Patrick McNeil of Design Meltdown has written a good series on the Principles of Design McNeil breaks design fundamentals down into the basic principles of emphasis, contrast, balance, alignment, repetition and flow, and then applies the theory to sample sites. Through the analysis of these samples McNeil makes his point.
Collis of PSD Tuts has listed 9 Essential Principles for Good Web Design. In the process Collis discusses leading the eye around the screen by using colour, contrast, position, design elements and the use of white space or negative space. Consistency, navigation, and orientation tricks like bread crumbing are covered including usability. The basics of typography, and layout are also touched on. That is a lot to cover in a short article. After each point, Collis has directed the reader to further sources which are worth delving into at a deeper level.
8 Web Design Mistakes that Developers Make from Wake Up Later briefly lists key attitudes to web design that lead to bad design. It is aimed at developers that turn their hand to designing but members of the general public would find it useful too.
