Questions tagged [website-design]
Questions about designing the aesthetic look of websites, both practical and theoretical. For questions about coding the structure of a website, please go to Stack Overflow. For questions about the user experience, please go to UX.SE. Ask anything related to designing graphics and visual layouts here on GD.SE.
1,461
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Is there a free 'Helvetica Neue' alternative?
Does anyone know any other fonts similar to Helvetica Neue (free for commercial use)?
I'm working on a big website project where 'Helvetica Neue' is used heavily. I need a font that looks almost the ...
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75
votes
4
answers
355k
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Helvetica Neue equivalent on Google Fonts?
Does anybody know a font on Google Fonts that is very similar to Helvetica Neue?
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65
votes
17
answers
327k
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Web Safe Alternative to Myriad Pro Font?
Are there any fonts that I can use in my font stack that are more or less similar to Myriad Pro and web safe?
- 3,426
64
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6
answers
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Are "web-safe" colors still important?
Years ago, it was always strongly recommended that web designers should only use web-safe colors.
Have studies been done to see if this is still the case? If so, what's the answer?
Does anyone know ...
- 1,966
55
votes
4
answers
147k
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Is it mandatory to keep images at 72 dpi for web design?
I have been designing web banners for more than a year but never considered the DPI.
I was using the default 72 dpi, but now I want to know is it necessary to create web designs in 72 dpi? What if we ...
- 617
52
votes
8
answers
18k
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Designing around an awful logo
I'm looking for some opinions on how to approach an interesting problem I've encounted.
I dabble in UX/graphic design, specifically for the web. Mostly static sites. I do this all on my own time as ...
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44
votes
13
answers
4k
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What web graphics formats to use?
Web sites can contain JPEG, GIF,PNG, SVG format graphics. Which ones should be used, and when?
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43
votes
5
answers
15k
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What is the purpose of using a very dark color for text instead of a pure black?
I have seen that some web designs implement an almost black font color (hex #001c00) in their designs instead of a pure black color (hex #000).
Does the design actually benefit from this or is this ...
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37
votes
10
answers
13k
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How can a designer explain their work to non-creative people?
One issue I face personally is how can I, as a designer, effectively explain my work to potential clients or people that do not have a creative side. I know how to explain what software or process was ...
- 18.3k
37
votes
7
answers
68k
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Favicon best practices regarding size and format
I'm busy on a WordPress site and have come to the stage to add the finishing touch, being the favicon. I'm primarily a developer so graphics and icons aren't my strongest point.
What are the best ...
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35
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7
answers
4k
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Should web designers make a free mockup?
I have some potential clients that ask to see something before accept the work.
Now, should I make, for example, a free mockup or It's better to find another client?
- 351
34
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3
answers
4k
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How can I improve my color selection skill?
I'm a web developer, started to become a web designer. However, I think my understanding of colors is not practical yet. There are tools out there that can give you color harmonies, and more stuff, ...
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32
votes
13
answers
6k
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Do web designers need to know how to code?
As a web developer, both front-end and back end architect, I work with many different designers and sometimes find it frustrating working with design comps where no thought was put into how to ...
- 1,477
32
votes
11
answers
142k
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Is there a standard width for designing web page mockups?
Is there a standard size for the width of a website in a mockup? What is that size? Why?
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votes
5
answers
12k
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What are the steps in designing a website?
Calling all Web Designers :)
I am starting to make a website for a small business in my hometown and it will be my first proper project. I have made sites in the past, which I have done for leisure. ...
- 423
31
votes
3
answers
31k
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What's the best way to animate an illustration for the web?
I have a couple of illustrations done in Illustrator and I am planing to animate it for a website that I am working on, I've heard of Create.js toolkit with flash, but is it the best way to go or is ...
- 433
31
votes
3
answers
64k
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Text not very readable on different image backgrounds
I've come here seeking for a bit of design help or advice on how I could possibly improve the following:
Like the title says, I'm having a website banner with multiple text displayed on different ...
- 413
31
votes
11
answers
53k
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What DPI should be used for what situations?
I've been seeing the word 'DPI' pop up quite a lot when I export my work out in Photoshop and Illustrator. While I know that DPI stands for 'dots per inch', and that if you have too low of a DPI on an ...
- 4,895
30
votes
10
answers
39k
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A good monospace, condensed and open-source typeface?
I'm looking for an optimal typeface for report tables that will contain many columns (the reason for condensed).
The reason for monospace is that these reports will contain a lot of numbers and we ...
- 403
30
votes
5
answers
8k
views
What is meant by "busy"?
What do web developers mean when they think something will make their site look "busy"?
What gives this feel of busy-ness?
- 445
30
votes
6
answers
66k
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Which format is better for saving images intended for websites; PNG or SVG?
When exporting / saving images with a transparent background that are intended for websites, should I save it as PNG or SVG? Why?
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29
votes
8
answers
7k
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First client's partner demands free website redesign, wants deposit returned - moral dilemma
Sorry in advance for the long read.
I'm 22 years old and just finished university for graphic design. I was approached by a small business which wanted me to design them a logo, stationery, and a ...
- 523
28
votes
9
answers
18k
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Which modern software is a decent successor / replacement for Fireworks?
Just to give a little context, I have a background as a design-savvy developer (not a developer-savvy designer). I worked at an agency many years ago. I've been out of the design game for about 3 ...
- 381
27
votes
10
answers
22k
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Alternative to Lorem Ipsum (dummy text) for websites
Lorem Ipsum has been the known default for dummy text. Per a search the last discussion in regards to alternatives is two years old. I thought I would post a new thread on this topic. So, what are ...
- 18.3k
27
votes
9
answers
14k
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How to answer the ever-present 'make the logo bigger'?
Just like most of us, I regularly face the client desire to 'make the logo bigger'. Especially in web designs, clients want to inflate their logos to ridiculous sizes.
How do I effectively counter ...
- 25.1k
27
votes
10
answers
20k
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Do web frameworks such as Bootstrap or HTML5 boilerplate offer anything to a designer (not developer)?
Note, this is about design much more than development.
I build sites from scratch with completely hand written CSS and HTML.
I've known about pre-build css templates such as Bootstrap or HTML5 ...
- 208k
26
votes
4
answers
11k
views
Should I watermark my work?
I am an art student who is trying to upload some digital work on a website. Do graphic designers typically watermark their work? If no, how do graphic designers protect their work?
Update: ...
- 261
26
votes
2
answers
2k
views
What are standard ratios for typography on the web?
In laying out a web design, I often try to make sure that my typography is proportional and consistent. However, I haven't been able to find any definitive articles or resources on what ratios and ...
- 5,234
26
votes
4
answers
1k
views
How to direct users eyes on a website
There is a common principle in photography that a photo should lead the viewer's eyes. This is frequently accomplished with a line that runs across the photo. Recognizing how the observer will scan ...
- 2,650
25
votes
5
answers
6k
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Why would I ever NOT use percentage for sizes?
I am an embedded programmer (no GUI), who codes Angular, and, occasionally, Flutter, for fun.
In general, my apps work, but look like an early 90s GeoCities site :-)
On thing that I just can't get my ...
25
votes
5
answers
5k
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What should one ask when gathering graphic design requirements for a website
I'm a software/web developer and recently we've been working with a graphic designer that lives in another state, so the contact with the client falls into my responsibility in all aspects, and one of ...
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25
votes
5
answers
45k
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Charging an Intellectual Property transfer fee for design work
So, you've finished a design job (eg. a logo design) and the client asks for your IP surrounding the logo, eg copyright, original artwork files, notes, sketches, all of that stuff that went into ...
- 263
25
votes
4
answers
1k
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How to hire a graphic designer?
I am developing the backend for a website. I always had the trouble of making an attractive design for my websites and have never hired any graphic designer yet. I have no logo nor web template.
What ...
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24
votes
9
answers
6k
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I need suggestions for an 'undelete' icon
Trying to come up with a undelete icon, the best ideas I've come up with so far are an upside down wastebin with rubbish underneath it. It is going to be placed on a user profile page that lists user ...
Brady
24
votes
8
answers
8k
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How do I make this color combination more readable?
I am trying to improve an existing web site, and this is what I am starting with:
<body style='
background-color: rgb(50,101,152);
color: red;
text-decoration-color: red;
...
- 353
24
votes
7
answers
10k
views
Is the graphic designer asking too much of me as a customer?
I contacted a design team to redo my company's website (small company, <100 employees, in the construction industry, been around for about 30 years). The graphic designer told me that I need to ...
- 387
24
votes
8
answers
1k
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Why use Fireworks for website design?
I've used Photoshop to design (more or less) every website I've made in the past 9 or 10 years. I hear people going on about Fireworks saying that it's excellent for web design and prototyping.
When ...
user474
24
votes
4
answers
30k
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Given a color scheme, how do I apply it to a website design?
Just so there is something concrete to discuss, say I have this color scheme:
Source
There are many articles about how to pick a coherent color scheme based on complementary colors, monochromatic ...
- 341
23
votes
2
answers
45k
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When should I use SVG or SVGZ for my web graphics?
From my understanding,
The SVGZ is a compressed file type of an SVG. I love using SVG images and have had a lot of experience with them.
All of the times I used them I have never had a graphic that ...
- 355
23
votes
2
answers
1k
views
What to do if your website design got stolen?
Let say your website design got stolen. You saw your design being used from a different site or company. The only difference from your design is the logo and some images.
What actions can you do to ...
- 607
22
votes
8
answers
2k
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What are common mistakes that you see in "professional" designs? [closed]
This might be too subjective but I'm curious about other peoples' experiences. Mods, please close if this is too far into "not a real question" territory.
I see many questions on this site about "...
22
votes
8
answers
7k
views
How can I start to learn web development?
I'm very interested in learning web development and have learned some basics regarding HTML and CSS a few years back from W3Schools, but I never learned how to develop websites that are up to today's ...
22
votes
1
answer
9k
views
How do I choose a good cover photo for my website?
It's been trendy to have large background images with relatively little text over them for headers and intros to web pages including the start of blog posts. I could give countless examples of this, ...
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22
votes
6
answers
172k
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How do I save an SVG that's on a website to my computer?
I need to work with a logo from this website (in the top left corner):
Here is the piece of code I copied from the page:
<svg viewBox="0 0 215 50" height="50" width="215" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/...
- 744
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votes
3
answers
143k
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Colors to use with black background?
Is using yellow text on a black bg bad as Mike pointed out here? If yes what colors should I use (RGB or hex values)?
- 313
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votes
5
answers
3k
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Where can I go to recieve feedback on web design projects?
Are there are any web design forums where designers can submit their work to receive feedback and advice? I am looking for a place that I can seek advice on how to improve my designs.
- 313
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6
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9k
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Is it essential to type "WWW" when our design contains URL, or is it a matter of taste by now?
I love the appearance of traditional url's, because the www in front of them eases and speeds up my understanding that there's definitely a certain web adress.
But is there any established guideline ...
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votes
7
answers
13k
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What are the best practices for dealing with desired line breaks in responsive web design?
I design a great deal of simple single page web items for sales or email. I often find I run into issues with headlines and my desired line breaks at different media widths.
For example, I could ...
- 208k
20
votes
5
answers
3k
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To which extent is the designer responsible of a responsive design?
Consider the following (idealized) chart.
Now, I have worked with colleagues from every side of this spectrum and have learnt that, unfortunately, it tends to be more like this.
Most "web developers"...
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5
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What is the difference between "flat style" and "material design"?
After Windows 8 came out all spoke about "Metro UI" and later about the "Flat design". Now, after Android Lollipop came out all speak about "Material design". Can somebody explain the difference ...
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