Blog Talk: Design Basics

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March 2, 2019

blog talk, web design, web design tips, website design, blog design, design tips, wordpress, blogging, blogging tips

Ever since I was in high school and played around on LiveJournal, I have been fascinated with coding. It is so much fun to be able to manipulate not only the aesthetics, but the functionality of a website. Since then, I have continued to teach myself code and in turn, design. That hobby has now turned into a full blown business that has me booked for weeks on end. I truly enjoy it, but I thought it would be nice to share some of the basics of design. I won’t get into coding (I think most people would consider that boring, plus it’s way too complicated for a blog post), but I will talk about the things I keep in mind while designing a site.

1. Keep it simple
It is so incredibly important to keep a design simple. When you go to a blog, the design is the very first thing someone notices and first impressions are everything. I know I’m not alone when I say that if I come across a blog that isn’t aesthetically pleasing or is too busy, I immediately navigate away; I don’t even give the content a chance if I don’t like the design. It’s sad, but true for many many people.

2. Let the content shine
This goes hand in hand with keeping it simple. You don’t want a potential reader to be distracted by a crazy logo, tons of bright colors, or extremely crowded double sidebars. Let the content shine by keeping it simple. One of the bes pieces of writing advice I ever got was “good writing is saying the most you can in the least amount of words.” I think this is true for design as well. Get your aesthetic across in a clean and simple way.

3. Balance
Web design is all about balance. This doesn’t mean everything needs to be centered or you have the have a certain amount of sidebar widgets, it means there should be a balance when it comes to colors, fonts & features. Never overpower the design with one thing, like tons of colors or all one font. Create balance by mixing and matching various design elements for a perfectly proportioned website.

What would you add to the list?

Interested in my design services? Check out my packages here and send me an email to discuss!

Photo by Johnny Cheng.

Read more in the Blog Talk series here.