Unit 5: Building a Web Culture

Currently top bar navigation has become a standard piece of web design, as it is seen on a majority of this week's websites, regardless of how the rest of the pages are laid out. This style of navigation can very easily to converted to a mobile version, condensing all the navigation buttons into a drop down menu.  Another common
The pages are set with a high contrast between the text and the background colors for maximum readability.  With the exception of Kuler, its a dark text on a light colored background, which is very easy of the eyes. Light text on a dark background, while it has strong contrast, can be very tiring on the eyes.
 
 99designs. com addresses some very basic design concepts which work for both web and print design.  And I have lots of feelings about design and design elements so I will elaborate a bit more about a few of their key principles.

• Using a grid is a great way to create unity on all of your websites' different pages, and then breaking your grid is an effective way to call attention to a certain element. Though you will not have to worry about setting up or selecting a grid if you use a service like Blogger or Weebly which offers templates. Then it becomes a matter of selecting a template which has the grid system built into it. In those instances, to break the grid would require coding knowledge.
•  Visual hierarchy is a very important design element which combines other design elements like shape, value, and spacing to name a few. This is used in logo design, print, cinematography to name a few. What 99design focused on was the hierarchy within a single page.
• Web-safe fonts as something to look out for has become a bit of an archaic practice, as the article has noted. Most the fonts designed now are web-safe. Now when choosing fonts the thing to look out for, much like with images, is the copyright information. Many fonts will be free for non-commercial use, but its something to be a aware of. When pairing fonts, usually a serif and sans serif are used together, which creates nice contrast.
• Image and color are oddly paired together. The location of where images are placed should be a part of your grid system and should work in tandem with the placement of text blocks. Color is a difficult thing, as every screen will show colors differently and there are certain colors which just do not work for the web. 

For the final project, I will most likely be using a simple web tool like Weebly or Wix to create the website and accompanying pages. They offer well designed solutions which offer many customization options. I have previously built a website using Dreamweaver using a web space account, and I found my lack of programing and coding knowledge to be a hindrance. With either Wix or Weebly, I will be able to create a more professional design with a lot less frustration and a lot less time (which seems to be of the essence as this is only an 8 week long course).