A flat design is not a new concept, but it is starting to become very popular as a web design at the moment, as some people have created very nice flat design examples. Google the term “flat website design” to see a few examples of what people have done. If you are good at it then you may create very stylish and good looking web designs. If you are not so good at it, then you end up creating cheap looking web designs. Here are a few tips they can use to create your own.

 

The flat design content management system

People who are not adept at web design are able to use a content management system in order to make up a web design. You can do a similar thing with flat design websites by using a flat design UI kit.

It means you do not have to create a flat design from scratch, and it means you can create a flat design that looks usable (at the very least). It does a lot of the web coding for you, but it is mainly a good tool because it figures out a lot of the layout for you in advance. It is a little bit like using a dynamic template where you may adjust certain factors and then preview what your website is going to look like before you start building it into something a little more complete.

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Consider using a panoramic background picture

If you want to get yourself off to a very easy start, then forget about templates all together and start with a panoramic background picture. Have the picture fill out the entire screen, and then simply write or add boxes to the image. It makes for a great home page, and you can add chunks of white or translucent space on which you can add your buttons/links and your text.

Make friends with CSS3 and HTML5

They are the most up to date coding standards, and they make website design easier on the whole. They also make flat website design a lot easier and a lot more efficient.

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Use bold colors

You do not have to, as there is no rule, but it always seems to look a lot better when you to. Flat designs have a habit of sinking into nothingness, where they look a little bit more like a newspaper clipping or kid’s magazine than they do a classy or stylish design. Using bold colors need not be tacky or overt. You can simply use bright yellow with a black strip across the top. Or, you can use two splashes of bold orange on a white background. When you use bold and strong colors, it tends to clean up and define the page and the overall design.

Large padded elements tend to look the best

Again, this is not a rule, but it does seem to work rather well when you try it. Instead of having a number of small elements, or having your elements grouped up, make them large and pad them out. It may look out of place at first, but once you have added in your needed elements such as your links and written content, then you will see how it brings the whole design together.

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Consider your typography carefully

You are going to have to add some form of written text to your website, even if it is just to add in the links. So, consider your typography very carefully. If you have bright colors in the background, then that does not mean that you need a strong black text. Bold colors that are very strong will often take a white or cream colored font very well. Also, consider how your font matches or contrasts against your colorized background. Instead of looking for harmony, consider looking for contrast. This does not even have to occur in the traditional sense, as you may create contrast by simply putting all of you text in capital letters.

Consider a background pattern

A lot of people put in a background pattern, as it is hard to create bold colored backgrounds without it looking like the setting for a toy advert. But, a complex pattern in the background is probably not going to suit your flat design. Add a very subtle background to your website. A light amount of pattern within the background may be all that you need, or you could simply create a very mild texture that cannot be seen from a distance. Remember that if you add too much pattern to your website, then you risk making your flat design a regular mainstream one.

photoThe guest post is written by Sonia Jackson from http://www.cool-essays.com. She writes essays on different topics and can give you useful advice.