Page Layout : Grids and boxes

Like print-oriented design, the basis of web page design tends to be formed from grids
and boxes. Regardless of the underlying layout technology (previously, tables; more
recently, CSS), web pages are formed of rectangular areas that are then populated with
content. However, unlike print design, web design tends to be horizontally and vertically
oriented, with few, if any, curves. This is largely because of the limitations of technology;
although text on a curve is a relatively simple thing to achieve in a desktop publishing
application, doing the same thing on the Web is extremely difficult, unless you’re rendering
text as a graphic, or using XML (SVG), which isn’t well supported across browsers.
Similarly, although areas of rectangular color can easily be defined in CSS (by creating a
div of certain dimensions and then setting its background color), you currently need to
use graphics to have curved background areas and shapes (although rounded corners on
rectangular boxes can be dynamically added using JavaScript—see Nifty Corners Cube at
www.html.it/articoli/niftycube/).A good rule of thumb for web design is to keep things relatively simple. Plan the layout on
paper prior to going near any design applications, and simplify the structure as much as
possible. A typical web page may end up with as few as three or four structural areas (such
as masthead, navigation, content, and footer areas), which can then be styled to define
their relationship with each other and the page as a whole.