Keeping It Appropriate ...............................................................................
I conclude this chapter with a cautionary note for those designers who, now
and then, neglect to think. I’m not talking about you, of course. I’m talking
about some friend of yours that you might lend this book to.
Please do ensure that the symbols, shapes, clip art, and other focus elements
you add make sense for your Web site’s content. The clip-art silhouette added
to Figure 8-11 is great for a dance studio’s Web site. It’s not so great for a site
sponsored by Concerned Mothers Against Filth on TV.
In the latter Web site, you expect sober, down-to-earth graphics. Anything but
a leaping dancer. The dancing woman just doesn’t symbolize the CMAFTV
philosophy very well, does it? That dancer would be out of place, too, in the
Web sites of most churches and government agencies.
I’d like to recommend some specific sites to illustrate the principles discussed
in this chapter. However, Web sites change their content so often that any site
I point out will likely have changed by the time you read this book. However,
you can do a little surfing on your own and find Web pages that are visually
compelling. (Or just look at magazine layouts or ads.) You’re likely to find at
least some of this chapter’s principles illustrated in any good Web page.
Figure 8-18:
Combine
some text
with an
offset
background
and you’re
on your way
to a well-
designed
Web page.
168 Part III: Adding Artistry: Design and Composition with CSS
