Earth: Layout
Water: Navigation
Air: Content
Fire: Adding Multimedia
Earth: Layout
Water: Navigation
Air: Content
Fire: Adding Multimedia
Feng Shui (pronounced "Fung Schway") is the Chinese Art of placement and the science of quantum physics. Literally translated, Feng Shui means "Wind & Water". It is a centuries-old concept of bringing man into harmony with his surroundings. Feng Shui forces can be thought of as magnetic waves of cosmic energy...Chi. Integrating Chi in the Home and Workplace helps to balance and harmonize Time and Space, People and the Environment as One Integral Entity.
Feng Shui may be thought of as "spiritual ergonomics," creating surroundings that are comfortable and sublime not only for the body but for the mind. To achieve this balance, practitioners of Feng Shui endeavor to balance the four major elements (some practitioners include metal as a fifth element).
In web design, Feng Shui principles can be applied to assist the designer to think of harmonious methods of design that make users feel comfortable and confident while navigating through a site. This tutorial breaks web design into the four major elements to assist designers in achieving a similar balance on the pages they build.
I take this approach to web design, especially with those new to the process, to not only provide a way of conceiving web design as a peaceful and constructive activity but also to reduce the tension and apprehension that often accompany learning a new skill.
This document is constructed as a general overview to assist those new to web design. The "How To" sections apply specifically to Composer 7.0 which accompanies Netscape Navigator 7 and is free to download. For a basic overview of how to use Composer including how to put in the FTP settings you'll need to publish your pages please look at this document.
