What makes a layout a good layout?

Hey I'm new here but I joined because I needed somewhere to ask this question. I've got my site - http://www.phreake.net - and although I didn't make this layout I have made other layouts in the past, except I've never really liked them, and I've never been able to put my finger on what exactly was wrong with it.

So what I want to know is what makes a layout a good layout, and how can I find a good idea of how to make a decent layout that is bright, colourful and easy to read? And of course I want one that will help bring back the visitors time and time again.

But what would I need to do to achieve this?

This is (almost) one of those age-old questions! What makes a good layout?

It's not as simple as you think and particularly difficult to describe in words. What's important to remember is that there are several factors that seriously affect a layout. White space (or simply blank areas) are very effective and often it can be important to leave space blank than try to cram something into every area you have. Design theory is also very important - as is the use of certain colours. If you've got the right balance of white space, the right design theory and good colours that go well together then you're pretty much there.

There are of course basic design rules - don't use colours that clash, don't use too many bright colours together, use contrasting colours for text and it's background, etc.

I could, of course go into more detail, but 'what makes a good layout' is the subject of plenty of books, web site's, etc. If you want to learn more, I suggest buying a book or looking at the reading material we've linked to.

When I design sites I usually use the color wheel when choosing my colors after I have choosen my design, 2 helpful web applications I have found exteremly useful are:http://www.colorblender.com/ and http://www.colormatch.dk/ I have these 2 links bookmarked when I want to find corresponding colors. Also what was stated above that negative so very important. I have found first hand on a website that I have recently designed that even a small portion of missing negative space can affect the entire look and feel of the page.

I have a very useful photoshop action that finds all complimentary colours and others that go together based on the foreground colour at the time of playing the action... i'll see if i can dig it out for you...

*EDIT*

Found it: http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/cardy/ColorSchemers.atn

http://www.chainstyle.com/tutorials/colscheme.html

I will just echo what others have said so far, and shoot you my favorite color generator.

http://wellstyled.com/tools/colorscheme2/index-en.html#