Seamless Business Website Design, Form and Function

Most website design experts agree that (1) a “clean” website design is the most desirable, but (2) a clean design should never be confused with a minimalist design.  However, boldness, attention grabbing graphics and/or “pop” music may be useful on a few pages of a commercial website, while not being suitable anywhere on a funeral parlor’s site.
Inasmuch as a company’s website might represent a prospect’s first contact with that company, the design of its homepage is of paramount importance.  Remember the old maxim: “You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.”  Well, if you know the demographics of your customer/client base, discuss those demographics with your website designer, stressing that the homepage should appeal to the majority of your customers or clients.

One expert suggests that: “Every individual element of the website should look like it belongs and should benefit and complement the design as a whole. The overall design needs to be balanced to allow the information to flow and be easy to consume.”

Of course, a clean design should be usable and the purpose of the site should be obvious.  Still, there can be room for purely aesthetics and élan in the  design of a “clean” site. Instead of asking what can be removed (in the case of minimalistic design), you should be asking how it can be refined.

If there was one word to define “˜clean’ website design in this context, it is refinement. Every individual element should look like it belongs and should benefit and complement the design as a whole. The overall design needs to be balanced to allow the information to flow and be easy to consume.

Before making it to the final design, every element needs to be scrutinized. The designer should take a moment to consider the purpose of each element and decide whether it is the best it can possibly be and if it can be made any clearer. An attention to detail is essential in producing a clean website design. Truly great, clean design relies on pixel-perfect execution of many subtle design elements. Seemingly minor details such as borders, highlights, shadows, textures and many others all need to be carefully considered for the design of a business website.

It goes without saying that a clean design cannot appear cluttered in any way. Lots of elements cramped together however will give the appearance of a messy and cluttered website. Obviously, that is not what we want. This is where spacing comes in.
Whitespace, margins, padding and line-height all have a crucial role to play in pulling off a clean website design. Providing elements of a website an appropriate amount of spacing ensures that they appear to belong and fit into the overall design. An adequate amount of spacing also generates an airy and elegant feeling to a professional business website.

 

Based in Tampa, FL, Cornerstone Consulting Offers Website Design, Ecommerce, ERP, IT, Cloud Computing Software and Services To Small and Midsized Businesses

Although Cornerstone is well-known for providing small and midsized companies with SAP Business One (SAP B1) ERP, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software system designed to streamline manufacturing, wholesale distribution and online retail enterprises for maximum efficiency, the highly-skilled team of developers produce stunningly elegant professional websites and ecommerce sites for our clients as well. To learn more about the professional business websites and/or ecommerce site design services Cornerstone Consulting offers, please call us at 813-321-1300.

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