Mistakes that are best avoided when creating a website design

We talk a lot about website design development, and visual design in general. But almost always this happens from the position of “how to do it.” And looking from the other side and figuring out what not to do is also sometimes useful. 

There is less and less debate about how much design influences brand performance. Therefore, it is important for everyone who wants to create a website and maintain it in decent form to improve projects and allow as much fewer errors. Let's look at which ones now.

Iterating over elements

Sometimes design creators try to show their creative approach, diversity of ideas and skills and go too far with filling the layout with graphic elements. And somewhere else you need to place text blocks. The overall picture is noisy, it dazzles your eyes, and this makes it impossible to accept information.

Or it’s not even a matter of quantity, but a completely acceptable set of elements is incomprehensibly located on the page. It also turns out to be a mess. One way or another, we must try to exclude design elements that do not carry much meaning and do not emphasize the corporate style of the brand. And when the most important thing remains, it needs to be arranged logically and harmoniously.

No free space

This may be due to visual noise, but not in one hundred percent of cases. Sometimes everything is placed as it should be, the blocks are arranged on a grid, the graphics are moderate. But still, something is wrong, I can’t calmly and systematically view the content. 

And it’s probably due to the lack of free space. All elements stand closely together, it is difficult to study one without shifting your gaze to another. So that we can clearly and easily read the information, there should be an empty area nearby: after the title, around the lead form, between thematic blocks and the columns inside them. All elements to which the user’s attention needs to be directed must have their own area.

The text is not formatted

A website page should not resemble a page in a text document. Therefore, you cannot simply transfer the text from drafts to the site without making any effort to design:

• the text should be divided into semantic blocks, brief theses;
• make headings and subheadings;
• highlight important information with graphics, color, font, size;
• supplement the resulting text segments with images.   

Initially, we become familiar with the content very quickly, in seconds. And if something catches your attention and arouses interest, we look in more detail. But it’s impossible to grab onto something if there’s a canvas of text in front of your eyes, not even divided into paragraphs. You sometimes have to work with the design and placement of text no less than with graphics.

And one more thing, partly on topic. Let's say the text was divided into parts, the main words were taken out separately, and pictures were added. But is it easy to perceive visually? You need to make sure that the font size is appropriate, the contrast between the background and text is sufficient, and the selected colors do not strain the eyes. Gray text on a white background or red text on a blue background will be very difficult to proofread.

Development without text content

It happens that when developing a website layout, free spaces are left for text or these areas are replaced with template text to create a general look. This may not be significant, but it will likely reduce the quality as a result. A beautiful and structured arrangement of elements is one thing, but we have already said that the elements carry a semantic load and complement the information. And in order for everything on the page to be consistent and seem justified, you need to understand the content of what will be discussed. The text and graphics next to it are interconnected. So it turns out that website page design without target text is not the most effective approach to work.

Inappropriate fonts

The final thing concerns working with text. But in form, not content. The entire design can become an order of magnitude better or worse due to typography. Choosing the first set of fonts you come across can nullify all your efforts and make the site page mediocre or ridiculous. 

The selection of fonts for headings, footnotes, and body text is as important as the design of the graphics themselves. Therefore, it is necessary to use fonts that suit the style of the project: in some places, basic and familiar ones will fit in organically, but in others, more intricate ones are needed. And it is better to define no more than two fonts. 

If you use a separate font for each fragment, the consistency of the design is lost. And this can already disrupt the unified corporate style, which will be another serious mistake. Too different fonts, stylistically opposing elements, and an inharmonious color palette make the design disjointed. This is misleading and ultimately alienating, because a person constantly has to readjust. And the general thread of the story is lost. And behind it comes a mental connection with the product.

It’s good if flaws in the website design that interfere with perception are kept to a minimum. But the presence of some errors is not the end of everything. The main thing is to know which characteristics have a negative impact, find them in yourself, eliminate them and try to prevent them in the future. We think you might be interested in a new look at your project from professional designers, so you can always seek advice to the graphic design studio Veonix.