A lot of people can recognize good design when they see it on the web. But most people don’t really know what makes that design good.

How do you define “good design?” Is it subjective, like your favorite flavor of ice cream? Although there is some subjectivity within good design, there are artistic principles that good design is built from. Here are a few that form the foundation of good design.

1. Proximity – Because items that are in close proximity to one another become one visual unit, items that are related to one another should be grouped together. Laying out related items on a website page this way helps the eye associate the information and enables the viewer to mentally categorize the information easily. The flip side of this principle is that items that are not related should not be placed in close proximity to one another.

The purpose of the principle of proximity is to organize information in a way that enables viewers to quickly and easily comprehend. When information is organized, people are more likely to read it and respond. People are also more likely to remember information that is organized.

How can you determine if items form a visual unit? Squint your eyes and look at the page on a website. Now count the number of times your eye stops as it views the page. On a page that is

using the principle of proximity well, your eye will stop three to five times. In other words, there will be three to five groups of information for the eye to comprehend separately.

2. Alignment – You’ve seen website page layouts where the text and graphics are placed wherever there happens to be space. The effect is messy, with no impact. Nothing should be placed on a page arbitrarily. There should be a visual connection between each item on the page. When items are aligned, it creates a cohesiveness that the eye appreciates.

The purpose of alignment is to unify the website page. Imagine a well-organized kitchen. All the pots and pans are stored in the organizer, the fruit is nicely displayed in a basket on the counter, the spices are all on the rack – everything is in its place. A page layout needs the same thing.

Look at a website page that you feel is good design. Now focus on the main visual element. Where does your eye go from there? Do you see how other elements are aligned with that one main element both vertically and horizontally?

3. Repetition – Good design repeats some aspect of the website design throughout the site. It’s this repetition that makes all the pages in a site look like they belong together. Color scheme,  graphic elements, typefaces – all of these elements should be repeated – used consistently – throughout.

The purpose of repetition is to create consistency and to add visual interest. Repetition creates a professional, polished look that the eye is drawn to. When a website design uses repetition and is consistent, it is more likely to be viewed and read.

Here are some ways you can create repetition beyond simple consistency in typefaces and colors: Use some element in your logo as a major graphic element in the design. If you are using a ruled line, make the line more interesting visually by perhaps making it with tiny dots or dashes, then repeating the line element throughout the design. Create patterns that are repeated throughout the design. Take a small element and place it somewhere on each page for a whimsical look. Just be careful not to overdo the repetition, or viewers will be annoyed rather than pleased.

4. Contrast – The principle of contrast states that if two items are not the same, then they should be different – very different. Contrast creates an organizational hierarchy of the information and graphics on a webpage. When using contrast, you can’t be a wimp! The contrast must be strong to be effective.

The purpose of contrast is two-fold: to create interest on the page, and to organize information. A page that is interesting to look at is more likely to be read. And contrasting elements will help a reader understand the way the information is organized.

Contrast can be created in many ways. You can contrast large type with small type, a serif font with a sans-serif font, bold with light, smooth texture with rough texture, a small graphic with a large one, a dark color with a light one.

A design that integrates these principles will automatically gain a professionalism and polish that it would otherwise lack.

Next time you stumble across a website design that makes you say “wow”, check for these principles – you’ll find them quietly working to make that design a good one!

About The Author
Laura MacPherson – Creative director at Northstar Creative, a website design studio located in Greenville, SC. Her company, Northstar Creative Web Design, approaches website development differently than many web companies. Northstar Creative combines the use of marketing psychology with top-notch web development to create truly exceptional custom sites for its clients.

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Akan hadir sekitar 1.000 entrepreneur dan calon entrepreneur dari seluruh Indonesia. Sebagian besar mereka adalah member TDA dan sebagian lagi berasal dari non member.

Acaranya sendiri memang dirancang seperti festival. Terinspirasi dari Java Jazz Festival di mana ratusan musisi dari berbagai aliran berkumpul. Para penonton tinggal pilih mau nonton yang mana dari 15 panggung yang tersedia.

Kira-kira seperti itulah Festival Entrepreneur Indonesia itu nantinya. Akan ada 8 seminar dengan beraneka topik. Mulai dari bagaimana memulai bisnis, bagaimana mengelola bisnis, bagaimana membesarkan bisnis, tentang bisnis online, tentang bisnis kreatif, seluk beluk bisnis ritel, tentang brand. Pokoknya “all about how to in business”, dijawab di seminar hari pertama.

Semuanya dibawakan oleh para ekspert dan praktisi di bidangnya. Ada Nukman Luthfie (Virtual Consulting), Sumardy (Octobrand), Yuswohady (Markplus), Salim Kartono (CEO DRTV), ActionCOACH dan sebagainya.

Di hari kedua isinya akan lebih inspiratif. Menghadirkan para tokoh yang jejak langkahnya memang telah menginspirasi orang banyak. Ada Jamil Azzaini (Kubik Leadership), Bob Sadino (Founder Kemchicks), Ustadz Lihan (Ustadz miliarder yang fenomenal dan jadi perbincangan di mana-mana) dan Tung Desem Waringin (pelatih sukses nomor satu di Indonesia).

Di sela-sela acara seminar juga ada expo dan business matching. Expo ini memamerkan produk-produk dari peserta. Panitia juga menyediakan ruangan meeting untuk mereka yang ingin kontak bisnis langsung.

Dan yang tak kalah penting adalah bertemunya 1.000 orang entrepreneur dan calon entrepreneur di mana mereka bisa saling berkenalan dan bernetworking. Hasil dari silaturahmi ini akan terlihat beberapa tahun yang akan datang. Ingat kata Pak Tung DW, nasib anda 5 tahun yang akan datang ditentukan oleh dengan siapa anda bergaul hari ini.

Source  : Roni, Founder Komunitas TDA

These basics are aimed at new visitors/customers; your repeat customers will be judging your web site on different values. Just like wearing the appropriate clothes for a job interview, these basics will help you pick out the “look” of your web site so that you make a good first impression.

1. Fast Loading Web Site – Any way you look at it, a fast loading page should be your number 1 concern. The web is all about speed, fast searches, fast purchases, fast information. You can’t have any of that with a slow loading page. Ask yourself this question – have you ever been on Google doing a search for something important and a link you clicked on didn’t open up immediately? What did you do? Patiently wait for the page to open or move onto the next link on the page? My favorite sites open almost immediately.

So, a few suggestions: Make sure that your images are properly optimized. Don’t use very many large images, save those for a different page. Keep any auto-running multimedia to a minimum, provide links to run media instead. Check your code for anything else that could affect your page loading times. Since text loads almost instantly go ahead and use all the text you want, just keep everything else under control.

2. No Meaningless Splash Page – Do you appreciate a fancy animation page that doesn’t tell you anything and you have to wait for before the web site will open? Neither do I. The last thing I want once I find an interesting site is to wait through some animation before getting to the first page. This doesn’t mean that I don’t want multimedia on a site, I do. I just don’t want an animation before the first page that forces me to wait for it to finish before getting onto the site. It’s like having to wait for a salesperson to finish their memorized speech before you can ask them a question. No thanks! I like animation, just in the right place and at the right time. Plus, if I am a returning customer, I will have already seen that animation and don’t need to see it again.

My suggestion is to use a smaller animation contained in your main landing page which also includes your main message and links to the rest of your site. It will make for a faster loading page (smaller file) and your visitors can go ahead with accessing your site without having to wait for the animation to finish.

One final note, don’t ever put your logo as the only content on your landing page with a link that says “Enter Site”. This just screams Unprofessional and will drive away potential visitors in droves. The last thing I want to do is to click on another link just to get into the site. This is a total waste of my time. I usually will skip a site if I see this.

3. No Annoying Web Gimmicks – Now that you have your visitor on your site quickly the one thing you don’t want to do is to drive them away just as quickly. So, don’t put anything annoying on that first page. No loud background music that makes them quickly hit the volume control or the back button on their browser. No flashing animations while they are trying to read your content. No popup, flyout, expanding ads that cover your home page. Basically, leave the gimmicks alone until you are sure that your visitor will stay on your site. Most casual visitors will leave your site in just a few seconds, no sense on driving them away more quickly.

Multimedia is great on a web site, just don’t bombard your visitor with it first thing. If you want audio, then put in a nice picture with a link, like a picture of yourself with text saying something like “Let me tell you how to make fifty thousand this month!” If they are interested, they will click on the link and listen to your message; if they are not interested in audio, then you should be using a different pitch anyway.

Also, monitor what advertisers are putting on your site if you sell ad space. I am sure you have seen those ads with the animated dancing figure, cute the first time you see it. But after seeing it 10,000 times with every imaginable character I have added the company to a líst I keep of companies I won’t do business with. So their animation has gone from “look at me” to “you annoy me” in my mind. Ads like these will impact your visitor’s experience. So even if your site is perfectly designed, one misplaced ad can ruin all of your hard work.

4. Have a Clear Message – Too many web sites are a mish-mash of content. This is especially true of blog pages. Certain types of sites lend themselves to stream of consciousness content, but most don’t. Make it easy for your viewer to understand what your web site is about, don’t make them guess. Have a clear topic headline, followed by clear and concise text. This is also where a picture is worth a thousand words, but only if the picture directly pertains to your message.

You want your visitor to quickly understand what your message is. If they like your message, they will take the time to read the rest of your page and look around your web site. If they don’t like your page, then it won’t do you any good having them stay on your site anyway. So, don’t make your visitors guess, let them know what you are about quickly and cleanly and you will have happy visitors. And when thinking about a sales page, a happy customer is a buying customer.

5. Coordinated Design – This one should be self evident, but it is surprising how many sites change their design for every page. You want your visitor to be comfortable in your site and one way to achieve that is by having a coordinated web design. Having a consistent logo, using a consistent color scheme, keeping your navigation in the same place. All of these help to create a coordinated design. This does not mean that you can’t change colors or the “Look” on different segments of your site, but if you do, the changes should not be so drastic that it feels like you have moved on to a different site.

If you select one place for your logo, one place for your navigation, one look for your buttons or other common graphic elements and stick with those then you will be well on your way to a coordinated design. If you change colors for a different section, but keep the same logo location, the same navigation location, the same button shape, then your visitors will not become lost as they move from page to page.

6. Easy Navigation – Once you have grabbed your visitors attention you want them to be able to easily move around the different areas of your web site. This is done with easy to use navigation. There are three standard, accepted locations for navigation elements on a web page: along the top, on the left side, and at the bottom. I will usually put my main navigation either along the top or along the left side. I will then put text based navigation at the bottom of the page, this text based navigation is more for the search engines than anything else, but it also makes it easy for your visitors to move to the next page when they have reached the bottom of the current page.

Most people start reading a page from the top left and then read towards the bottom right. So navigation at the left or top will be seen as soon as someone enters your page. Also navigation at the left or top will not move or change position if the browser window is adjusted in size. The worst thing you can do is to put your main navigation on the right side of the page and have your page set for a large screen size. Let’s say that your page is set for 1024 across with the navigation on the right, and someone views your page at 800 across, they will not see your navigation at all. The left side of your page will show perfectly, but the right side will be hidden outside of their viewing area. Of course by using floating or popup menus you can overcome some of these design limitations and keep your navigation visible at all times.

Unless you know that your audience will enjoy it, don’t use Mystery Navigation. This is where your navigation is hidden within images, or spaced around the web page in some mysterious random order. This can be fun on gaming sites, or social networking sites, but in most cases the navigation should be easy to see and easy to use. If you do want to use Mystery Navigation, I would recommend keeping the text based navigation at the bottom of the page, just in case.

7. Have a “Complete” web site – And finally, no one wants to go to a web site only to find that the site is “Under Construction” and the content they are looking for is not there. These are words that you shouldn’t ever use. If a section of your web site is not ready for prime time yet, then simply don’t show it yet. It is better to have your site look complete and professional, then to have it look like a work in progress that should not be up on the web yet.

You can easily tell your visitors that you will be having more content in the future without having your site look like it is unfinished. Just use phrases like “Content Updated Weekly” or “New Products Added Monthly”. Both of these will tell your visitors that it would be worth their time to come back and visit later, but neither one will make your site look unfinished. So no matter how small your web site is, give the impression that you have taken the time to complete the site before putting it up on the internet, this makes for a more professional presentation and a better visitor experience.

In Closing – By following these simple 7 Basics of Good Web Design you will be well on your way to having an easy to use and successful web presence. Just keep in mind what you look for when you first land on a web page after doing a web search in Google or Yahoo, or other search engine. If you want fast loading pages, make sure your pages load fast. If you want to be able to find what you are looking for quickly and easily, then make sure you have easy navigation. Just keep your first time visitor in mind, put yourself in their web shoes and make your web site an enjoyable place to visit and success should follow.

Source : George Peirson is a successful Entrepreneur and Internet Trainer. He is the author of over 40 multimedia based tutorial training titles covering such topics as Photoshop, Flash and Dreamweaver. To see his training sets visit www.howtogurus.com. Article copyright 2009 George Peirson

WordCamp Indonesia 2009

we love Word Press, using Wordpress as CMS, nice and simple, so we support WordCamp!!!

Following the success story of WordCamp Philippines 2008 at last September 6, 2008 as the first WordCamp in SouthEast Asia, Indonesia will host this next WordCamp conference.

WordCamp is a 2-day conference for WordPress users and developers, will be held on January 17-18, 2009 in Jakarta.

Its a wonderful ways of getting to know fellow WordPress fans and bloggers.

This informal gathering is a great opportunity for Indonesia-area WordPress developers, users, themers, designers, marketers, writers and enthusiasts to meet up, learn from each other, and have fun. Its the best venue for WP enthusiasts to come together and get updated on the latest.

The theme of WordCamp Indonesia 2009 is Learn from The Best. And the event will be in English and Bahasa, with no translation between the two.

source : http://www.wordcampindonesia.com/

This is the time of the year for holidays and being thankful, so we would like to take a moment to tell you how glad we are to have you on gfxhosting. There are a lot of websites out there, and a whole bunch of social networking sites, but it warms our heart at this cold time of year that you’ve chosen the good one: GFXHOSTING, Inc.

So, in short, thanks… we’re glad you’re here! and we’ll keep making the world’s best hosting service for doing so.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you, your family, your beloved! We want to thank you for being with us through this year and we want to thank our new packsge for their choice. Thank you for sharing all the good and all the bad with us!

That’s been not the best year ever for all of us and for the whole world. We hope and we’ll do all possible for the new year to bring us good support, new amazing products and new features in our hosting package program.

Wishing all you guys and gals a Merry Christmas! We love you!

gfxhosting.com Support Team

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Segenap Keluarga Besar GFXHOSTING dan BEDATIPIS dot COM mengucapkan selamat Hari Natal dan Selamat Menyambut Tahun Baru 2009, semoga ditahun yang baru ini kita selalu di Lindungi Tuhan YME.

Promo Valid Until 14 Februari 2009

Blog saat ini sangat digandrungi oleh pengguna internet, dengan engine pintar Anda sudah siap untuk membuat blog. GFX memberikan harga khusus untuk membuat blog anda dengan cepat. Harga yang kami tawarkan sangat terjangkau dan menarik.

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Tahun 2008 ini adalah kali kedua para blogger Indonesia bikin hajatan kumpul-kumpul secara nasional, setelah sukses diadakan tahun 2007. Tahun ini akan digelar lagi, rencananya akan digelar pada hari sabtu, 22 November 2008. Tema yang diusung blogger Indonesia tahun 2008 ini adalah “Blogging for Society”. Tema ini dipilih untuk memacu semangat para blogger Indonesia agar dapat menggunakan media blog sebagai bentuk kontribusi mereka terhadap masyarakat.

Pesta Blogger, pertama kali digelar pada 27 Oktober tahun lalu, di mana Menkominfo Muhammad Nuh menyatakan bahwa tanggal 27 Oktober resmi diperingati sebagai Hari Blogger Nasional (Hablona).