Website design rule 1: use a fixed-width layout
I can imagine your response. Isn’t this a bit arbitrary? Might we not restrict our creativity this way? Hasn’t there been a long debate in the Web design community about the merits of fixed and fluid designs—and isn’t it still an open question?
Yes, yes, and yes. All the same, this is the first rule of website design. It’s the first rule because it’s where we start, the first decision we have to make. (Can we change our minds later, when the design is under way? Of course. There’s lots of natural reiteration in the design process. This affects that, that affects this. We adjust and move on.)
It’s not a rule I used to follow myself. I wanted to use as much of every visitor’s screen as possible. If you read my own contribution to the “fixed/fluid’ debate, an article on the implications of varying monitor resolutions, which I wrote about a year ago, you will see that I ended by throwing my hands up in despair.
But for the last nine months or so, I have found the rule not only useful, but creatively liberating. So here it is again:
- Use a fixed-width layout
By now, you may have worked out what I mean by a ‘rule.’ A rule is a bit of advice that you should always follow—unless, in the particular case, you know better. A rule should never be broken unknowingly. It is worth knowing, and worth remembering.
At the end of the day, what matters is the visual clarity and power of your site. If you can see how breaking a rule will add to a new site’s effectiveness, go ahead and break it. If you can’t (yet) see this, follow the rule absolutely.
With a fixed width to work with, like the width of a CD cover or a magazine page, you can place your design elements with loving care—adjusting the alignment here, adding or subtracting whitespace there. Life is suddenly easy and fun.
So, use a fixed-width layout. But what width, exactly? That will be the subject of Rule number 2. Coming soon.