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Closely related to the idea of unity is the concept of emphasis or dominance. Rather than focusing on getting the various elements of a design to it together, emphasis is about making a particular element draw the viewer’s attention. When you design a web page layout, often you’ll identify an item in the content, or the layout itself, that you want to stand out. Perhaps it’s a button you want users to press, or an error message that you want them to read. One method of achieving such emphasis is by making that element into a focal point. A focal point is anything on a page that draws the viewer’s eye, rather than just feeling like part of the page as a whole or blending in with its surroundings. As with unity, there are a few tried and true methods of achieving a focal point.

Placement

Although the constraints of practical web design do not often allow for it, the direct center of a composition is the point at which users look first, and is always the strongest location for producing emphasis. The further from the center an element is, the less likely it is to be noticed first; for an example of this, see Figure 1.19.

Figure 1.19: Continuance and placement—creating emphasis

Continuance

The idea behind continuance is that when our eyes start moving in one direction, they tend to continue along that path until a more dominant feature comes along. Figure 1.19 demonstrates this effect. Even though the bottom splotch is bigger and tends to catch your eye first, your brain can’t help but go “Hey, looky there, an arrow!” You’ll soon find yourself staring at the smaller object.

Continuance is also one of the most common methods that web designers use to unify a layout. By default, the left edge of headings, copy, and images placed on a web page form a vertical line down the left side of a page before any styling is applied. A simple way to expand on this concept is to use the rule of thirds to line up other page elements along the lines of your grid.

Isolation

In the same way that proximity helps us create unity in a design, isolation promotes emphasis. An item that stands out from its surroundings will tend to demand attention. Even though he’s sad to not be with his buddies on the other page, the isolated monkey in Figure 1.20 stands out as a focal point on the page.

Figure 1 20: Isolation

A sad monkey

Contrast

Contrast is deined as the juxtaposition of dissimilar graphic elements, and is the most common method used to create emphasis in a layout. The concept is simple: the greater the difference between a graphic element and its surroundings, the more that element will stand out. Contrast can be created using differences in color (which I’ll discuss in more detail in Chapter 2), size, and shape. Take a look at Figure 1.21.

Figure 1.21: Woot using orange for contrast

The site is Woot, an ecommerce web site that sells just one item per day. When you look at this layout, what’s the first thing that grabs your attention? My guess is it’s probably the product they’re selling. Products at Woot change daily, though, so what grabs your eye I want one! Button although the same colors are used elsewhere after that? For me, it’s the in the design, the oval shape isn’t. When set against an area of white space, the button has both contrast and isolation working to emphasize it. The owners of Woot really want you to click that button.

A gaggle of geese, a school of fish, a pride of lions. Any time you bring a set of like items together, they form a group. In the same way, repetition of colors, shapes, textures, or similar objects helps to tie a web page design together so that it feels like a cohesive unit. The example in Figure 1.17 illustrates repetition. Even though there are other similar strokes around, the nine red strokes on the left-hand side appear to be a unified group because they repeat a shape, color, and texture. The strokes to the right of this group have no repeated pattern, so they appear isolated even though there are other shapes nearby.

Figure 1 17: Creating a group using repetition

Whether you notice it or not, repetition is often used in web site designs to unify elements of the layout. A good example of this concept at work among unmodified HTML elements is the bulleted list. The bullet that precedes each list item is a visual indicator that the bullet items are parts of a whole. Repeated patterns and textures can also help to unify a design. Take a look at the screenshot of Left Justified, the personal site of Australian designer Andrew Krespanis. This layout contains many eye-catching elements, but the repeated use of the red wood texture in the header, menu, and page borders literally hold this design together.

Figure 1 18: Left Justified homepage

The next step in the design process is to take what you’ve learned from the client and use it to create a design. Regardless of the project, try not to get caught up in the technology associated with building web sites—at least not at first. At this point, it shouldn’t matter whether the site is going to comprise straight HTML, a template for a content management system, or a Ruby on Rails application; the bottom line is that we have an interface to design and a blank sheet of paper. “Paper?” That’s right, paper. Did you really think I was going to let you get back to your precious computer right after the client meeting was over? No way. Here’s why: it’s easy to lose focus on the design if you start thinking about the layout in front of a computer. If you start out on paper, you can ignore the technical limitations of browsers and CSS, and focus on how you want the final product to look. Now you might think that all good designers carry around fancy hardbound sketch books in which they use expensive markers and paint to design masterpiece renderings of web page layouts. For me, the equivalent is a 79¢ spiral-bound notebook and any writing instrument I can find on my desk that still works.

I start out by sketching a few possible layouts. After a few of these sketches, I decide on one I like, jump into Photoshop, and use the rectangle tool to block out the areas I’ve marked down on my paper. Once I’ve defined my layout, I experiment with foreground and background colors until I have a solid color scheme. I continue twiddling the Photoshop knobs and pushing around pixels until, finally, I have a comp to show the client.
Simple, right? Okay, perhaps I skipped a few steps in that brief description. Honestly, though, when people ask me how I do what I do, they usually get a similar explanation. The truth is that there are bundles of now-subconscious information from my past experience and those old college design and art classes that have helped me to define my own design process.
Learning how to design is like learning how to program. Some people have a bit of a knack for it, but anyone can learn. Just as there is good code and ugly code, there is good design and ugly design. Learning some of the principles and conventions that are associated with design will help you to understand the difference between the good and the ugly, and help you toward establishing your own design process.

The discovery component of the design process is about meeting the clients and discovering what they do. This may not feel like a “design” task, but gathering information about whom your clients are and how they run their business is the only way you’ll be able to come up with an appropriate and effective design. Before you schedule your first meeting with your clients, take a few minutes to figure out what they do and how they do it. If they’ve asked you to design a web site for them, they may not currently have one, but Google them anyway. If you can’t find any information about their business specifically, try to learn a little more about their industry before the first meeting. Whenever possible, the first meeting with a client should be an actual person-to-person meeting. Sometimes, distance will dictate that the initial meeting will occur over the phone, but if the client is in town, schedule a time to meet.

Keep in mind that this meeting doesn’t about impress the client, selling yourself, or selling a web site. The initial client meeting is about communication. Try to listen more than you speak, and bring a pad of paper on which you can make notes. Do not bring a laptop. Computers have screens, and people tend to stare at them. If the client isn’t staring at the screen the whole time, you will be as you write your notes. If you must drag some technology into the meeting, bring a voice recorder. In my experience, though, a pad of paper is less threatening to the often not-so-tech-savvy client.

Here are a few of the questions I like to ask in initial client meetings even if I’ve already answered them myself via a search engine:
 What does the company do?
 What is your role in the company?
 Does the company have an existing logo or brand?
 What is your goal in developing a web site?
 What information do you wish to provide online?
 Who comprises your target audience? Do its members share and common
 Demographics, like age, sex, or a physical location?
 Who are your competitors and do they have web sites?
Sometimes I start off with more questions than those listed here—use your imagination and try to come up with some creative queries that will really give you more insight into the client organization. If you’re a programmer, avoid the tech jargon. If you’re a designer, avoid talking specifically about design. Sure, that may be all you’re thinking about, but semantic markup, fluid and fixed layouts, and color schemes will likely mean very little to the client. Worse still, these types of conversations can bring misguided design opinions your way even before you get a chance to start thinking about the design yourself.