University Web Services
Best Practices
Design
Design guidelines and policies are the responsibility of the Marking and Communications Department. For specific issues, you should contact that department.
University Colors
The hex codes for Boise State colors are
- Dark blue = #0b1966
- Light blue = #1f60a9
University Logos
The official repository for the Boise State logo is at Printing & Graphics.
The sports logo is also at Printing & graphics.
The university seal is a special-use graphic only. For permission to use the university seal, contact the Department of Communications and Marketing.
Page Layout
Standard layout will have
- the university navigation bar at the top, aligned right
- university logo top-left
- primary navigation aligned left
- a content area that is below the university navigation bar and to the right of the primary navigation
- a footer that is below all content
- an optional secondary navigation area that is floated right
This Best Practices document is an example of all the above.
Be consistent in color theme
Color of headings
Don't make the heading color in the same color value as link colors. If your link color is some shade of blue, make sure your heading color is red or green or black or anything but blue.
Link colors
The link color should be unique, not found in any other text color at the site.
Font Size
Be consistent in use of font size. The font used in the department/college name (top left) should be consistent across the departments. Avoid the use of all caps for headings, though it is okay to use the small-caps style.
Font size in lists and in tables should generally be the same as the main text. If you need to make it smaller (or larger) make sure you are doing it for a specific reason.
Other Design Considerations
Be consistent in presentation of content graphics regarding placement, use of borders, shape of the graphic, and its tone
Use the recommended graphics and color palettes. If you need to move beyond these, do so with the advice of a University graphic designer.
Be aware of the width (in pixels) at which your page starts to cause a horizontal scrollbar to appear. In general, horizontal scrollbars are to be avoided because they make navigation more difficult. Any web page will use a horizontal scrollbar if shrunk enough; the key is to know at what point this happens and how that might affect your design.
Know your target devices. This includes handhelds, cell phones, screen readers, and text-only displays. In other words, your page should render well on all devices.