skip to Main Content

Principles Of Good Web Design

The Tickets.com design and technology team came up with some basic principles of good web design that you can apply to any client-facing items: your website, email campaigns, marketing collateral or even your business cards. We hope you enjoy!

So, What is Good Design?

It is important to remember that good design is not only how something looks, but also how it feels and works as well. If a website looks slick and modern but has a terrible user experience, your design becomes unusable. No matter what you’re building, it’s important to keep the user in mind. It’s easy to fall into the trap of adding something into your design because it “looks cool”, but if it serves no purpose then it should be removed.

Basic Principles of Good Design

Colors and Fonts

Good design should keep your brand consistent. Stick to colors and fonts that make sense for YOUR brand and your organization. Typically, do not use more than two fonts on each item you are designing. To mix things up a bit, feel free to use different weights and styles of the same font.

fonts

Decide if you want to use a sans-serif or serif font as your main text. Sans-serif presents a more modern feel and is easier to read in large blocks, while a serif font adds a more elegant and professional feel. There are lots of fonts available online now through WebKit or DaFont that can really liven up your designs and stray away from the typical Arial or Times New Roman that everyone uses.

Use colors that complement your brand and your logo. Understand that different colors evoke different emotions and reactions.

colors-2

White Space and Layout

As tempting as it is to cram as much as you can into a PDF or website, white space is really important for any design because it aids in readability and content prioritization. It gives your design visual breathing room and creates a simple and elegant look and feel.

whitespace

Grid-based designs are also a great way to improve site organization. Grids help establish where elements of your site should be placed within your layout. The rule of thirds also helps with placement. The rule of thirds is a guideline that proposes all the important information and design elements be placed along the lines of intersection when a photo or design is split into thirds. Using a grid and/or the rule of thirds can help you organize your content to create the most aesthetically appealing design.

thirds-1

Be sure to keep all the important information on the top left as people usually read in an F-pattern. Keep text blocks short and the use of bullet points are key.

fdesign-2

Load Time and Responsive Designs

We live in a mobile world and our websites and designs should reflect this. Websites should be responsive across all devices whether it’s your desktop, tablet or cell phone.

Optimize your photos and PDFs so that they load and download quickly. Downsizing your large PDF’s are easy with a variety of tools online. Smallpdf is a site that provides a free and intuitive tool that can compress your PDF, making it easy and quick to send those files online.

We’re Here to Help

Whether you need an email blast sent out to your clients, a brand new venue map, a facelift or total redesign of your site, we are here to help. Contact marketing@tickets.com for any design needs that you may have and we’ll be happy to have you touch base with one of our project managers/designers for more information.

Back To Top