Alignment gives your design a structure
Monday September 24, 2007
Alignment in Web Page Layouts
When you build a Web page design, you can add many different types of elements: images, text, headlines, lists, and so on. But what pulls these diverse elements together into a clear design is the structure of the design - and alignment within a composition acts as the framework for that structure. Just the fact that you have elements lined up flush left makes a statement about your design and your page. Learn how to use alignment effectively in your page designs, and once you know the rules behind alignment, you can more effectively break the rules to create a design that works towards your goals, not against them.
Comments
Thought provoking. I learned a lot about page layout in the old days (late 70s) of print layout with cropping, cut and paste days: definitely pre-internet. Some of those rules still apply even in the new medium (i.e. color contrasts and color emphasis), but some don’t. Some of that seems to be due to fixed dimensions (4:3 screen ratio, vs. tri-fold pamphlet.) Are there any good rules of thumb about how much content should fit a single page? How much scroll down is acceptable? Are there good design elements like Named Anchors worth pursuing.
Nice to see articles about web design style with some suggestions and reasons for why one layout might be better than another.
Good article.