Datasheet

DISTINCTIVE DESIGN
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With increasing techniques to provide content on demand, the capability to perform such
a function has become more widespread and popular. A website is essentially the compo-
sition of its many parts joining together in harmony. Distinctive designers need to reduce
information overload and simplify the overall experience. Luckily for us, the web is evolv-
ing rapidly in ways that are helping you to achieve the design goals you set ourselves.
Perhaps because of its implications in search engine optimization or the assumption that
more is better, removing emphasis (thereby stating some content is less important) or
objects from the page can be quite a scary prospect. Simplifying the interface and maxi-
mizing the use of the space is critical to reduce unnecessary content removal. Instead of
purging the material entirely, you can hide the content until necessary.
Methods that give content on demand a fresh appeal include:
> CSS3 selectors (like target or checked)
> JavaScript and JS libraries (like jQuery)
> AJAX (which has wide browser support)
An interface with fewer components inherently has fewer elements  ghting for space and
visual recognition. Such an interface also encourages visitors to read the full page rather
than scan it. Don’t be afraid to use some of the e ective tools in the modern designer’s
toolkit—simplifying the interface, reducing content (or emphasizing the content’s value
in more e cient ways), clearing out any unhelpful or boring content, and heuristically
assigning value (thereby temporarily hiding less valuable assets).
Tip
For those without coding experience, CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets
and represents the visual style. JavaScript is used to control behavior-based
events, and AJAX is a method of processing data between a user and the host’s
machine. All three can help you avoid page refreshes and provide a seamless,
content-packed experience!
Beautiful emptiness
Picture an empty website void of content, graphics, color, and every other asset of emphasis
and distinction you can include.  is emptiness may seem boring, but it actually showcases
one of the most primal and fundamental aspects of design. Emptiness and space can be
beautiful (see Figure 1-9 for a lovely example of how an empty space could appear). Such a
visual representation is the epiphany of balance and a Zen state of being. If anything were to
be added to it, the distinction would be at its strongest.
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