How do you create cohesive web design?

1 Define your goals and audience

Before you start designing your website, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and who you want to reach. What is the purpose of your website? What are the main objectives and actions you want your visitors to take? Who are your target users and what are their needs, preferences, and expectations? Answering these questions will help you to create a web design strategy that aligns with your goals and audience.

2 Choose a color scheme and typography

One of the most important aspects of cohesive web design is to use a consistent and appropriate color scheme and typography throughout your website. Color and typography can convey your brand personality, mood, and tone, as well as create contrast, hierarchy, and emphasis. To choose a color scheme, you can use tools like Adobe Color or Coolors to generate harmonious palettes based on color theory. To choose a typography, you can use tools like Google Fonts or Font Pair to find fonts that match your style and readability. You should also limit the number of colors and fonts you use to avoid visual clutter and confusion.

3 Create a style guide and a grid system

A style guide is a document that defines the rules and standards for your web design elements, such as logo, icons, buttons, images, headings, links, and so on. It helps to ensure consistency and quality across your website and avoid discrepancies and errors. A grid system is a framework that organizes your web design layout into columns, rows, and margins. It helps to create alignment, balance, and proportion in your web design and make it responsive and adaptable to different screen sizes. You can use tools like Bootstrap or Figma to create a style guide and a grid system for your web design.

4 Use white space and visual hierarchy

White space, also known as negative space, is the empty space between and around your web design elements. It helps to create breathing room, clarity, and focus in your web design and avoid overcrowding and distraction. Visual hierarchy is the arrangement and presentation of your web design elements according to their importance and relevance. It helps to guide your visitors' attention, navigation, and comprehension in your web design and create a logical and intuitive flow. You can use techniques like size, color, contrast, spacing, and alignment to create white space and visual hierarchy in your web design.

5 Add transitions and animations

Transitions and animations are the effects that change the appearance or behavior of your web design elements when they are interacted with or triggered by an event. They help to create smoothness, dynamism, and interactivity in your web design and enhance your user experience and engagement. You can use tools like CSS or JavaScript to add transitions and animations to your web design elements, such as hover effects, scrolling effects, loading effects, and so on. However, you should also be careful not to overuse or misuse transitions and animations, as they can also cause distraction, confusion, or performance issues.

6 Test and refine your web design

The final step to create cohesive web design is to test and refine your web design based on feedback and data. You should test your web design on different browsers, devices, and resolutions to ensure its functionality, compatibility, and responsiveness. You should also test your web design on real users to evaluate its usability, accessibility, and satisfaction. You can use tools like Google Analytics, Hotjar, or UserTesting to collect and analyze data on your web design performance, behavior, and feedback. You should then use this data to identify and fix any issues or areas of improvement in your web design.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?