If I notice your design, it's failed

A website can be a thing of art. There are an ever increasing number of very talented artists who turn their hand to graphic art, and amaze us with gorgeous design. Ranging from simple black and white layout, to fully animated flash interfaces, there are a world of options available to the website owner when trying to revamp a tired site.

What if your website has so much artistic merit, that you win an award. Isn't that the highest accolade an audience can bestow on a webmaster - awarding her for creating a work of art? Isn't that what we should all strive for?

No.

If I notice your website's design, it has failed.

Art works for the art industry. If you are a creative agency, sell art, offer fashion consulting, or even design necklaces for kittens, art is not only appropriate, it really does help. For everyone else, if your design is the most remarkable thing about your website - it has fallen flat on its face, as have you with it.

Too many people get swept along with the notion that a website must have an artistic design. Nothing could be further from the truth. The design for your website should be the framework within which your content is best placed to appeal to your users. Your content is generally text if you offer a service, or an image if you are selling a product. Design should be good (but not great), and should be lower on your list of priorities than strategic planning, usability, seo and copywriting.

Successful websites rarely win design awards. They count their winnings differently. They tend to be much longer numbers with a £ sign preceeding them.

Ben