Elements of Web Design (Part 2)

by the Professional Business Systems Department at Laurus College

Interested in creating websites? The Web Design Associate Degree program at Laurus College can help you achieve success in your career goals. In Part 2 of this 4-part series, we will continue to explore the different elements of front-end development for Web Design.

View the Web Design Program Outline

The “front end” of a website is the part you can see and interact with. In the first part of this series, we discussed the elements that users see on the screen. Now we will take a look at the different types of coding that allows websites to be interactive.

HTML

Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) is the “hidden” code that speaks to your computer’s browser and provides direction for where text or images should be placed on the page. Each page on the internet is actually a HTML file, which contains both plain-text and a series of “tags” that creates the structure or layout. These “tags” have both an opening and closing component, but not all tags apply to this rule.
For example, an opentag, which holds all of the websites content (images, videos, and text) is followed by a closedtag that keeps all of the content together and positioned properly on the page.

CSS

Next time you visit your favorite website, take a look at the different colors of buttons, backgrounds, and text. That is all controlled by CSS which is short for Cascading Style Sheets. A style sheet is the language used for describing the look and formatting of a HTML file, written in a markup language.
Multiple style sheets can be applied to same web page. These sheets define how the HTML elements are configured on the page. CSS covers fonts, colors, margins, lines, height, width, background images, and much more!

Responsive Design

Most people have access to the internet and many are using their phones, tablets, laptops or other devices to find what they are looking for. Websites need to be able to accommodate all of these different types of users and a Responsive Design will allow you to do so.
This type of design allows information to be displayed correctly while adjusting to the different widths and height of any device. It is critical to consider what a website will look like on multiple devices when in the design process to ensure that the user’s experience and functionality work together properly.

In Part 3 of this series, we will go over the specific details for how the back-end development of a site connects with the front-end to make fully functional websites.
The Web Design Associate Degree program at Laurus College can help you gain a better understanding of what it takes to create successful websites.

Learn more about the Online Web Design Program

Victor Kernes is the Marketing Coordinator for Laurus College. You can reach him through email: victor.kernes@tinab22.sg-host.com or call [phone-link location=””].