Creative Website Imagery

Using imagery on a website is a great way to capture the attention and imagination of your users. But use too much imagery or do so improperly, and those eyes are just as likely to flick back to Google. We’ve put together these tips – some innovative and new, some tried and true – for drawing those users right in.

Be economical

Never has the term “more is less” been more true than when using images on a website. We’ve all visited sites that don’t follow this advice – sites with links sprawled from one end of the page to the next and graphics squeezed into every available bit of white space. We’ve all abandoned those sites, too.

Avoid this fate by concentrating first on a few key images, including your logo, your primary navigation, and the most important, relevant or current content. Any added imagery should support these features rather than overpower them. This could mean using no photos or extra images at all, or it could mean placing one or two clear, unique and powerful images well above the fold. Just pick your theme, find the most important images to bring that theme to the forefront, and use the least that you can.

If you don’t have access to a photographer or designer, consider using stock photography or stock footage in your design creation.

Use powerful colors

It’s best to be economical when it comes to colors, too, staying true to one scheme. Better yet, stick with just one main color. That way you’ll be able to grab a reader’s attention when you switch briefly to another.

No matter how much you love that bright fuchsia, be gentle on the eye, using flat colors, subtle contrast, and smooth gradients and curves. While it’s fun to experiment, know that many colors show up very differently on different screens. Going too far out of the box can create an unintentionally unpleasant experience for some of your visitors.

Don’t fear the white space

Use white space to contrast with other colors. This will help visitors focus their attention, and it will give their eyes a break. Plus, white space just looks fresh and clean, giving your site an inviting contemporary look.

Play with typography

Typography can help convey tone, voice and message. You can go funky and fun, slick and professional, or purely utilitarian. Experiment with a number of choices before you settle on one. Stick with your choice throughout the site, using no more than two different fonts – one for the headers, one for the body. Just like all other images, make sure typography supports the theme rather than distracting from it. Pay attention to spacing, too, both between letters and between sections on the page.

And last but certainly not least, remember that it’s function before style. Don’t sacrifice readability just because you love how old timey a text looks.

Stay relevant and be direct

The core purpose of having a website or blog is to send a clear message. That’s why it’s so important to stay on theme, no matter how creative your site may be. Users will feel cheated, annoyed or misdirected if Google brings them to your restaurant review site and the feature image is of a Ferrari. With every image you add, stop and ask yourself, “How does this support my site’s voice, theme, or purpose?”

But don’t fear the abstract

That said, relevance doesn’t have to mean a literal translation of your ideals. There are, for instance, far too many business websites out there featuring stock photos of models in suits shaking hands. Showcasing businesspeople just because you’re in business doesn’t tell us much about who you are and how you’re different than the competition. Try experimenting with abstract shots or vectors instead. This will enable you to create images that are truly unique. They’ll still be compelling and relevant if they relate to some aspect of your business, like your voice or emotional tone.

Overall, the images you use on your website should send a clear message about who you are, what you do, and why you do it. With these techniques in your tool box, you’re sure to stand out from the crowd.

Written by Rob Toledo: Rob Toledo loves all things CSS3, staring at source code and no longer supports IE7, he can be reached on Twitter @stentontoledo

The 3 Essential Fundamentals of Designing a Successful Website

The internet is chock-a-block with different websites clamoring for the attention of their target audience. Forget about emerging as the leader, but even surviving in such cut throat competition is difficult. But, there are websites and online businesses that are actually thriving in such conditions and the credit for this should be given to their website design. Their designers have taken every care in the book to ensure that their designs attract a loyal stream of website visitors, which in turn ensures a successful online presence.

The key to successful website design is getting the fundamentals right. Let’s take a look at three such fundamentals:

Get Specific – Don’t Try to Please Everybody

Let’s face it, you can’t please all and sundry with the design of your website. This is why you need to create a design that will appeal to your specific target audience. For this to happen, identify a theme that your audience will appreciate and create a website that revolves around that specific theme. The business of website design is all about specifics and designing a website that has no clear and definite thought process behind it will never work.

Start from the ground-up

Begin at the very beginning. When you are conceptualizing the design of the website, first check with the developers regarding its feasibility and only then start off on its wireframe. At the same time, identify the various designing platforms that you are going to use to bring your concept to life. It’s important to understand that there are plenty of designing platforms out there, but use only those, which you are comfortable with. This will give you the added confidence to be innovative with your design and bring to it a sense of uniqueness.

Avoid Needless Complications

Some website designers fall into the trap of designing a website that is replete with complicated visuals, call-to-action buttons and complex use of design elements. This results in a UI that not many website visitors can make sense of. As can be imagined, such visitors will definitely prefer going to some other site and not wasting time on a site that is difficult to understand. Therefore, it’s important that you subscribe to the policy of simplicity. Simplify your designs as much as possible, so that the website is able to deliver its message clearly.

To Conclude

As can be imagined, these are not the only fundamentals that you need to keep in mind for creating a successful website. But they are enough to get you started. If you are serious about your job as a website designer, it’s of paramount importance that you keep improving your skill sets and keep identifying and implementing more fundamentals as a part of your website designing process.

Written by Hazel Raoult: Hazel Raoult  is working with PLAVEB – a leading web design company based in Los Angeles, CA. She loves designing visually striking user experiences for clients and has brought to life a slew of client projects that have gone on to become very successful. She has a keen insight for design and loves sharing it through her write ups.

The Components of Clean Web Designing

Simple and clean web designs are an evergreen trend. There are some traits that are shared by all clean web designs. Here we will discuss these traits and the techniques that you can use to clean up your web page.

The web page layout

The basic structure of the grid should be well thought out. In order to do this, imagine rows and columns that divide all the elements on the page into a perfectly well balanced composition. Following this grid will give your page a good sense of pattern and order. The grid should be the basis for the scale and placements of the components of the webpage. It yields consistency and rhythm to your page.

Getting the layout right can be quite challenging, if your site offers a large amount of content. But if you follow a good grid, this process gets simplified.

Typography

Good typography is all about getting more out of less. Restraint is essential when you want a clean looking web page. Avoid the use to too many typefaces as they tend to clash, giving a disjointed appearance. Choose one or maybe two typefaces, you can then add variety by changing their size and color, in order to establish hierarchy. The space given between lines can also make a web page look appealing. Make sure your letter spacing is also consistent.

Color palette

Although the colors you can choose from are vast, remember to limit yourself. Use neutral shades combined by one or two other colors to add uniformity. Colors that are more vibrant should be used for important elements, so that they catch the reader’s attention. If you plan on pushing past say two colors, use them sparingly. The colors used should not only look good, but also echo the site’s content.

Imagery

When it comes down to imagery, make sure that it is consistent all over the site. Ensuring harmony of visual elements can be quite tricky, but they do add a powerful finishing touch. The quality, composition and depth of field should be similar in all images on a page. This ensures that viewer’s look at images as a whole rather than as distinct, distracting elements. Sometimes, this may not be practical, but the use of graphics like borders and other such elements can give a more uniform appearance.

Simplify and tweak

While planning you page design, it is normal to come up with designs that are complex. Do not worry, initially don’t limit yourself and add all the layers you want. Once this is done, begin to break it down and simplify. Look at what you actually need and get rid of the rest. Getting an outside opinion may also be useful.

Spend a lot of time tweaking. Just changing small details and trying out variations of different elements like color shades, sizes and other thing that seem inconsequential could make a world of a difference. So keep tweaking till you find exactly what you are looking for.

3 Keys To Choosing The Home Business That’s Right For You

The thought of working at home makes some people terrified and as a result, many people shy away from this lucrative form of business. For starters, narrowing down to the business you want to engage yourself in is very crucial as this will determine what you will deal with as a business. However with the hard economic times and lack of jobs, many people are forced operate from home in order to make themselves self sufficient.

Thanks to the availability of internet and online communities, it has become easy for one to lay hands on what they want to venture in. The online community has a wide array of jobs for everyone, from; graphic designing, data entry jobs, call center jobs, online marketing as well as offline marketing. All these jobs are freelance based, therefore many mothers and people with disabilities who cannot commute for long distances, can easily earn a decent income. But before you can decide on what you want to engage in, there are certain considerations that you should have in mind. So, what are the 3 keys to choosing the home business that’s right for you?

1. Planning

Planning is the backbone of every successful business venture, and failing to plan is the right ingredient for your failure recipe. You need to plan on where you want your business to be say, in six months time, and set targets for yourself. Furthermore with planning, you will get to know what you will need to start the business and the manpower you will require to make it through.

2. Passion

Your passion will greatly determine what you occupy yourself with. It is evident that, if you have a passion for doing a particular task, for instance cooking, you are able to cook, with or without monetary motivation. The passion alone will drive you to reach higher heights in your business. In addition, you will never get bored by doing what you like most.

3. Skills, expertise and experience

If you do not have the required skills for a venture, then you are taking the path of failure, by engaging in the business in the first place. Make sure that, you are conversant with what the business requires for it to be a success.

Importance of having a home business

Having a business you run from home, has its own advantages, some of which are;

• You have the freedom to steer your business in the direction you feel is right. Although you have the freedom, be careful not to waste all your investment and time down the drain. Engaging the services of a consultant is beneficial to your business if you want to make a major step.


• The days of having your boss on your back are over, thanks to your home business, you are your own boss. Although you might be tempted to exercise you’re a being a boss, this is the time when you have to work really hard for your business to succeed.


• Having your own home business gives you the advantage of exercising the different facets of skills you possess; the days of monotony and routine work are long gone. With each new day, you are likely to get different feels of your business, therefore bringing life and the excitement of the unknown into your business.


• Working from home will allow you to plan your schedule according to your comfort. If you feel productive working at night or day the choice solely lies with you. All that matters is the completion of the task at hand.

With the above guidelines, you are bound to reach your full potential with the right home business.

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