Home
>
Web Design
>
Graphic Design Can Make or Break Your Web Site

Graphic Design Can Make or Break Your Web Site

We all want high impact graphics for our Web sites - Right.

Sometimes it is easy just to pick a template that comes included with a site builder and or hosting package.

There are also thousands of Free templates that you can download from the Internet.

But for those of us who want full control of our design and graphics, it is first a matter of sitting down and choosing your site design and color scheme.

Your site theme, design or layout will play a major part in the size and number of graphics you will use on your site. Somewhere along the process you will have to decide on how many and the quality of your graphic images.

Images used on websites are usually Gif and jpg or sometimes png and the odd bitmap image. Gif and Jpg images can be adjusted in quality and size to be a smaller file size to strike a balance between quick loading and image quality.

You may have an awesome graphic but if it takes 2 minutes to load on your page, you will notice by checking your Web site stats you will notice a difference between the number of page requests and pages viewed.

As the purpose of your Web site is to attract visitors and for them to make a positive decision either to request more info, join your Newsletter or to make a purchase, every lost visitor is a lost potential customer.

The header at the top image on a page often includes a logo or the name of the company or website. This is usually the largest image on a page. So if it is the full width of the page of 760 pixels wide, and depending on the height it may be worth considering cutting it into two pieces.

There are two reasons for dividing an image into smaller pieces, firstly having your image load faster as two separate pieces and secondly as many browsers load 5 images at one time, your header should load faster.

There are also webmasters who prefer all images to preload before displaying the complete page and some sites have two images for the one button, the image you see on first viewing the page and the image you see when you hover the mouse, cursor over or click on the button. Often with buttons that use two images these will be set to preload with the page so that they are loaded or stored ready for when you click the button.

Note that different browsers may load pages in a different order. as a webmaster it is good practice to check your page in Netscape, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and the Browser that Google is possibly going to introduce soon.

Your site layout may differ in appearance in the different browsers and some of the latest http versions and scripts will possibly not work in older versions on certain Browsers.

There is a balance to make your page quick to load and to be pleasant to the eye.

Many sites are using a very small image as a background image, for example if you are placing your buttons across the page you can create an image that looks like a raised bar but only one pixel wide. As an image of say 25 by 1 pixel it will load very fast as a background, once the browser loads this image one time, it then multiplies the image across the page.

Many sites use this background approach for their header, side bars and or their buttons and insert the logo as a normal image and the buttons are added as text links over the top of the background image.

Backgrounds are generally a small image that when loaded by your browser sits at the top left of the web page and multiplies itself across and down the page. A background image can be as small as 2 or 3 pixels square and up to full screen size.

The simplest are the thin lines usually of two colors. The more complex may include a water mark of the company logo.

TIP, The fewer colors or shades used in any image either as a background, header of banner the faster it will load.

Here is a list of images that form the first impression of anyone who visits your Web site. Make that first impression count.

Header

Logo

Buttons - bar

Side panels

Bottom bar

Background image

Product images

Banners

These images can be for decoration or they can tell a story. The old saying is still true in that a picture can tell a story that would normally take a thousand words to express.

Create an overall color scheme for your site, one that uses contrasting colors where text is used and a theme where images are used.

With Web site templates you can easily change image color and add text in many basic graphic editing programs, but to create your own images you may require a more professional program.

Adobe GoLive Web site editor and Adobe Photo Shop allow you to build your site and edit images. There is an Adobe package that includes other Adobe products, a very good package.

Macromedia also have a Web site and image editing package in Dreamweaver and Fireworks.

But there are many free Web site and image editing software available. I find that when editing images I use Adobe Photoshop and Fireworks for adding and embossing text.

Different software give different results. I use a Sony camera, when I compared the software supplied by Sony and Adobe I found that a photo downloaded to the Sony image editing software where an area of a photo 3 pixels wide was displayed in Adobe Photoshop it appeared at 7 pixels wide. I don't have any idea why this is but I now edit all my photos in Photoshop.

Here is a Template Directory listing free site templates, buttons, backgrounds, 3D text creator, clip art and scripts.

http://www.itsyournet.co.nz/free-web-templates.html

If you are using a template or image downloaded from the Internet check to see if there is a copy right or if the template or image is supplied for personal use only, i.e. not for commercial use as a business Web site.

When considering creating a Web site you also need to give some thought to the hosting. If your site is a graphics intense site and people are going to download lots of images you need to consider the hosting package as there are so many different sizes and band width packages supplied.

Your finished Web site must be appealing to your target market. If you are marketing products or services to Businesses your site should reflect a business atmosphere, as opposed to a gardening site where you can display images of garden gnomes, bags of fertilizer and flowers.

Remember every Pixel counts when editing quality images. But the opposite is true for quick loading Web sites.

May your week be a highly graphical one.

PETER GREEN.

Editor of ~ The INDEX ~ ezine.

editor@internet-income-index.com

Your Free Weekly Internet Marketing News, Ideas, Resources and Sources Ezine.

best cleaning company Highland Park ..

In The News:

The ClickFix campaign disguises malware as legitimate Windows updates, using steganography to hide shellcode in PNG files and bypass security detection systems.

Researchers from Osaka Metropolitan University designed a 21-foot dome that combines aquaculture and hydroponics to create a self-sustaining urban food system.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

ChatGPT data breach exposes personal info of users through partner Mixpanel. OpenAI confirms names, emails compromised in security incident.

Android rolls out Emergency Live Video for 911 calls, letting dispatchers see real-time scenes during emergencies. Great for holiday travel safety.

Malicious Chrome and Edge extensions collected browsing history, keystrokes and personal data from millions of users before Google and Microsoft removed them.

Google's new Call Reason feature lets Android users mark calls as urgent before dialing, displaying an urgent label to recipients using Phone by Google app.

Medical history made as surgeons successfully restore sight to legally blind patient using world's first 3D printed corneal implant grown from human cells.

Data brokers aggressively collect your holiday shopping data to fuel scams and targeted ads. Learn how to delete your digital profile before 2025 starts.

Scammers are sending fake MetaMask wallet verification emails using official branding to steal crypto information through phishing links and fraudulent domains.

Learn what background permissions, push notifications, security updates, auto-join networks and app refresh mean to better manage your phone's privacy settings.

Criminals test stolen data by applying for deposit accounts in victims' names to prepare bigger attacks. Learn why banks won't share fraud details.

New study of 10,500+ kids reveals early smartphone ownership linked to depression, obesity, and poor sleep by age 12. Earlier phones mean higher risks.

A phone phishing attack compromised Harvard's alumni and donor database, marking the second security incident at the university in recent months.

AutoFlight's zero-carbon floating vertiport uses solar power to charge eVTOL aircraft while supporting emergency response, tourism, and marine energy maintenance.

A new phone return scam targets recent buyers with fake carrier calls. Learn how criminals steal devices and steps to protect yourself from this fraud.

New Anthropic research reveals how AI reward hacking leads to dangerous behaviors, including models giving harmful advice like drinking bleach to users seeking help.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Holiday email scams, including non-delivery fraud and gift card schemes, spike in November and December, costing victims hundreds of millions, the FBI says.

Holiday visits offer the perfect opportunity to help older parents with technology updates, scam protection and basic troubleshooting skills for safer digital experiences.

Swiss scientists create grain-sized robot that surgeons control with magnets to deliver medicine precisely through blood vessels in medical breakthrough.

Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

Graphic Design Can Make or Break Your Web Site

Web Design