The Web is primarily a visual medium, but design is more that how a web site looks. It is also how the site feels. Color and font choices, the use of whitespace, graphics and multimedia can if used properly can enhance a site and make the experience more enjoyable. If improperly used can lead to a site that is either dull and boring or bloated, slow to download, confusing and overwhelming to the senses.
What is the overall image you wish to project? Will you be employing any special color schemes or themes? Do you have certain colors in mind? Do you use certain colors, fonts, logos and images that need to be employed for brand recognition? Some of the preparation in designing a site has to do with marketing. Even thought the focus of this site is an introduction to design, the marketing of a site isn't something that happens after it is developed.
For a web site to succeed commercially, the marketing of the site must be incorporated into the design. (More on this is in the Marketing Considerations section)
Visual aspects to consider:Again, it is not the aim of this site to make you a web designer, but to educate you to how the tools of the trade and the limits of the medium. That way, we won't have a lot of explaining to do when we urge you not to include that life-size photo of the company president.