Web Design Is Light Design

 
When designing a web page,
you are designing in light.
Keep this in mind and you will
have an easier time of it.
Everything you do is light.

Start by deciding what direction
the light is coming from. Often,
light comes from the upper
left-hand corner of a web page
but of course, light can come
from any direction.

For example, if you are doing
something gothic or mysterious,
it may make sense to have the
light come from the bottom of
the page. This is similar to
the lighting you get when, on
a camping trip, you take a flash
light and illuminate a person's
face from below their chin. A
very weird effect indeed.

If the light comes from directly
above the page, it is high noon
and the topic at hand is very
cheerful. Or maybe the light
comes from everywhere. In that
case, it is a very neutral gray
topic and it is a gray overcast
day on your web page.

The kind of light that illuminates
your web page will depend on
the topic at hand. Make sure
that the light you choose for
your page illuminates the topic
rather than confusing it or
obscuring it. That's the key:
The light you choose must make
sense. It must match your message.

To summarize, there are really
just a few steps to getting started
designing a web page:

1. Choose a topic
2. Choose a direction
   that the light is coming
   from to illuminate that
   topic.
3. Make sure that the light
   coming out of the page
   and the topic discussed
   are the same
4. If the light illuminating
   the page and the topic are
   mismatched, try again

It's when everything goes together,
topic and light, that you end up
with a brilliantly illuminated
web page. Make sure everything
goes together.

If everything does not go together,
you will end up with a disjointed
web page. You'll be giving your
web visitors a mixed message, one
that they will be unsure of.

On the other hand, if everything
goes together, your web visitors
receive your message on many many
different levels. All levels the
message is given on go together and
give your visitor a reinforcing
experience that can only go in one
direction.

Ed Abbott