If you've spent much time exploring the Web, you've almost certainly encountered some badly designed Web sites. Since almost anyone can create Web pages, it's not surprising that many sites are confusing, overwhelming, ugly, or incredibly slo-o-o-ow. Tantalizing content can be hidden forever from the world when a site is poorly designed.

While it's not easy to create a well-designed site, following a few rules can help. These are not rigid commandments, but rather suggestions to assist you in the process of creating a site. If you're not a designer but have been put in charge of creating a site, there's still plenty you can learn to facilitate its design. And even if you aren't yet involved in creating a site, knowing something about Web design can help you to appreciate well-done sites.

If you are a designer, you'll be glad to know that the same rules of design apply to the Web as to print--or any other medium. Designing for the Web simply opens up a whole new range of possibilities. At the same time, though, Web technology imposes its own set of design limitations--in many ways more confusing than print.

The toolbar above or the links below will guide you through the process of designing a Web site. The section titled "a whole site" provides general information, while "designing individual graphics" gets into technical details. You can read the story linearly--working your way from left to right--or jump directly to the section that interests you most. If you want a more global view of what's here, head over to the map for an outline of all the topics covered.

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