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Exercise 18.1: Revising the Layout of Your Personal Page

The goal of this exercise it to incorporate the aesthetic design elements discussed in this chapter into a personal home page. If you already have a home page started, you can begin refurbishing your page using the tactics below. If not, you can get started by performing Exercise 17.1.

• Begin by choosing a background for your page. If you don't already have an image or color in mind, try doing a keyword search for "backgrounds." Once you've decided on an appropriate background, add the background to your page and adjust your font colors if necessary.

• Next experiment with various ways of presenting the information on your pages. Try using lists and tables to control the horizontal and vertical layout of the text.

• Next, try incorporating some images into your page. Experiment with the ways that different alignments influence the layout and appearance of the text on your page. Try making images transparent. Remember to choose an appropriate scale for the images and to keep their file size to a minimum.

• If your project has more than one page, be sure to standardize their appearance.

In general, try to present the information in a way that maximizes the visual appeal of the page. Remember that as you grow more comfortable with Web design, you may want to redesign your home page to present the information more clearly and attractively.

If you forget the HTML tags for any of these elements, try browsing through the Connections HTML Resource Guide or any of the other Web authoring resources that we've compiled.