If your internet business web site is to be successful, one of the foundational elements needed is a design strong enough to support the entire online enterprise. To that end, there are four fundamental principles that are essential to uniting the various visual elements necessary to creating a strong design, which is paramount to achieving success for your web site on any level. These four principles are balance, unity, rhythm and emphasis.

We’ll take a look at each of these and see how they can be incorporated into the design of your web site to achieve optimal results.

1. Balance

What’s known as a web page’s “visual interest” is made up of the different shapes, sizes and colours on the page. The main aim of your page should be to aid in the conversion process and not overwhelm visitors with needless distractions. Therefore, it’s important to achieve balance through the distribution of elements on the page according to their “visual weight”, which is determined by size, thickness of lines and shade.

Two different types of balance are possible, depending on the type of effect desired.

• Symmetrical balance means that elements on the page are placed evenly, so that elements of like shape and size are placed to offset each other, i.e. if a small, light element is placed on one side of the page, a similar element should be placed on the other side. Centring elements is the easiest way to achieve symmetry, but can look flat. It’s best to use different elements to create balance – for example, place an image on the left-hand side of the page with text to the right.
• Asymmetrical balance is achieved by placing unlike objects with equal weight on either side of a page. This type of balancing is more difficult to achieve, however, since elements aren’t matched across the design’s centreline. An example would be to place a large element near the design’s centreline, with a small element further away from the design’s centreline. It’s a bit like having your design on a see-saw, where the lighter element, which is further away from the see-saw’s pivot, balances the heavier one nearer the pivot. This type of design is generally used to make people feel uncomfortable or to get them  thinking.

2. Unity

Unity is also referred to as proximity, since it’s all about making the elements on a page appear that they all belong together. That way the reader has clear visual cues to guide them through an article since all the elements (headline, text, graphics, videos, photographs, etc.) go together, the ones closest together being more closely related than those further apart.

The following are ways of achieving unity:

• Keeping type font, style and size for headings, subheadings, footers and captions consistent throughout the web site
• Selecting visual elements that are similar in shape, colour or theme
• Repetition of a texture, colour or shape in different parts of the site
• Limiting type styles to just one or two throughout the site and varying weight or size for contrast

3. Rhythm

Rhythm is synonymous with repetition in design, which results in a pattern formed by repeated elements, giving the site a consistency that visitors can understand, and which relaxes them as they recognize the pattern created by the rhythm and thus understand the entire design.

Visual rhythm comes from repetition along with variation. The placement of elements at regular intervals establishes a relaxed mood along with a smooth rhythm, while a more exciting mood and lively rhythm is created when elements change suddenly in size and placement. 

4. Emphasis

Emphasis in web design is all about providing a focal point to which the visitor should be attracted, this being the most important part of the layout. To create a focal point, one element must stand out from the rest, thus drawing the visitor’s attention. If more than one element is emphasised, this can result in the effect being diluted; if all elements are emphasised, the site may end up looking either too busy, or, even worse, just plain boring.

Here are the ways emphasis can be achieved:

• Emphasising items through the use of semantic markup, i.e. HTML attributes such as <strong>, or <em>, etc.
• Making headings and subheadings stand out with bold, black type
• Using a different font, either type or colour or both, for the information deemed the most important
• Emphasising or de-emphasising text and/or images by changing font and/or image size
• Setting important text at an angle or on a curve while the rest is in straight columns
• Using contrasting colours with the most important element being a different colour from the rest
  

The visual elements of a web site play a major role in visitors’ decisions to stay on a site and click and explore further, become a subscriber, make a purchase, etc., or simply move on to another site. This is even more so for first-time visitors, whose decision to stay and explore or go elsewhere is made in a matter of seconds. By applying these four principles of web site design you can be confident that your visitors will be attracted to and stay engaged with your web site.

For help implementing these principles and setting your internet business web site up for success, consult a UK professional web development expert and give yourself and your business a head start.