Website design

I believe a good design looks clean and uncluttered - it presents the content in an appealing way without affecting its readability. Typographers are taught that lines of text shouldn't be too long, that the most legible text is black on a white background, and so on. These principles have stood the test of time and work equally well on most web pages. (Sometimes these rules have to be changed when a more dramatic or stylish effect is required.)

Of course, there is much more to web design than just making the pages look nice - for example, they have to be compatible (not everyone uses Internet Explorer 8 on Windows), they have to download quickly (not everyone has broadband) and they might even have to be accessible (not everyone has perfect eyesight). Most important of all, they have to show up on search engines like Google or your potential clients might never see them anyway!

There are fashions in web design and many sites created three or four years ago are looking dated now. They may also not conform to the latest recomendations for accessibility and compatibility. If yours is one of these it is a good time to revamp it as creating a site is actually easier and quicker now due to improved software tools and web technologies. For example, using CSS style sheets gives consistency of text fonts and sizes, and makes content management much easier.

I usually work with graphic designers for larger sites and/or where a new corporate image is part of the requirements, although I do web design myself for smaller sites where cost is paramount. I can also create Flash animations for extra impact.