Lisa Forgan's Blog

There are 8 elements that many designers and developers forget to style or place into a website. Sometimes these elements go unnoticed for a period of time. The 8 elements that I will list and describe are in no particular order. It is important to understand from this list how to improve one's website and what is missing.

1. Favicon - Favicons are great at branding and identifying who you are. They not only take your branding a step further in solidifying it, but they are viewable through bookmarks and the search engines.

2. Using gradients, textures, and shadows - Greatly enhances your website by giving a depth and keep things from looking flat and boring. This helps keeps your website pleasing to the eye, appeal to your readers and entice new ones to check out your site.

3. Icons - Icons are often not styled into the site. You'll notice that many designers will just slap an icon onto the site and it may not feel as it is part of it. It is import by finding or making the right icon (or set of icons) to fluidly fit into your design.

4. Whitespace - You do not need to fill every inch of your screen with something. It is important to know how to balance space and not fill up. The key words to remember are "Less is More".

5. Alignment - People respond favorably to symmetry because it is easy to follow and read, and ensures that your elements are all in line. There are so many ways to be visually stimulating to those who will be interacting with your site. It is never wrong to be a little creative but remember that too much can be distracting and hard on the eyes.

6. Typography - Typography can make your site pretty and enhance the mood. It also gives headlines a way to stand out and grab reader’s attention to draw them in... makes it eye catching.

7. Emphasis - There are so many ways to make emphasis on text or objects. Such methods are bold, italics, colors, etc. Make sure that you take this into consideration and use it wisely to bring out the important information for users so it can stand out for them.

8. Styling Lists & Blockquotes - Bulleted Lists and Blockquotes are mostly forgotten and they are greatly used. By taking a few moments to style these elements it will ehance the look of the website and gives a sophisticated appeal.

I feel these 8 elements are a great starting point on enhancing a website. If you feel that your website is missing some appeal or styling, please contact me today.