Good Web Design/ Bad Web Design

Before I will post my examples for what I consider good and bad web design I’d like to point out that, as in all matters of taste, these examples have been chosen in a subjective manner. I generally believe that since most commercial websites are usually designed by professionals it is not easy to find fault with them. I also don’t feel I’m in a position to make any such judgements as my knowledge in regards to the aesthetic aspects of web design is rather poor. Moreover, the websites I tend to visit regularly are in my opinion relatively well designed. I had more difficulties finding a poorly designed web page.

So here we go.

Please find below my example of what I consider to be good web design.



This web page is generally clearly arranged. The colours in my opinion are harmonic and suitable. Information is relevant, concise and clear as well as easy to find.

This website by contrast appears to be less well organized and is definitely messier. It’s nevertheless fairly simple to find what you’re looking for. I also think that the website might benefit from earthlier colours. Since the organization is dedicated to sell and promote ethical items the shade of blue employed on its website seems inappropriate. I tend to associate the colour with chemicals rather than ethical consumption. I still wouldn’t argue however that it represents a good example for a poorly designed web page.

Websites similar to the one above are clearly poorly designed, basically because there is no design whatsoever. Whilst the font and style used might be consistent the content appears to be more suitable for print than online. The web page completely fails to grab my attention and there is simply too much information on one page. Then again I think it is important to keep the purpose of certain websites in mind…

Phew! This entry actually took me longer to complete than any other – I wasted hours to find out how to make cached snapshots of websites and publish them successfully as pictures on my blog. At least I can now say there’s something I’ve learned today. :o)