The undersigned

Web designing might seem easy for some, but have you thought about how you place your elements, or decide how big an indent your lists should have?

It is important to keep things aligned - creating invisible lines and symmetry throughout your design. Having same indents, spacing and placements in a design, might not always be as visible as you wish, but even if you don’t notice it, it helps balancing the design.

Let us take a look on a few websites, I tried to make as many invisible lines visible for you to get the idea - click to enlarge.

www.smalltransport.com
 

www.suspiremedia.co.uk
 

kurier.at
 

www.hicksdesign.co.uk
 

avalonstar.com
 

As you may notice on some of the designs, all elements are not aligned, to same left or right point, but by creating symmetry in the indents of some elements, it still balances the design.

Also take note of the spacing between the columns are the same - using the same spacing is a very good idea, and really helps the out balancing.

You may also notice that avavalonstar.com has chosen to show a little of the invisible lines, which can be a great idea for some designs, to show the »grid« behind the layout.

My challenge for you, try to create a web design without using any graphics, any elements with background colors or borders. Try to create a design with »visible« invisible lines, only using text.

Links

How C.R.A.P is Your Site Design?
Columns & Grids
The Principles of Design