Posts Tagged ‘graphic design’

These days, almost every company has a website. They’re great for reaching new users, or for providing information to customers you already have. You can even use them to collect information, instead of polls taken by phone or mail. But it’s a common pitfall, thinking that you can just write anything and use it to attract customers. These web design tips will help you create a site that really shines.

Your website is nothing without content – that is, the actual information and services you’re trying to provide. Never skimp on this information in favor of flashy images or layout! While the visuals are very important, your website still won’t be good for your users if it’s all surface and no substance. For this reason you also want to avoid having too many advertisements – or advertisements that are obnoxious.

The type of advertisements you use is another very important factor. Avoid using flashing ads, pop-up windows, and other advertisements that will make your site run slower. Annoying ads alienate your users and make them want to stay away from your site. You should also be sensitive to people with slower connections; this means no automatically-playing music, slow-loading background images or Flash animations that you cannot skip.

Organization is a big part of all design. You want to make it so that it’s easy for users to read and navigate through your site. Plan out ahead of time all the information that you need to convey to your readers, and separate it into several related pages. And while a large splash page at the beginning of your site may seem attractive, scrap it unless it has actual, useful content – otherwise it’s just an obstacle you’re setting up for your customers before they can get to the real info.

Then there’s the issue of how easy it is to get around your site. Don’t bury all the links to other pages in the middle of large bodies of text if you can help it – though it’s fine to also have links there, you’ll want to have a menu somewhere on the page that allows users to easily move from place to place. Don’t overlook including a link to your site’s homepage! Plenty of users like being able to start at the beginning of your site, and you can’t rely on them just using their browser’s back button if they ended up in the middle through an off-site link or search engine.

Keeping your site readable is simple. Make sure the color of your text is very different from the color of your background. White backgrounds are best, and if you’re using an image, the text needs to be on a solid-colored portion or it may be unreadable. It’s also important to have your text in a column that isn’t as wide as the page, as it makes it easier for readers to move to the next line. Try reading your site in several different screen resolutions to check that it works in all of them.

Of course, for the sake of accessibility, you want users to be able to contact you. Your contact page should be easy to find, easy to read, and have only correct, up-to-date information. It’s especially helpful if a visitor can just email you straight from your site. This is necessary for websites that sell or offer goods or services, and often helpful even for informational websites. That way, your information can be corrected or updated by your users!

Of course, even after you’ve designed a website with all these tips, it will need testing. This is often easiest if you ask someone else to look over your site; what may seem just perfect to you could be confusing for someone else. Get a group with different browsers, operating systems, and computer processors to look over your website! You won’t regret it.

Want to find out more about Vancouver web design, then visit Michael Jamison’s site on how to choose the best Vancouver web designer for your needs.

categories: vancouver web design, vancouver web designer, web design, web designer, graphic design, online design

Whether you are building a website for business or personal reasons, how you design the site will affect the number of visitors you attract and retain. When surfing the internet, it is not difficult to see how many websites owners have failed at designing a professional site. There are a number of common errors many people make when creating a website.

The following is a list of common mistakes to avoid when building your website:

1, A poorly organized design is a common error that will affect website traffic. Do not use a mish mash of banners, flashing animation, many bright colors, strange patterns, and annoying music. A cluster of distracting background designs makes a website look unprofessional and takes away from the sites purpose and message.

2. A website that takes a long time loading will often result in surfers losing patience and leaving the site. To avoid a slow loading website use a high speed internet connection, do not use a lot of graphics, and minimize the amount of video clips, music clips, and flash animation. This will drastically reduce loading time.

3. Websites that do not clearly convey their message tend not to have repeat visitors. Your home page should clearly state who you are and the mission of your website. Make sure you have a professional logo and domain name that is relevant to your site. The visitor should know exactly what business or service you are promoting. Focus is essential when building a website.

4. It is important to make sure your navigation tool is easy to understand and use. You want your visitors to freely and quickly move from page to page without getting mixed up. Your navigation links should be located at the top of the webpage or on the side.

5. Having quality content is essential to creating and maintaining a successful website. Quality and well written content that is updated regularly will encourage visitors to return to your site. You should also make sure the content is relevant to your site.

6. Websites that are not search engine friendly will result in a lack of visitors. You should have relevant key words, unique content, quality reciprocal links, appropriate advertisements, small pictures, email address, domain name, and a contact phone number and address.

7. Cookie cutter websites tend not to be as popular as original designed websites. Websites that have the same layout and content as other sites will score low in the search engine rankings. A website built from scratch will attract more visitors.

Your web design represents the vision and product or service that your company is offering. A poorly designed website sends the message to your visitors that your product or service may not be high quality. How well your website succeeds depends on the overall impression a visitor receives. It is important to take the time to plan and implement a website that is professional, user-friendly, and is appealing to your targeted visitors.

Interactive Vancouver web design agency provides web development, online marketing and web design services customized to your needs. With offices in Kelowna, Toronto and California to help you build your organizations online presence.

Although web design and graphic design both use images, text, and typeface to create a desired method of communicating ideas, designing for web and print are two different practices. Graphic designers have been around since print media was created, while web design came into being when the Internet was developed. Before choosing a print designer or web designer, it is important to understand the differences between web design and graphic design.

Graphic Design

Graphic Design includes any type of design that has been created and printed. Graphic design uses the blending of technology and art to communicate messages and ideas. The graphic designer utilizes a number of communication tools to deliver a message from a client/company to a specific audience. Graphic design illustrations can be found in magazines, newspaper arrangements, newspaper ads, billboards, logos, brochures, books, labels on a variety of product packages, and much more. Graphic designers create the layout design for a variety of types of print advertisements. The print design is normally 2-dimensional. Each design component is created for a fixed size display. The main tools used are image and typography. Images are used to communicate a mood or emotion.

The audience reacts to the images and the advertising messages that they receive. Typography is a type-based design where words are used to convey a message. The designer will focus on the appearance of the words such as lettering size, location, shape, and color. They are designed to catch the attention of the consumer, enhance the ad display, identify the product, and help convey the advertisers message to the targeted audience. Graphic designers work with market analysts, illustrators, and photographers as well as with typesetters and printers and other production experts to in order complete the entire ad design project.

Web Design

Web Design is task of creating a web page on the internet. Web designers work for businesses creating and implementing their websites. They work exclusively on web sites. A Web designer designs a graphical display of content and images that is displayed on the Internet in the form of a web page. They employ a number of web applications such as HTML, CSS, XHTML, JavaScript, PHP, Photoshop, and images such as JPG. The function of Web designer includes all of the technical aspects of creating a website, such as the coding and writing of web pages.

Both graphic designers and professional web designers are specialized to use such applications as color to create a mood or set a tone. They know how to communicate ideas and messages through such technical expressions as using the meaning of symbols to convey an idea. As well, they know how to use shapes, objects, and colors to provide balance and equilibrium to communicate to a targeted demographic and inform and encourage them to take a certain action such as buying a product.

Both web design and graphic design play an important role in the advertising, promotion, and sales of products and services. Choosing a professional web designer or graphic designer will depend on ones particular area of business.

Far too often, people put up a website, sit back and wait for offers and money to start rolling in. Others invest a ton of money into advertising before truly learning the ins and outs of website development.

What many of these internet entrepreneurs fail to understand is that cultivating a web presence is only half of the battle. First and foremost is to make the website appeal to the audience you are seeking. This means you will have to create something that works as intended, namely, draws in potential customers.

A Website is a Marketing Tool

A professional website is one of many items in an advertising arsenal that can help plead your case to a buying public. In many ways, it is the first impression that many people will have of your business.

Make that first impression count by making sure your site aligns with your business objective and goals.

A couple of ways to do this is by observing few simple rules, namely:

1. Check for grammatical errors and typos – how can you instill confidence in a consumer if your own website if full of errors. While you could argue that the average person may be unaware of these mistakes, many are and they have money to spend too. Besides, it simply looks sloppy and makes potential customers feel as if you don’t care. If you don’t care, why should they?

2. Make sure pictures, inserts and query boxes are properly aligned – sometimes an error in coding can offset photos, images, inserts and things like comment boxes. The offence is forgivable if this happens on a rare occasion, but too often and it looks extremely unprofessional. One aspect of web development is to make sure that the page loads up the right way every time. Check your site periodically to ensure it is working properly.

3. Forgo or minimize the flash – While flash animation can look cool, it may not have a place on a truly professional website. One reason why is the fact that not every potential customer is going to have a computer that has the ability to handle a ton of animated graphics. Some computers could even crash because of it. This could put off customers who may have wanted to utilize your services or purchase your products.

4. Keep it plain and simple – the language as well as the graphics should be straightforward, clean and free of frills. When at all possible try not to use ALL CAPS as it can appears if you are screaming at people. Keep info in small, bite sized paragraphs and when possible, make sure the site is free of pop up ads and other forms of advertising.

Another hallmark of a professional website is that it is easy to navigate. Sites that get too fancy with graphics and colors may be visually appealing on one level, but it does visitors no good if they can’t easily locate the about us, contact us or services button.

Keep Your Objective in Focus

In the end, your goal is to try to reach out to a buying public that wants what you have to sell. Your ability to achieve that goal will depend on how well you present yourself on the web. This makes maintaining and developing a professional website extremely important, as it can make all the difference between e-commerce success or failure.

Bear this in mind as you create your website and, if feasible, utilize the services of an established website developer to produce a quality, user friendly webpage.

When designing a website, many people tend to get caught up in the fun of trying different designs. It is important to remember that when you design a website, you are designing it for a particular audience. The fact is that the design you choose for your website should reflect your target audience. A website that does not relate to their audiences desires will not see an increase in sales.

When designing a website, the first thing you have to do is define your target audience. Websites are about communication; therefore, you have to determine who you are communicating to. For instance, will your audience consist mainly of men, women, a certain age group, a certain ethnicity…etc? You have to determine why they are coming to site and what they are looking for. Targeting a wide range of people may increase website traffic, but not sales.

You also have to think about the product. For instance, a man surfing the net will not be going to sites advertising womens make up. An elderly person will not go to a site selling acne medication. The idea is to attract shoppers who are looking for your specific product or service.

Once you have identified your target audience, you need to create the right look that will encourage them to make a purchase. This includes the appropriate graphics, advertising and promotional materials, and relevant content that they will find appealing. You also have to consider ease of navigation. If your audience is not that computer savvy, having an easy to navigate website will be beneficial.

Marketing techniques must be considered when designing a website. For instance, if you are selling wine, are you targeting experts in the wine industry or the general public? If you are targeting experts, you do not want to dumb down the site. Experts will have a wealth of technical knowledge regarding the wine industry and the wine itself, so you should present a marketing design that speaks on their level of expertise. Another example to consider is if you are selling a line of womens clothing. You have to design the website based on the type of women purchasing the clothes. For instance, are you selling casual wear, maternity clothes, or professional clothing for the office? Your website will deliver either a professional, relaxed, or family orientated design. Your content and advertising will need to centre on the type of environment the clothing will be worn in. All of these details will help you pick the most appropriate design.

Other design aspects you have to consider include: the most appropriate graphics and sounds, keywords that will reach your target audience, the type of information you will provide that is both relevant to the customer and the business philosophy. As well, you must consider the level of audience interaction that will be expected. This can include discussion forums, entering contests, completing surveys, providing feedback…etc.

Understanding your audience and their needs is essential to creating and maintaining a successful business website. It is important to remember that you may not get a perfect design on the first try. You will probably have to make some minor adjustments. The key point to remember is that your site should be built around your customer, and not your own personal preferences. As well, you may receive feedback from visitors regarding your website which will allow you to fine tune the design.

Designing a website with the customer needs and desires in mind is a critical part of running a successful business. Ultimately, whether one is designing a website for a business, or creating websites for their clients, the design of a website is blended with the business marketing concept.