What is clean web design, and why is it desirable? The dictionary defines the word clean as: free from pollution, not ornate or intricate, honest. These definitions can all be applied to clean web design.

Clean web design is free from pollution. In other words, any element that does not have a role in supporting your central message or product is eliminated from the design. It is very easy to fill a web site with visual elements that distract from the purpose served by your business web design. It is wise to make sure that all graphic elements and links to external web sites (including the vast array of social media), serve a beneficial purpose in your web design. If not, they can “muddy up the waters,” making it harder for the central theme of your web site to shine through. If it confuses, distracts or hides your mission, then remove it from the web design.

Clean web design is not ornate or intricate. There are standard protocols or “web etiquette” that must be honored in keeping things simple. Don’t invent new ways to navigate your website. Don’t hide your navigation and links in wittily contrived visual tricks. Don’t force people to spend time trying to figure out how your web site works. Use navigation tools and link structures that are simple, commonly used, and easy to follow. If it’s too complicated, they will simply leave. That’s bad for business.

Finally, clean web design is honest. It does not mislead visitors. Pages are clearly identified with simple titles and honest descriptions. It does not use tricks designed to lure visitors through misleading promises.

At Newark1 Web Design Studio (the creators of this blog) we excel at clean web design. The web design for a chocolate confectioner featured in this article is an example of  our work. It appeals to the senses while keeping functionality simple and understandable.  Please contact us through our web design portfolio if you want to know how our clean web design can help your business.

I love simplicity. Take something complex and make it digestible, easy to comprehend. So, in that spirit, I’ve gone back to a simpler time in this redesign of stylepeterson.com. It is not fussy, but it works for me. It draws the eye to the focus of each page, the photography. I hope you like it! I will be adding more new photos in the days ahead so please bookmark us and return. Please stop by my web design portfolio if you need web design for your business or personal web site.

This promo for my web design studio is here for a good reason . . . We do great work! As the Creative Director for Newark1.com Web Design, I have helped many budget-minded small businesses and start-ups to create a compelling and hard-working online presence. We specialize in web design with consumer appeal. Our web design not only informs the mind, it touches the heart. We redesign existing web sites and can also design your first online marketing campaign.

However, for now until Feb. 20th, our web design becomes simply irresistible. We offer a 40% discount on all web design projects that are ten pages or less, until Feb. 20th! So, if you are a new entrepreneur or startup looking for a great web presence this is you chance! Visit us at newark1.com and contact us there. Move quickly of you’re interested because this is usually a very popular deal!

Our web design portfolio is located at http://newark1.com. Call our toll free number: 1 866 544 0550 (US and Canada) for a free discussion of your online marketing needs.

What is Lifestyle Real Estate Web Design? It is web design that focuses on the lifestyle benefits of home-buying rather than its functional features or advantages. Lifestyle web design highlights the emotional gratification and expectations that drive the home-buying experience.

How does lifestyle web design differ from typical real estate web site design? Most web sites by real estate brokers typically use a design that focuses on the features of the homes for sale, or the success of the agent/broker. Lifestyle real estate web design provides the information the consumer needs, and, adds a visually compelling emotional component. We pioneered lifestyle web design for the real estate industry for two main reasons. One, it makes the business that takes this online approach stand out as distinct from the rest of the industry. Two, it works. Here’s why:

When you think of purchasing a home, it is the lifestyle and pleasures it evokes that adds a powerful emotional component to that decision. A comfortable chair for reading the Sunday newspaper . . . the joyful sound of your children playing by the pool . . . entertaining friends from a warm kitchen . . . Those emotional cues enhance and drive the home buying experience. Therefore, web design that focuses on those experiences capture the emotions of the potential home buyer. That emotional component of lifestyle web design can strongly influence potential buyers. They will most often respond by initiating contact with your business by phone or email.

The sample above shows an effective lifestyle approach to web design. The images, color and layout evoke the sort of emotions that drive the home-buying experience. Man’s best friend curled up on a favorite spot on the couch . . . morning coffee in a sun-splashed kitchen . . . a familiar door that beckons you at the end of a workday . . . that is what home is all about! This approach to web design has aided many of our clients to have an outstanding, hard-working online presence that generates new business. If you would like to know more, please visit us at Newark1 Web Design Portfolio & Guide.

Fashion web design is one of my personal favorites. It allows me to create stylish, emotion packed web design to meet the demands of a sophisticated aesthetic palette. I started my career in the Fashion Industry, so it is a joy to call upon those roots when creating web design.

I recently wrote two articles in my Web Design Portfolio Blog on the essential design elements that comprise good Fashion and Designer Web Design. Using my own work as an exemplar (such as the example shown above), I give a brief overview of what makes for effective fashion web design in my post “Creating Fashion Web Design.” Next, I show three essential elements of an effective fashion web design home page in “Fashion Web Design Tips II.” More articles will be added in the near future.

Green Web Design. One of the growing business sectors that we are creating web design for are “green” cleaning and health related products. Green products require a unique “look and feel” that both markets the product effectively, and reflects environmental sensitivity. We are developing some exciting new web design for a variety of “green” companies, and invite you to view the latest work in our web design portfolio.

We have also created a new blog with articles of interest to anyone who uses the Web for marketing. We have a new article showing the benefits of simplicity in small business web design, and two examples of effective fashion web design. Finally, I’ve written an article about one of the most thrilling museum exhibitions I’ve ever attended. It features streamlined automobiles designed in the 1920′s and 1930′s. The exhibit was a great web design inspiration.

I like to think of my photography as cross-training for my occupation as a web designer. Expertise in one field benefits me in the other. Surprisingly, the opportunities to use my photography in my web design does not come as often as I would like. Perhaps its best that way. Otherwise, my photography may no longer be my pastime and become more like work. All web design by Donald Peterson, Small Business Web Design – Newark1

Emotion is one of the most important components in web design. How does your web design make people feel? What emotions does it stir? Will it attract, appeal and motivate? Indeed, the ability of a web design to touch your emotions is more important than the artistry behind it. Every web design creates an emotional response in the viewer, ranging from boredom to excitement. The key is skillfully using design elements that touch the heart in a way that creates an attachment to your product or service.

Emotion as a web design component is overlooked by many web designers who focus on keeping up with the fads in web design. The current buzzphrase is “web design 2.0,” a series of design elements that give all the websites employing them a similar look. The result is, all web design using the “2.0″ style of design not only looks the same, it has the same personality. Rather than creating an emotional effect apropos to the product or service being promoted, the design simply mimics a creative fad that is may be irrelevant to the clients’ message or needs. The shrewd web designer focuses on the what is appealing to the web site’s audience, not other designers.

How do I want the visitor to feel about my clients product or service? That question should be the driving force behind the web design created for your business. Forget the design fads, the popular colors for the day, etc., Focus on how the presentation will be responded to by your potential audience.

I created the web design featured on this page for a travel agent web site. He provides the sort of destination planning and detail oriented travel itineraries demanded by more affluent customers. How would they feel when visiting his website? This web page design speaks both of the desirability of the destination, and the expertise of the client. The tightly coordinated design speaks of the high standards of our travel agent client.  The colors are appropriate, in good taste, and work together beautifully. The design is articulate, never shouting or garish. Yet it has subtle details that touch the heart, and create a yearning in the viewer. Those quiet details affect feelings, and evoke the sort of emotional response our client seeks. The web design also reflects the best qualities of our client. The aesthetic speaks of both a depth of travel knowledge and competence. The potential customer responds positively to our client due to the emotional strengths of the web design.

Emotional web design is never indifferent or perfunctory. If it communicate well, it stimulates a response. Good web design can make one happy, concerned, instill desire or yearning. That emotional reaction is often the difference that moves a potential customer to choose your business. Learn more about emotional web design in my web design portfolio.

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Listening to your web design client is essential to creating a web site that communicates effectively and genuinely meets your client’s needs. The mere fact that you created a great looking web design does not mean that it will be effective or communicate the right message. Here is an example of how listening can improve the quality of web design. I created this web design draft for a client that works with environmentalists and others who are experts in ecologic preservation. I thought that it would be the perfect look for my client. It has beautiful color and an evocative image.

While my client agreed that it looked great, it failed to meet his needs. Why? The answer lies in the details. Our client knows the views and attitudes of his customers well. For example, as ecologists, his customers generally view development as an intrusion upon protected environments. Therefore, having a graphic of a human, and a wooden platform could be interpreted by customers as wetlands being surveyed by a developer. While the image looks great, it would certainly strike a sour note with potential customers for that reason. Secondly, my client observed that the trees in this web design are not native to the areas of the country that our client serves. While that detail would be inconsequential to most people, it would stand out to his customers who are quite knowledgeable in this field. They would pick out these incongruous details quite readily. That visual mis-communication could result in a lack  of confidence in our client and the potential for lost business.

Small details, yes. However, they are the sort of visual taboos that must be avoided when seeking to reach the highly specific and knowledgeable audience that our client serves. Therefore this web design is shelved. Now a bit wiser, we are creating a new web design that gets the details right. This is a good lesson for all web designers. Listen carefully to your client and consult during the web design process. He knows his customers well. What he knows can often spell the difference between a truly successful web design and one that merely looks good on the surface.

Why keep your web design simple? Well, have you ever noticed how the most enduring items we use on a daily basis are usually the simplest? People normally prefer the tool that gets the job done without needless complexity. That is true of web design as well. However, the simplicity and good taste that are hallmarks of good web design are not easily acquired. It is the result of constant refinement, practice and experience. Here are three good arguments for keeping it simple:

First, why keep it simple? Because simple is clear and understandable. A simple interface allows the user to focus on your message, not the package the message comes in. For example, if your web page navigation is hard to follow, it works against your customer, distracting him from getting the full impact of your message. The same applies if your web page layout is cluttered. You confuse the viewer. That may well result in a lost sale, or a lack of confidence in your ability to do the job.

Secondly, everyone loves simplicity. The appreciation for simple tools is universal. By keeping your online presentation focused and simple, your web site becomes usable by the widest possible audience. Everyone from experienced surfers to those who use the web only on occasion will find your site appealing.

Finally, simplicity is in good taste. You spend less money and time on design revisions because your web design is not fad driven. Faddish design gimmicks age rapidly. Simplicity will look fresh and relevant for a much longer period of time. That benefits the branding of your business.

So, in closing, and in the interests of simplicity, I offer this final encouragement . . . Keep It Simple

Donald Peterson, of Newark1 Web Design Portfolio has kept web design simple for over eleven years.