A website creation process is not all about following some usual design process. As the days are passing, we see so many cutting-edge technologies being introduced and various approaches being implemented in website design and development.
For any organisation or a personal brand, it is very crucial to ensure that design is consistent. Apart from this, it is also important to make sure that your design is well optimized to meet the business objectives and create enjoyable experiences for users. One of the well known approaches to assure that the entire team is on the same page when designing various parts of the website or keeping your design safe from developers is to create a design documentation or a web design style guide.
What Is Style Guide?
A web style guide consists of some pre-designed graphics elements and rules that designers or developers must follow to make sure that separate website pieces will be consistent throughout.
A style guide can be advantageous in order to create a cohesive user experience for end users and bring integrity among designers. In addition, it helps ensure that the future development will follow those brand guidelines and that will be perceived as part of the overall brand.
Why Are Web Style Guides Important?
These are very important when multiple designers work on a big website or web app UI development project to ensure that no modification in the design process takes based on a personal preference.
In the development phase, having well-defined elements of the website makes it convenient for developers to reuse those elements. Also, it helps developers what elements they need to code.
The Process Of Style Guide Creation
Brand Study
The first towards this is to study the brand to understand what it stands for. Make a thorough observation and figure out the vision, mission, and values of the company you are designing for. It is crucial to get insights of the brand so that the style guide should visually and emotionally represent the organization.
Also Read: Importance Of Intros And Animated Logos In Branding
Set Typography Rules
Experts say that Typography impacts 95 percent of the web design. I am not sure whether this stat is accurate, however, no denying the fact that typography is a major role player in any design form, be it mobile UI specific or a business website design.
Do set the information hierarchy and identify it. You can define the application of various headline types such as h1, h2, h3 etc. Then think of the body part, copy, bold and italic variations etc.
Define Color Palette
Colors bring emotion and feel, so they are important in any form of design. Set the primary colors for a style guide that will dominate your website. The dominant color should have two to three shades. However, in many cases, you might need secondary and tertiary colors to have a better user interface. Also, make use of neutral colors such as black and white as they are very effective in any form of design.
Also Read: Best Colors For Website Engagement
The Content Structure
The overall content structure of your website must have a cohesive nature. It should be connected to one another and bring uniformity in design. While defining a content structure, is crucial to determine what “voice” will you be put in the content, it should be followed throughout.
The Bottom Line
Apart from the above considerations, there are some other attributes to be taken care of, such as designing of forms, buttons, logo etc. All these attributes are likely to set up a complete style guide to help your graphic designers and the web developers to carry out the professional works with more ease. Such a well-planned strategy can bring a sophisticated and out of the box work, getting most out of your business needs.
