Lesson 2: Page Design Elements

Overview:

This lesson will help you better understand some of the basic elements of effective page layout design principles.

Activities

1. Browse this list of CNET's web design tips. Scroll down to part two and pay special attention to design, layout and navigation tips including the following:
• Above the fold design
• Multiple navigation options
• Narrow column type
• Avoid scrolling text
• Locate logos consistently
2. Choose three tips for effective page design from this site that you agree with and return to the school sites that we explored in lesson one (linked below). Find at least three sites that either effectively follow one or more of your three tips, or sites that run afoul of the principles you chose. Try to cover all three design tips.

List of Bellingham School District schools
http://www.bham.wednet.edu/schools.htm

Washington state registry of schools on the World Wide Web
http://web66.coled.umn.edu/schools/US/Washington.html 

International registry of schools on the World Wide Web.
http://web66.coled.umn.edu/schools.html

3. Create a simple text-based web page describing the three sites you found and include the following:
   • Your name and a title
   • The name and a short description of each of the three design tips.
   • For each site: the name (linked to the site) and a one paragraph description of how this site either effectively follows one of your design tips, or is ineffective because it does not follow the tip.
   • In your page design try to follow as many of your own design tips as you can.
   • Finally link this to the main page of your personal site begun in Unit 2

Resources/Online documents

• Feel free to use the textbook library for this exercise.
• If you have time take a look at these other site design resources for more examples of good and poor design:
  • Thoughts on Web Design
  • Sites That Bite
  • CoolHomePages.com

All done?

Show your instructor your completed page connected as a link off of your personal page.