on paper or in an drawing program, sketch the basic structure of a Web page in your site. You don't have to draw a detailed diagram of every page you plan to create. Instead, identify what goes where on your pages.
  

• Create a storyboard: Next you should create a storyboard, basically a drawing, that shows what the general look of pages in your web site will be. Your storyboard should include information on navigation, colour, font, layout etc. Your storyboard provides a visual representation for the page and its content.

Step 3: Build

Prepare the content: Gather the content you will be using in the site

Create the code

Create a template page

Assemble the pages

Test your site

How to select perfectly matching colour combinations?

Understanding colour theory will help you to understand how colour works on Web pages. The first places to start learning colour theory is with the colour wheel.

Andrew Mundi's Web colour -Mundi Design ( http://www.mundidesign.com/ ) is an interesting way to play with colour combinations, especially the webpage example (checkbox at bottom-right of that flash).

The Sessions.edu Colour Calculator ( http://www.sessions.edu/ilu/ ) is an interactive colour wheel that helps designers select HTML, RGB, or CMYK colours and identifies colour harmonies and schemes.

Color Wheel Pro ( http://www.color-wheel-pro.com ) is a unique software program that allows you to see colour theory in action. With Color Wheel Pro, you can create harmonious colour schemes and preview them on real-world examples.

Color Wheel Pro lets you preview your colour schemes on real-world examples websites, logos, product packages. When you rotate the colour wheel, colours in the preview image change immediately you see how your new colour scheme plays out as a logo, a website and then as a corporate identity package.

You can easily try it out by downloading a free 30-day evaluation at:
http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/ downloads/color-wheel-pro.exe
(1.7 MB)