Alignment and Website Basics for Marketers — Marketing For Beginners — Session 6
For any Marketer, Symmetry, balance and Alignment are important. Thus following concepts have to be thought of:
Layouts | Single Grids, Multiple Columns, Modular Grid
Single Grid: Imagine a single grid as a giant sheet of graph paper. You have a large, defined space and complete freedom to arrange your design elements (text, images, etc.) anywhere on this grid. This is often used for posters, flyers, or presentations with a single, central message.
Multiple Columns: Think of a newspaper or magazine layout. The page is divided vertically into multiple columns. This creates a structured layout for organizing different pieces of content, like text articles, images, or sidebars. The number of columns can vary depending on the design and the amount of information being presented.
Modular Grid: This is where things get interesting. A modular grid combines both vertical and horizontal divisions. Imagine a checkerboard — the squares become your modules. These modules can house your design elements, and you can combine them to create more complex layouts. This is very useful for websites and apps, where you need to structure different types of content (text, images, buttons) in a cohesive and responsive way.
Alignment | Left, Center, Right, Justified
Left: This is the most common alignment. Text lines start at the same point on the left side, creating a clean, easy-to-read edge. The right edge of the text block will be ragged, with lines ending at different points.
Center: All text lines are centered between the left and right margins. This creates a formal and balanced look, often used for titles, headings, or short blocks of text.
Right: Similar to left-aligned, but the text lines start at the same point on the right side, with a ragged left edge. This is less common but can be used for specific design effects or for languages that read right-to-left (like Arabic or Hebrew).
Justified: This alignment stretches the text across the entire line width, creating straight edges on both the left and right margins. While it can appear neat, justification can sometimes create uneven spacing between words or large gaps at the end of lines. It’s important to use it strategically to avoid a visually distracting effect.
Grouping with Layouts and Images
Harmony and Balance:
Harmony is a feeling of all the elements in your design working together in a cohesive way. They complement each other, creating a sense of unity and pleasing the eye.
Color harmony: Using colors that sit well together on the color wheel, like analogous colors (next to each other) or complementary colors (opposite each other).
Repetition: Repeating design elements like shapes, fonts, or patterns throughout your design to create a sense of connection.
Proximity: Grouping related elements together to create a clear visual hierarchy and avoid clutter.
Balance is about the equal distribution of visual weight in your design. It’s not always about perfect symmetry, but rather creating a sense of stability and preventing any one element from overwhelming the others.
Symmetrical Balance: This is the most formal and orderly approach. Imagine a mirror image down the center of your design. Elements on both sides have the same visual weight in terms of size, color, and placement. This is often used for classical architecture, logos, or formal presentations.
Asymmetrical Balance: This creates a more dynamic and interesting composition. Here, elements with different sizes, colors, or shapes can balance each other out. Imagine a seesaw — a large element on one side can be balanced by a cluster of smaller elements on the other. This is commonly used in modern design and website layouts.
Balancing Size:
Play with the sizes of your design elements. A large headline can be balanced by a smaller image, or a wide block of text can be balanced by a narrow sidebar with contrasting color.
Balancing Color:
Colors have inherent visual weight. A bold, bright color will naturally draw more attention than a muted pastel. Use this to your advantage. Balance a large area of cool blue with a smaller accent of warm yellow, or vice versa
Web Designs
Always focus on the designs for social media and phones
One thing to remember as a marketer is always
- Digital Dominates
- Right Targets
- Quick and cheap
Understanding Websites
Most People do not build their website from scratch! They use themes and templates. Only focus should be look and content.
Single Page website: A single-page website is a digital brochure or a landing page. It condenses all your information onto one, long webpage. Visitors navigate through different sections using internal links or scrolling animations, creating a seamless, app-like experience.
- Pros: Great for showcasing a focused message or product, ideal for creative portfolios, efficient for lead capture, and can be visually stunning.
- Cons: Limited space for content, might not be suitable for complex information structures, and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) can be trickier.
Portfolio Website: This is your digital brag book! It’s a platform to showcase your skills, experience, and past work to potential clients or employers.
- Target Audience: Freelancers, designers, artists, photographers, and anyone wanting to highlight their creative work.
- Key Elements: High-quality visuals, clear and concise project descriptions, testimonials, and easy contact information.
E-commerce Website: An e-commerce website is your virtual storefront. It allows you to sell products directly to customers online.
- Target Audience: Businesses of all sizes, from individual crafters to large corporations.
- Essential Features: Secure payment gateway, user-friendly product browsing and search, shopping cart functionality, clear product descriptions and images.
Blog: A blog is a platform for you to share your thoughts, insights, and expertise on a particular topic. It’s a great way to build an audience, establish yourself as a thought leader, and drive traffic to your website.
- Target Audience: Anyone with a passion or knowledge to share!
- Key Components: Regularly published, engaging content, clear and concise writing, well-structured posts with captivating visuals, and the ability for reader comments and interaction.
In essence, these marketing tools all serve different purposes:
- Single-page website: Captivate and convert with a focused message.
- Portfolio website: Showcase your talent and win over clients.
- E-commerce website: Turn website visitors into paying customers.
- Blog: Become a thought leader and attract a loyal audience.
Understanding Responsive Layout — Website
In the world of web design, responsive layouts are an essential concept. It’s all about creating websites and applications that adapt to different screen sizes and devices, ensuring a seamless user experience across desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.
What Matters in Responsive Layouts:
- Mobile-First: A responsive layout guarantees your website looks good and functions flawlessly on any device.
- Enhanced User Experience: Responsive layouts prevent this by adjusting the layout for optimal viewing on each device.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Responsive design is a major SEO factor, potentially improving your website’s ranking in search results.
Key Techniques for Responsive Layouts:
- Flexible Grid Systems: Think of a grid system as a set of columns that can expand or shrink based on the screen size. This allows your content to rearrange itself neatly for optimal viewing on different devices.
- Media Queries: These are CSS coding snippets that target specific screen sizes or device orientations (portrait vs. landscape mode). Media queries can be used to adjust styles like font sizes, image width, or the number of columns displayed in the grid.
- Fluid Images and Videos: Responsive design avoids using fixed-width images or videos. Instead, they are set to scale proportionally to the available screen size, preventing them from appearing blurry or distorted on different devices.
Wireframes: Wireframes are like the blueprints for a website or app. They’re low-fidelity, skeletal layouts that focus on the structure, information hierarchy, and user flow, rather than the visual design. Think of them as rough sketches that capture the basic functionality and organization of the interface.
Here are some key characteristics of wireframes:
- Low-fidelity: They don’t include colors, fonts, or fancy graphics. The focus is on functionality, not aesthetics.
- Focus on Usability: Wireframes help ensure a website or app is easy to navigate and users can find what they’re looking for intuitively.
- Early Stage of Design: They are created in the initial stages of design, before the visual style is finalized.
Benefits of Wireframing:
- Improved Communication: Wireframes help designers, developers, and stakeholders visualize the layout and user flow, leading to clearer communication and fewer revisions later on.
- Early Feedback: By getting feedback on wireframes early, you can identify and address usability issues before investing time and resources in detailed design.
- Faster Iteration: Wireframes are quick and easy to create, allowing for rapid prototyping and testing of different design ideas.
Wireframing Tools:
Free Online Tools:
- Google Drawings: A free and easy-to-use tool for creating basic wireframes using shapes and text boxes.
- Figma: A free web-based design platform that offers basic wireframing capabilities.
- Canva
Paid Software:
- Balsamiq Mockups: A popular tool specifically designed for wireframing, with a library of pre-made UI elements.
- Adobe XD: A comprehensive design platform that offers advanced wireframing features along with prototyping and user testing functionalities.
- Sketch: A popular design software for Mac users, with strong wireframing capabilities and a vast plugin ecosystem.
- Powerpoint
The best wireframing tool for you depends on your needs, budget, and familiarity with design software.
Assignment — Design a web page/ wireframe and identify and showcase the following Composition of websites:
- Dramatic Asymmetry
- Easy Navigation
- Monochrome Minimalism
- Shopfront
- Split screen
- Visual Grid
- Maximalist
- Diagonal Dynamism
- Colorful content
- Single Image
- Parallax
- Illusion of Death
