For any company or business looking to succeed online, a stylish and practical website is a necessity. Not only can a website be an effective way to show off your products or services, but a website can also help you grow your reach and gain more customers. But to do this, your website needs be well designed, blending the practical with the visual seamlessly. From your text and typography, to the images and colours used across your web design, there are a lot of features to design effectively. And visual contrast can play a big part in this. But how can contrast make a difference to your web design? Well, here at Pumpkin Web Design Manchester, we are Manchester’s leading web design professionals. From Wigan to Southport, we work with companies across Manchester and the surrounding region to deliver high quality web design solutions that really get results. As a result, we have produced this guide to using contrast effectively in web design.
What is contrast?
So, first of all, what are we talking about when discussing contrast? Well, simply put, contrast is about making design elements look different from each other. In general, when you think of contrast, you probably think of contrasting colours. And while this might be a small part of visual contrast in web design, there is much more to consider too.
Using contrast effectively in web design
Contrast in web design can take a number of formats. This includes:
- The size of different elements- large and small is a contrast. Medium to medium, not so much. So, if you really want to create visual contrast, to direct attention to the most important features, you should consider the size of your elements. Attention will always be drawn first to the larger element, so make sure you choose your sizes for different features carefully.
- The shape of different elements- if you have a website that repeatedly uses the same shapes, this probably looks stylish, professional and well organised. But to add some visual interest, why not choose a contrasting shape to feature one particular element. The call to action button or feature is often a good choice. This is because an alternative shape will provide a visual contrast with the rest of the page, and people will notice the shape that stands out, and its content, first.
- Add in texture- texture in one element can really create a visual contrast with the rest of the page where texture isn’t used. This is a much more subtle way of adding contrast, when compared to increasing the size of an element, or even the shape. But it is still effective. The different texture attracts the eye of the audience and this means that it can useful for grabbing attention.
For more information or advice, or for high quality, professional web design solutions, get in touch with the experts today, here at Pumpkin Web Design Manchester.