Effective header design
In this blog post I will give examples of good header designs and why they are effective.
First off what is the header?
The header is the top section of the website, usually containing the logo and navigation. This is a very important component of any website because it is the first part the client sees once the page is finished loading.
So, what makes a good header design?
Something that can be instantly recognizable is what to aim for. Making the header yours, your color your shape your unique touch is what will make it instantly recognizable. Your logo should be the biggest part of the header and is usually placed in the left but can be placed anywhere. I tend to keep mine on the left and center.
Here are a few examples of recognizable headers.
If you come across these you will instantly recognize them from their header designs.
The navigation is in the header?
Of course this doesn’t have to be the case, but for the sake of trends, let’s have the navigation menu in the header. There are a few ways this can be done to accomplish effectiveness. The safe and useful way of setting the navigation menu is placing it under the logo and main section. This is the most common way of placing the navigation in the header.
Here are some examples of very effective designs that don’t use the common way.
All three of these designs use not so common habits of implementing the navigation in to the header. Left in a square block, across the top left and blocked lines across the top work very well and break the mold too.
If done right, these techniques will ensure an incredibly positive observation on your header and website all together. The header is second most important part of designing the page, right behind the content field.
1:46 pm on June 27th, 2008
Tyler ~
You are so cool! Very impressive!
Teresa