Design Articles

Website and graphic design articles from the Web.

How to Choose the Right Color for Your Website Comments Off on How to Choose the Right Color for Your Website

How to Choose the Right Color for Your Website

Posted by on Aug 25, 2017 in Design Articles

Your website is almost ready to go live, congratulations! But before you hit the live button you really need to step back and take a look at your color. That is correct, the color of your website can mean the difference between you getting the type of traffic that you are looking for versus not getting any traffic at all. You might have picked that color because you think it looks good or because it is your favorite color but in order for your website to work, the color has to be just perfect. According to an article, color is seen by our eyes and interpreted in our brains in a region known as the hypothalamus. What happens next is our thyroid glands will send signals and release hormones which will alter our emotions and mood which affect our behavior. This might all sound unimportant when all you want to do is build a website but remember this, if it relates to people than it is important to you because it is people that will be seeing your website. To get the biggest impact in your website you need to be skillful in your color selection in order to make the biggest impact on your customers/visitors. The idea is...

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5 Things They Didn’t Tell You About Web Design Comments Off on 5 Things They Didn’t Tell You About Web Design

5 Things They Didn’t Tell You About Web Design

Posted by on Feb 6, 2014 in Design Articles

Whether you’re considering web design as a career, or have just landed your very first freelance job, you’re probably wondering what life as a web designer is like in the long run. When you’re just starting out, it’s hard to know whether the problems you’re experiencing are teething troubles or just part of the job. Successful web designers might make it look easy, but in truth, it can be challenging and frustrating — even for the experienced. 1. Coding will never be straightforward. Things will never work first time — and occasionally, they won’t work after the tenth time, either. It’s not necessarily your fault. You need to persevere. Be patient. Try not to disturb co-workers unless you have to, but don’t be too proud to ask for help, either.  Web technology is always changing, so you have to learn to adapt. In the end, it doesn’t matter if current design trends or certain browsers annoy you — you can pretty much guarantee that in ten years time, we’ll all be using something else anyway. 2. You won’t get a job without a portfolio. Unfortunately, this means working for free at first. Design websites for local bands, your neighbour’s piano tutoring, or the village cycling group. Preferably all three. There...

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Simple and Practical Techniques that Can Help You Improve Your Creative Designs Comments Off on Simple and Practical Techniques that Can Help You Improve Your Creative Designs

Simple and Practical Techniques that Can Help You Improve Your Creative Designs

Posted by on Jan 16, 2014 in Design Articles

There is no simple roadmap that can lead the way to inspiration. The road leading towards your next successful creative design is always a bumpy one and will sometimes end in frustration and other times in success. While there is no simple “recipe” that can help you improve your designs, there are simple methods that can help you get your “creative juices” going. Those include keeping track of what is going on in the contemporary design world, playing mind games and using sketchbooks and visual dream diaries. Let’s take a look at some of these simple methods that may help you tackle your next creative design project. Studying the Work of Others and Staying Involved The design world is constantly evolving and changing and so it is very important to keep track of what your contemporaries are doing. You can check out what is going in the design world by visiting sites such as design.org and interaction design and news about jewelry and metalsmithing in jewelry magazines and metalsmith.org. Studying and appreciating the innovative work of others is something that will challenge you and help you rejuvenate your creativity, as well as help you ensure that your work is up to date and has enough commercial potential. Using Simple...

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5 Free Online Graphic Design Courses That Will Brush Up Your Skills Comments Off on 5 Free Online Graphic Design Courses That Will Brush Up Your Skills

5 Free Online Graphic Design Courses That Will Brush Up Your Skills

Posted by on Dec 19, 2013 in Design Articles

Looking for a new graphic design job, or hoping to advance your career? You probably already have a great deal of training behind you. However, it can never hurt to brush up on your skills, particularly if you haven’t switched roles in a while. It never hurts to challenge yourself with a little study, either. The internet gives us all the necessary tools to brush up our knowlege, and free courses can be surprisingly helpful. Here are five we have enjoyed. 1. Photolesa.com – Graphic Design for Everyone Lesa Snider is a well known author in the graphic design industry. She has written several books and is a long time member of the Photoshop World Dream Team of instructors. Lesa also offers a free online course; you can enrol for the January slot of Graphic Design for Everyone now. Lesa’s course will last for three days and teach you the four secrets to great graphic design. The course includes discussions on typography and colour theory and will be useful no matter the software you use. It’s only free for the three day session in January, after which you will be required to pay for the videos, so sign up whilst it’s on offer. 2. Alison.com – Graphic Design –...

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Redesigning a Website from Scratch and Redirecting Your Customers Comments Off on Redesigning a Website from Scratch and Redirecting Your Customers

Redesigning a Website from Scratch and Redirecting Your Customers

Posted by on Oct 23, 2013 in Design Articles

How common is your website when you objectively compare it to others in the same niche? How captivating are the colors and graphics? Is this the kind of website that makes you want to return? It is hard to tell when it comes to your own website, but asking for honest opinions can seriously disappoint you. This is when you have to consider a whole web redesign process and rethink the entire branding and marketing campaigns in order to increase the traffic volume. It makes no difference how small your business is or how insignificant your blog is. Instead, the design of your website is by far the most important way to make a good first impression.  Colors And Appearance  First of all, make sure that the colors are not too screaming. Try to stay away from a phosphorescent green, a light yellow, a bright green and other similar ideas. At the same time, avoid overwhelming it with hard loading graphics and sliders. They do not just load very slow and slow down your visitors’ computers, but they can also distract them. When graphics take over the whole website, the content gets on a second place. Since content sells, this is what you have to focus on.  Going Professional ...

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Responsive Design vs. Micro Mobile Sites – What’s Better? Comments Off on Responsive Design vs. Micro Mobile Sites – What’s Better?

Responsive Design vs. Micro Mobile Sites – What’s Better?

Posted by on Sep 24, 2013 in Design Articles

An ongoing debate on whether responsive web design is actually better than micro mobile sites is leaving many website owners scratching their heads. Getting familiar with the differences between responsive web design and micro mobile sites is the first step towards determining which solution is perfect for a business’s operations. Research indicates the majority of people looking for local businesses, products and services online are using mobile devices. In other words, the mobile device trend is influencing how business owners approach online marketing. While micro mobile sites hit the scene before responsive web design, responsive design solutions are producing some impressive results. Micro Mobile Sites – Pros and Cons A micro mobile site is actually a scaled-down version of a full website. On a scaled down website, there are fewer graphics, content and media than regular full website versions. Designing a micro mobile site is actually easier than designing a full-blown website. However, since micro mobile sites have less text, they provide less information to visitors. In fact, it is not uncommon for visitors to have a tough time finding what they are looking for on micro mobile sites. The result of this problem creates a need for visitors to visit a full-blown website, making micro mobile sites not...

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