Chapter 1. Evolution of Web Design

Istillremember back when I was a kid, I used to browse the internet with my 56k modem. It seemed terrific at the time! Websites were loading very slowly, but they were designed to minimize the consumption of data we were using since each kbit was calculated as usage (no unlimited internet, ha!). To understand how web design works, I strongly think that we need to know the history behind it, how developers and designers were designing websites when it first started in 1991 with Tim Berners-Lee's first website. The evolution of web design with table-based sites, animated text and GIF images, free page builders, and the introduction of Flash by Macromedia in 1996 was a significant advancement in the world of web design. It will really help you understand the web design principles of why and where it was heading. Let's go through these key aspects to have a precise idea of how web design has evolved and to analyze its importance in our day-to-day life in contemporary society.

In this chapter, we will cover the following: 

• The first ever website: The beginning of the World Wide Web 
• Table-based layouts: Introducing table markup in HTML
• Introduction of Flash: The renaissance of web design 
• CSS—the savior: A new way of designing websites 
• Web 2.0: JavaScript—A new intelligence for web
• The rise of the mobile: The boom of mobile web design 
• Responsive web design: Designing for mobile and desktop 
• Flat design: The rise of a new design trend