Great design rests on the intersection of functionality and visual appeal. Skills in web design are a must for professionals looking to attract an audience and increase visibility of their work. Crafting a structured personal website is central to cultivating a cohesive brand identity.

Just like how trends in fashion shift, so do popular concepts in web design and development. Successful website design is elegant yet unobtrusive, communicating an artist or brand’s philosophy within a signature aesthetic.

An eye-popping color palette, interesting typeface, and an easy-to-navigate interface all pique a user’s interest, making them more inclined to check out what a site has to offer. With the help of web design platforms like WordPress and Wix, students and creative professionals have greater freedom to build customized sites and portfolios which reflect their personality. Prebuilt themes help you along the way, but also mean you’ll need to adopt the design practices they’re based on if you want a cohesive site.

CalArts Special Faculty researcher Spencer Salazar is a web designer & developer with extensive experience using and teaching WordPress, and he’s part of the core development team for ChucK. In the video below, he describes contemporary web design styles popular today.


This video comes from the free online course Web Development and Design Using WordPress. Learn more by enrolling in the course, or checking out the first session here.

Web Design Course Launched on Kadenze

Web Development and Design Using WordPress

California Institute of the Arts

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