In a sense, this can be translated into the web design world as a setup of your site and the placement of the elements of your site. Placement of images, text, and navigation in a layout are crucial! If you have a great image, you can run with it, but if you don't implement it correctly, you can be in a mess of trouble.

There are some main elements to creating a basic layout that can LOOK complicated, but is truly rather simple. They are as follows:

• Main Focal Image
• Navigation
• Text
• Visible Credits

Main Focal Image

When creating a layout, you are giving a person the first impression of your site in the way that it looks. The first thing that people are usually drawn to is the main focal image. This should be the focus point of the layout's design. Whereas the content section will be the TRUE focus of the website, you need to have a pleasing main image.

Main images do not need to be complicated, but they do need to be tasteful. You do not want to have a picture of naked Usagi with her baring it all as your main image. Whereas you might like an image a lot or it might have a lot of meaning to you, that does not mean that you need to have it as the main focus of your layout. You should always consider your target audience when choosing your main image. If your site is meant to be viewed by all ages, than you need to keep this in mind. If your site is meant for dubbies only, than you should stick to images from the dub. However, if your site is meant for a more mature audience, you might be better to have what is called a "splash page" to warn your viewers. However those will be covered in another article.

Navigation

Navigation can be what makes or breaks a site. You can have a beautiful layout all you want, but if a site isn't easily navigated than you might as well scrap it before you ever start. Not everybody is as internet savvy as you, and you must keep that in mind. If you can navigate it, it doesn't necessarily mean that somebody else can.

And easy way to avoid this, is to have something in the layout that draws your eye to it and say "Ahh! Navigation!". A lot of people accomplish this by having text built into the layout that says things such as "Choose Your Path", "Click a link", or as simple as "Navigation". Doing this can allow people to easily know how to navigate your site and not close their browser dissappointed. However, if your Navigation is very easily noticed, this isn't needed. If you have a sidebar with links in it, it is pretty straight forward. Just keep your audience in mind and realize that as much as you might think it is a no brainer, it isn't always the case.

When considering your navigation, you must also keep in mind that just because you think it is a "cool effect", that doesn't mean that everybody else does. Things such as flash animation and javascript might seem nice and fun for a site, but they do not work in all browsers, and in some cases, take a while to load for slower connections. Make sure that if you go with one of these effects that you warn people ahead of time via an announcement or splash page.

Text

It is great to have content in a site, but when it comes to a main page, it is nice to have some bit of text. Whether you put text in the layout or not, it is up to you, but most "Good" layouts will have some text somewhere in them to give them more "meaning". Some things that people will put into layouts are things like famous phrases, song lyrics, a site slogan, or even a line from the series. The choices are endless, but keep your audience in mind when adding text as it needs to be age appropriate..

As well as being suitable for your audience, your text should be well placed. You might choose to put it somewhere near your main focal image or near the bottom of a frame (if you are using frames of any type), but it should be placed somewhere inobstrusive. If it is part of your main image, try blending it a bit or break it up some. Your possibilities are endless, but you do not want your text to interfere with the rest of the layout images and setup.

Visible Credits

Credits are something that have been around pretty much as long as the internet. In the past it was commonplace that a link back to the person's site was enough for credit, but in today's internet, things are a bit different and people want to be acknowledged a bit more personally. And so has come the current age of internet crediting.

Today, the common link to somebody's site isn't good enough for crediting. Whether you have a link to the original owner of an item right there with the item is one thing, but you should at the very least have a visible link to a page of credits. Some people ask that you have a link to them where the content is and if that is the case, you should abide by their policies unless they give you special permission otherwise.

However, even if a site owner doesn't ask for you to give credit, it is a common courtesy to at least give them a mention on your credits page. Also, keep in mind that not everything is for the taking. A lot of site owners put a lot of time and money into their sites and the content of those sites, and unless there is a policy stated that you can take whatever, you should contact that person first and ask if you can use that item.

Crediting etiquette is not going to be covered in here too thoroughly. When it comes to credits, they are a crucial part to a layout. Even if you did the entire page from your own content that you scanned or collected and with your own sweat, blood, and tears, you should be crediting yourself somewhere. When they are no credits or a credits link visible, one of two things is assumed. One is that you supplied all the content yourself and the other is that you stole it all from others and don't care. Make those credits visible!

Hopefully this article has been helpful to you budding authors out there. Make sure to have these basic elements in any layout that you are making or wanting to make and you should be set. However, if you feel that this is all too intimidating, or you feel you lack the skill to make a "Good" layout, have a look through one of the many free graphics sites out there and you are sure to find something that you like that is totally free for use.