Custom Website Design--The Layout by Dustin Schwerman

There are some things that every website needs. A content area is critical, displaying your text, videos, products, or other primary information. You need a section for your major links, of course, and if they are not drop-down lists or dynamic menus, you'll also want a position for the minor links of that section of your site. And don't forget your text links; the search engines like those. You probably want a banner, or a logo, or maybe both. Some sites will also need a section for advertisements, affiliate links, or shopping cart checkout buttons.

If you are creating a custom website then you probably have some fairly impressive graphics to work with. You want those images to stand out, but you don't want to lose out on your site's functionality to cater to them. Indeed, your graphics should augment the utility of your site, form and function complementing one another to attract the eye to key points and relax it from text-heavy content.

This is the goal of a custom layout. All those key elements of the site have to fit in with the impressive graphics that provide your site with both brand recognition and visual appeal. The text, links, and other Internet-specific parts have to fit in with the graphics, attracting attention without ruining the picture. Likewise, the graphics have to channel focus to the content that the viewers are there for, not distract them from the main points of your website.

There are a number of traditional layouts. The classic links to the left, content to the right, banner at the top or the header above tab links above content are two of the best-known styles. These layouts are time-tested and quite functional for a mundane site, but when custom graphics are involved, these tactics are limiting. As always, the goal of custom website design is optimizing for your business. You don't want to be different unless doing so is useful.

Chances are, it will be, especially if you have a graphics-heavy site. Here's the challenge, then; your layout has to fit with your graphics, but you still need to incorporate all of the important parts of your site. More to the point, you have to do so in a recognizable manner. If your users can't see how to interact with your web pages...they won't.

I'll provide an example. I have a site dedicated to my fantasy writings, and my brother (an adept graphic designer) and I are working at improving its layout. We have ideas for a classic fantasy dungeon setting, including piles of treasure along the bottom of the site. Previously, my brother had designed me an intricate book graphic, and I was hit with the inspiration that we could take that graphic, adjust the title for each of my writings, and scatter the books among the treasure hoard, turning them into links to excerpts from the appropriate book.

Doing so would have been interesting certainly, and I might still use the idea--but only as a secondary linking scheme. As an added option of navigation, it might amuse those visitors who notice it, but I have little doubt that most wouldn't. For primary navigation, I will still rely on a grouped set of links, with one of them clearly displaying "writings". This is the sort of style that visitors expect, and even if it doesn't follow one of the traditional link styles, it will be readily apparent for what it is. If instead I scattered those books as my primary links throughout the treasure at the bottom, I would no doubt lose many visitors owed to frustration.

When designing a custom layout, thus, you are designing both a visually appealing picture and a functional, intuitive website. To focus on either at expense of the other is the path to failure, and to focus on both individually is a waste of your site's potential. Your aim is to make form and function into a seamless whole, both complementing each other, both improving your website in the eyes of your visitors.
About the Author

Dustin Schwerman is the head web designer for Truly Unique--Affordable Custom Website Design. Truly Unique specializes in creating highly customized, visually impressive websites at affordable prices.