Web design has come a long way since the first site was published in 1991. With over one billion live websites on the internet today, it’s no surprise that this industry is here to stay. So, if you’re here to learn more about the world of web design, you’ve come to the right place.
As a preliminary to learning how to design a website, this article will hone in on the role of web design and go over helpful tips by defining critical terms and ideas, and looking at examples that will give you further insight.
01. What is web design?
Web design is the art of planning and arranging content on a website so that it can be shared and accessed online with the world. A combination of aesthetic and functional elements, web design is what determines the look of a website—such as its colors, fonts, and graphics—as well as shaping the site’s structure and the users’ experience of it.
Today, creating a website is one of the pillars of having an online presence. Because of this, the world of web design is as dynamic as ever. It is constantly evolving, including mobile apps and user interface design, to meet the growing needs of website owners and visitors alike.
Web design is often a collaborative process that combines knowledge and tools from related industries, ranging from web design statistics to SEO optimization and UX. Web designers will often bring together professionals from these areas who can optimize performance and focus on the larger process and outcome.
02. Web design vs. website development
The first step in our web design journey is to clarify the difference between web design and website development, since the two are closely related and often (mistakenly) used interchangeably:
Web design refers to the visual design and experiential aspects of a particular website. We’re going to dive into more detail about web design throughout the rest of this article.
Website development refers to the building and maintenance of a website’s structure, and involves intricate coding systems that ensure the website functions properly.
The following are the software languages most commonly used by web developers to build a website:
- HTML or HyperText Markup Language, is a coding language used to create the front end of websites. It is written to include the structure of a web page and carried out by web browsers into the websites that we see online.
- CSS or Cascading Style Sheets is a programming design language that includes all relevant information relating to a webpage’s display. CSS works with HTML to design the style and formatting of a website or page, including the layout, fonts, padding, and more.
- CMS or a Content Management System, is a computer software application that manages the digital content of a website.
