When was web design invented?
For those born in the 1990s, the internet and web design have always been there. But that’s exactly when they were first invented.
Web design – the artistic design of websites – has existed almost as long as the internet itself. In terms of general, public use, that means since the early 1980s. However, “general” is a somewhat broad definition here, because at that time, very few private individuals had a computer, let alone a modem. For the most part, only universities had internet access that could be used by private individuals (i.e., students). The internet only became more open in the mid-1990s. This was also the time when what we know today as the “internet” emerged – the World Wide Web, or WWW for short.
In 1991, Tim Berners-Lee developed the HyperText Markup Language (HTML) at CERN in Switzerland. To this day, this remains the language used by almost all websites. Thus, the WWW was born. For the first time, one could view “web pages” in a browser and link from one “website” to another. That was all that was possible, since the first websites actually consisted only of text and links.
In terms of web design, the breakthrough came in 1993 with the Mosaic browser. For the first time, websites could now display not only text but also images. Suddenly, the internet became exciting—and the foundation for modern web design was laid. In 1994, Berners-Lee founded the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which was intended to create uniform standards for the web. This was an important step toward avoiding chaos and further developing the internet. In the following years, creativity on the internet gained momentum! The HTML 2.0 standard, developed in 1995, made more complex websites possible. At the same time, JavaScript brought movement into play: web design could now become interactive.
This is what the Apple.com website looked like in 1995:
You can have a look at more old web sites at the Web Design Museum.
In 1996, just one year after the release of HTML 2.0, I was already building my first websites – in the Mosaic browser. While they looked a bit different than they do today, they were essentially based on the same technologies.
CSS was developed in 1996. This allowed content and layout to be separated, making editing web pages easier. Before CSS, all design elements that comprised a website’s web design were integrated directly into the respective HTML page. If, for example, you wanted to change the font color of a website’s headings, you had to do it on every single page of the website. This was quite an undertaking for larger websites! Thanks to CSS, the web design and everything associated with it could be defined in a central file. Now it was easy to adjust headings, for example – you simply had to change the CSS file, and the effects were immediately visible on all HTML pages. A huge time saver!
Furthermore, CSS opened up enormous possibilities for web design in general. Suddenly, anything was possible: colorful backgrounds, flashing GIFs, and animated buttons were de rigueur. Web design was a wild playground!
For comparison: The Apple.com web site in 2001:
In the 2000s, the web became more professional. Websites now had to do more than just look pretty. New technologies made it possible to design websites not only beautiful but also user-friendly. Flash enabled impressive animations – until it was replaced by HTML5. Responsive design emerged – now websites could automatically adapt to different screen sizes, which was important after the advent of the first smartphones and tablets.
Today, web design is far more than just aesthetics. It’s about fast loading times, clear user navigation, accessibility—and, of course, marketing. Technologies like HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript frameworks play a major role. What began as a simple text page is now a fascinating world of interactive experiences and creative web design. And the evolution continues!