Feng shui is an ancient Chinese belief system based on the principle that people are affected, for better or worse, by ch’i, the life force or energy that flows around all things. Good Feng Shui is produced by the positive flow of ch’i. If ch’i is blocked, misdirected, flows too fast or is stagnate, this is bad feng shui. Bad feng shui will have a negative effect on people.
In real estate, the principles of feng shui have been applied by builders, architects, landscapers, designers, decorators, town planners, even home stagers. Feng shui has been used to plan everything from the layout of towns, malls, and retail stores to kitchens, foyers and living spaces. It has also been used in designing garden landscapes and outdoor spaces. You know good feng shui in an environment because you experience it. It feels good and provides a sense of well-being.
Since websites and blogs involve spatial arrangements, the principles of feng shui have application. Here are 5 Signs of Bad Feng Shui:
1. Dark webpages. Pages should be bright and clean, White and blue, signifying air & water, are best.
2. A lot of movement such as by animated gifs or pop-ups or cluttered pages of text. A still area that is found on every page is soothing. Some call this “white space“.
3. Too many straight lines. The common three column Home page is classic bad feng shui. Use curvy or wavy elements, such as rounded corners, to reflect the forms in nature. These create a pleasant environment.
4. Navigational dead ends where the only way out is the “back” button. This stagnates ch’i.
5. Angular & other graphics which do not reflect the natural world. This is akin to using a fish tank in your home. Try using flowers or other natural forms.
New Trend: Since music is an intrical part of feng shui and the sound of water is pleasing to the senses, web designers are looking to incorporate ambient sound or music into the website. Listen to samples here.
Source: New Media Studies (David Gauntlet)
As a traditional practioner of Feng Shui, as well as 20 years experience in graphic design and communications fields for a sizable corporation, what you have described is good graphic design principles as applied to web sites and publications …not Feng Shui.
Too much misinformation about Feng Shui already exists. Let’s not confuse graphic design, interior decorating, color psychology with the practice of Feng Shui which uses mathmatical calculations based on time and space to harmonize humans with buildings and the environment.
While I agree the importance of any good design to be clean, and conistent with the “brand” image of your product or service, it must also be appropriate for the target audience. None of which is Feng Shui, just good business practices if you want to deliver key messages to the audience simply, and consistently.
Thank you Carol for your comments. My source is obviously misinformed. I would welcome a post from you on this topic as it applies to website design and navigation. I will happily post it with due credit to you and a link to your website. Can feng shui be applied to website design and architecture?
There are a lot of different schools of thought on Feng Shui. While I agree that there is just too much misinformation out there, there is also a lot of good sources. But as with all sciences/practices without any form of governing body to align their practices and to decide what is right or wrong, Feng Shui has split into a multitude of schools and varying beliefs.
You can however get quite a lot of information at some websites: www.fengshuitimes.com, www.masteryjournal.com and www.dragon-gate.com/resources/
I personally have not started studying formally.. but I am considering. In the mean time, I just do a lot of research online.