Rules, when it comes to web design, have been created for the sake of usability and consistency in the past.
But of course, with no style police around to enforce, one should take every opportunity to break them, especially if it’s towards an effort to create a stunning design.
With that said, here are 5 web design rules that you can easily break:
#1: Displaying the Horizontal Scroll Bar
It can be a bit annoying to use the mouse all the way down to the page so as to scroll left or right to just see a couple of words that can’t fit on the entire page. However, this rule doesn’t have to be taken literally. Websites where you can see the horizontal scrollbar used effectively are Benek, Stephanie Tartelin and Shoe Guru.
#2: Using too many colors
While many rookies look to design websites that are subtle and easy, this can sometimes end up looking lifeless. Knowing when to push the boundaries in terms of using many colors is separates professionals from rookies and definitely from those who go to extremes by using as many colors as possible. Examples of this rule being broken are Matt Mullenweg, Travis Isaacs and James De Angelis.
#3: Using Different colors for the text and background
Again, this is a rule that many web designers follow blindly for fear of rendering the text unreadable, and in more cases than not, avoid using the same base colors for both the background and text. If you look at sites such as Linksys, Brad Colbow and Powerset, you’ll see that using the same colors don’t necessarily turn out bad.