Don’t Be a Square – Circles Have a Place in Web Design Too
Do you remember when you saw your first circle in web design? It wasn’t long ago that, due to the difficulty of use, the Internet was a place of straight lines, sharp edges, and boxes. Thanks to CSS, that’s all changing. But just because you can do something, it doesn’t mean that you should. Circles certainly have a place in web design, but they have to be used right.
The fact is that when you see a circle, that’s where your eye goes. What’s inside the boundaries of those curves? It’s an important choice for a web designer to make because it will affect the entire focus of the page.
Here are a few options for wise circle use:
The Company Logo. After all, it is what the site is all about. Branding is important, and companies spend a fortune developing exactly the right logo and making sure that it is indelibly associated in the minds of people with the values that they want the company to project. Circular logos are catchy and classy all at the same time. Or, if the company already has a great logo, you can wrap a circle around it to draw a viewer’s immediate attention.
The CTA. Websites need to guide users to a specific goal. If that goal is getting them to place an order, get them to click “Place Your Order Here” by making “Here” the center of a circle. Do you want them to continue onto a second page of text and/or images? Create a circular “Learn More” or “Read On” button. Viewers will often follow directions they are given inside a circle.
Page Navigation. Want that site navigation menu to really pop? Circles are a great way to draw attention to the links surfers will use to navigate through the site. The easier it is for a viewer to see where they are going, the more likely they are to find what they want. That can mean more pages views and, ultimately, a sale.
However you choose to use circles, keep this in mind. As circles become more commonplace on the Internet, they may lose a slight amount of their attention grabbing ability, but you still need to use them well. It’s especially important right now while there is still some novelty to them. Whether you use a circle as a logo, to create focus on a call to action, or to move the traffic flow throughout the site, the circle is a useful tool in website design, and it has a nice aesthetic appeal too.
