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Chapter 9: Page Layout and Design
Goals of this Chapter

After completing this chapter you should have a good understanding of how to design attractive-looking web pages.

Chapter Sections

The sections of Chapter Nine are as follows:

Section 9.1: About Design
All knowledge of the HTML language is useless unless the web pages created are attractive and well-designed. This chapter is one of the most important. Keep in mind that good design does not nessisarily mean using over-used formats or making your page look like a piece of art.

A good design is often the result of trial and error. In creating the HTML Guide site, we considered at least five other designs. We all thought that this one was the most attractive.

You can already tell that designing a site is not a simple process. This chapter will give you a few good tips that should help out.

Section 9.2: Colors
Color is the most important aspect of design. Your whole site should have a color scheme. This site's color scheme is dark blue-green. A dark blue-green scheme should consist mainly of black, blue, green, and turquoise. Keep in mind that you can also use any other color you want, but most of your site should stick to a scheme. A few tips about colors and schemes are...

  • Use a subdued background color. Never use a bright red or green. Either use a very dark color or a very light color.
  • If you want to use a background image, make it very subtle.
  • Use different shades of the same color throughout your pages.

Spend a little while playing around with colors. Let it all out; express yourself.

Section 9.3: Images
Images go along with color. All of your images should follow your color scheme. Make your images carefully and try to avoid the following things...

  • Jagged edges
  • Dithered colors
  • Large file size
  • Clashing colors

Place your images on your page in an attractive arrangement. You can use a title image at the top, followed by small headers. Spend a while tinkering with your site's design.

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