No one can deny that designing a nice looking, easy to use website takes great skill, but is the finished product a work of art?

It’s a shame, but so many website designers focus solely on whether or not a site looks good without thinking about whether it functions properly. People can debate whether or not a painting works or not, but the same can’t be said for a website - it either works as it should or it doesn’t. And if it doesn’t, then all of the pretty aesthetics can’t save it.

This is why the top-tier web designers become like artists when they design a site. They take their talents, and combine them with the tools of the trade, to create something beautiful that functions seamlessly. It’s this merging of design and function that captures what it really means to be an artist.

Think of it this way: A painter can paint a picture of a building in such a manner that it looks like a photograph. It might look pretty, but what purpose does it serve other than to say, “Look, how good I can paint.” However, when a painter creates a work like The Mona Lisa, which people still debate about to this day, the work becomes art.

The same is true for website design. The design should not only be attractive to the eye, but it should be something of value - something that works. Anyone can learn to mix paints and to put something on a canvas that has some aesthetic value, but it takes a true master to make something that goes deeper than a mere image.

And if you spent just a half hour scanning the various websites on the net, you can see that not everyone is capable of going deeper than mere aesthetics. There are plenty of websites that look just fine, but fail to function in harmony.

Fine art requires the viewer to look deeper into the work. The Mona Lisa causes people to scan every brush stroke to figure out what da Vinci was trying to say. Likewise, a person can look beyond the graphics of a website and go into the code, which is where much of the mastery takes place. Great websites are often like great symphonies in that one extra note (or piece of code) would cause the whole thing to fall apart. It’s that fine balance that separates the websites that just look good from the websites that are great.

There are websites that go beyond the merely functional and become elegant creations that deliver the perfect balance between beauty and functionality, and it’s these websites that can be truly considered works of art.

So, what is art?

Art is generally thought of as something that has an emotional appeal to the person who’s viewing it. Art is something that can make you think or inspire you, which means that virtually anything can be art to certain people because it’s very subjective.

However, there are many websites that could be classified as art because they make you stop what you’re doing and stare at the screen in order to take it all in. Of course, once you take in all of the visual appeal, the website still has to work as designed. That’s the mark of a true artist: the combination of the visual with the functional.

What many people fail to understand is that web design isn’t easy because so many people can pull up a pre-designed template, or use a WYSIWYG program to create a simple website. This isn’t art; it’s more like painting by numbers. By the same token, you can’t learn a few codes, type them in and expect everything to come together. Good web design is a skill just like being an architect is a skill. Sure, you can draw a picture of a building, but without knowing how it all fits together - how to keep the structure from collapsing – all you have is a picture and not much else.

There are so many technologies that a web designer has to learn like HTML, (necessary, but won’t help you with the visual appeal) CSS, PHP, Javascript, SQL and many more. These are akin to an artist learning oils, acrylics, watercolors, gouache, as well as all of the various brushes, pens and pencils. You have to master them all if you want to develop something truly great.

Web design is an art because the designer must possess the skills of the visual and the technical, and must mesh those skills to create something that can be used (and appreciated) by everyone who comes by.

When you’re looking to have your website designed, don’t go for style over substance. There’s too much riding on how well your site functions for you not to hire a real website artist.

There are several web design tools on the market today, and finding the right ones can be a challenge to a newcomer. While I use many web design tools, here are my 3 favourites:

Dreamweaver

With over 3.5 million users, Dreamweaver is undoubtedly the most popular and one of the best Website development tools in the market today. Dreamweaver has a wysiwyg (what you see is what you get) editor as well as a code view to improve your productivity.

You do not have to be a professional HTML programmer in order to develop a great website with Dreamweaver. You can use Dreamweaver to design forms as well as link to a database that uses popular technologies like PHP, ASP, .NET, and XHTML. Dreamweaver has CSS, server side includes, templates, and many others functions.

If you’re looking to develop professional websites, then Dreamweaver is THE tool for you. Improved CSS, XML and Flash video handling, and various productivity enhancements are just some of the features that are included in Dreamweaver. And while web developers still need to know css and html, Dreamweaver will allow them to take that basic knowledge to the next level.

Flash

When it comes to website animations, and multimedia applications, Flash is the de-facto standard that’s used by nearly every industry professional.

What makes Flash so useful is that it allows users to make animations (some that rival traditional cartoons) while keeping file sizes small. Small file sizes are vital to making sure your website loads quickly, which means increased traffic.

Flash was designed primarily to be an animation tool, but with each new version, the program evolved to become more powerful and feature-rich, while remaining loyal to its animation roots.

Simply put: if you want to create dynamic web pages with exciting effects, then Flash is the perfect program to get the job done.

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe’s Photoshop was one of the first image-editing programs to come onto the market. It quickly rose to become the number one image-editing program among professional designers and photographers. And while there have been numerous competitors that have come on the scene, no one has yet been able to dethrone Photoshop.

The main reasons for Photoshop’s success lies in its power and versatility. Adobe took the tricks and techniques used by professional photographers for decades, and ported them over to the digital platform. This digital workflow system made it a huge time saver for professionals who needed to create great looking images.

However, while Photoshop’s roots lie in photography, the program quickly evolved to become web-friendly. Adobe has included tools specifically designed for the web-designer — tools that allow them to make sharp graphics and images geared specifically toward the online world. Almost every button, banner, photograph and graphic you see on the web today has gone through Photoshop.

Learning how to use Photoshop is relatively easy, mastering Photoshop, however, can take years because the program has virtually unlimited potential.

Creating a great design for your site with these tools will be a bit on the expensive side, as none of them come with low price tags, but these tools will help give you the best looking site on the web in no time at all.

Ask 10 different people and you’ll get 10 different answers, but the truth is that both design and function are vital to having a successful web site. In fact, the two are inseparable when it comes to web site design, and achieving the right balance between the two is the key to creating a successful web site.

Why is Good Design Important?

Regardless of what anyone tells you, looks are important. Image means everything especially in the business world. Imagine going to a restaurant and being served by people in dirty, torn clothes. The food might be great, but people will be reluctant to eat there based on the staff’s appearance.

The basic function of design is to communicate. It says something about you to your customers, which is why good design is so important in today’s competitive marketplace. Since the visual appeal of your web site is so important, you can’t be haphazard about picking colors, graphics and layout choices. The message you want to send your customers has to be carefully planned out before you even think about writing a line of code.

Why is Functionality Important?

Using our restaurant example, imagine walking into a beautiful building with fancy decor, and not being able to find your way to your table. The maze of hallways may be tastefully adorned, but what purpose does it serve if customers can’t do business with you?

The same applies to your web site. Beautiful graphics, colors and animations are fine, as long as they don’t hinder your customers’ ability to navigate the site and conduct business.

What Can Go Wrong?

The most successful web sites marry design and function so well that customers don’t even think about it while they’re using the site - they’re just doing business.

Web sites fail when they’re out of balance. A web designer that tries to be clever or artistic is putting craft over usability. While graphics can add visual appeal, and even encourage users to delve more deeply into the site, they should never exist without providing some benefit to the customer. Don’t use graphics just because they look cool.

The same holds true for functionality. You might think it’s clever to make people run the cursor all over the page just to find the lines, but what you’re really doing is making the experience more confusing and frustrating. We live in a world with millions of online choices for web consumers, making a site difficult to use for the sake of art is like putting up a ‘Closed’ sign on your business’ front door. Likewise for the site’s layout. Creating a maze because it hasn’t been done before might win you an award for creativity, but if the customers can’t easily navigate to do business, then your award will be your reward, and that’s all.

If you’ve never put together a business web site before, you should consider hiring a professional web designer to assist you. Find one that understands the importance of visual appeal and functionality, and take a look at their past work. Go through their web site portfolio. Did the design jump out at you? Did you notice how easy it was to use? If you answered yes, then it’s likely because the web site is functioning the way it should - without drawing attention to itself.

Remember: Things work well when they’re in balance. It’s the way of life. When things are out of balance, chaos ensues. And that’s the last thing you want for your business web site.