It is a scientific fact that colors can have psychological effects on people. Properly used on a website, colors can go hand in hand with graphics and well-written content to effectively communicate to your target audience and even compel them to make the desired call to action. Colors can be a great design element that can help visitors with site's navigation, the grouping of content and their relative importance, relationships, etc.
It is, thus, important for web designers to know the subliminal effects of different colors and their combination can make. The colors they choose can either work for or against them, depending on how a visitor unconsciously reacts to them during that critical first few seconds.
Below is a list of color qualities that can have both positive and negative meanings:
Red is commonly associated with love, passion, danger, warning, excitement, food, impulse, action, adventure and is, thus, good in attracting attention. In it's negative side, red evokes aggressive feelings, and can suggest anger or violence.
Blue has a calming effect on people. It evokes a sense of belonging and trust, reliability, coolness, peacefulness, tranquility, security and is often associated with high quality, faithfulness and dignity.
In its negative side, it can imply alienation, sadness, passivity, or depression.
Yellow evokes feelings of happiness, warmth, and sunshine. But in its negative side, over-use of yellow can cause eye-strain and vague feelings of irritation.
Orange evokes feelings of playfulness, pleasure, approachability, informality and warmth. Orange and black together are often associated with ambition and drive. in the negative side orange may imply a lack of discrimination or quality.
Green is easiest on the eyes. It is usually associated with feelings of growth and abundance. Also, depending on the shade, green can bring to mind nature, healing, freshness, money and freedom. Some shades of green, on the other hand, suggest decay, fungus, mold, toxicity, etc.
Purple is the color of royalty, dignity, sophistication and spirituality. Purple can evoke feelings of luxury and abundance.
Violet evokes feelings of playfulness, impulsiveness, and fantasy. In its negative side, it can suggest nightmares or madness.
Pink evokes feelings of being nurtured or pampered. It is also associated with sweetness and femininity.
White is most often considered pure, innocent, clean and mild.
Black evokes feelings of elegance, authority, sophistication, and power. Black is often associated with mystery, sobriety and seduction. In its negative side, it represents evil, sorrow and death.
Gray evokes a sense of solidity and reliability. Grey is associated with authority, creativity and practicality.
Brown evokes feelings of masculinity, reliability and affectivity. Brown is associated with dependability and affluence.
Gold evokes feelings of prestige, influence and money.
Silver evokes the same feelings as gold, but silver can also be perceived as cold, hard and distant.
Tips for web designers on using colors for websites:
Use colors that would match the overall theme of your website and the impression you want your visitors to get. Avoid choosing colors based on what you like.
Use a color scheme that would enhance your website and your content not distract or confuse your users.
Colors can have different effects on people. For example, men prefer blue to red, while women prefer red to blue. Also, men prefer orange over yellow, while women prefer yellow over orange. Furthermore, a website designed for a younger audience should use brighter colors than a website for an older audience, which should use sober and restrained colors. web designers should take these are facts backed by academic studies into consideration when picking colors for their websites.
Different cultures have different meanings for colors. Keep your target audience in mind when you choose a color scheme. Choose two or three main colors and one or two secondary colors, and stick with them throughout your entire website.
For consistent colors across different monitors and browsers, Use web safe colors. Employ colors that come from the 216 colors that can be displayed on every type of monitor in every web browser.
Make sure to use uniform color scheme all throughout your web site. This is essential to create a “brand” for your site and prevents your visitors from getting "lost".
Use lots of blank space between design elements and content elements. Blank spaces act as a wonderful balance between your other design elements. You can also make your web pages easier on the eyes by leaving blank space between blocks of text.
If you are planning of building your website or updating an old one, it is ideal to rely on the help of experienced designers and developers who are knowledgeable in all aspects of custom web design - including the use of colors. This will ensure you and your company that no time and resources are wasted on creating a website that best represents your company and sells your products and services effectively.
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta custom web design. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta custom web design. Mostrar todas las entradas
martes, 9 de marzo de 2010
martes, 2 de marzo de 2010
Ten Things That Make a Website Fail
Some web designers (mostly the inexperienced ones) have the tendency to incorporate every design element they know on the websites they are building in the hopes of creating stunning sites that would attract more visitors. However, more design elements does not necessarily translate into more visitors. In fact, some features can be more of a distraction to users than a compelling request to make them make the desired action. Web design should focus on providing resources that the targeted audience is looking for, not on the designer/programmer's skill level. This is why it is advisable for companies to get the help of professional designers and developers when planning a custom web design project. Below are some of the most common no-no's that should be avoided when implementing a custom web design.
1. Background Music. Loud and meaningless music is a sure-fire way to make people click on the back button! Remember, don't impose your musical preference to everybody: a soothing music to you may be annoying to your audience. If you are keen on putting music on your site, provide visitors with an accessible option to turn it off.
2. Pop Up Windows. Don't you just hate it when you are suddenly attacked by a barrage of pop-up windows? I do and i am not alone. Most people would move on to other sites and swear to never ever come back than deal with the irritating pop-ups.
3. Huge flash animation. Sure it's pretty and really jazzes up a page but not everybody is on a high speed internet connection. Most people will wait two minutes maximum for a page to load, more than that and they'll hit the back button or click on another site faster than the speed of light!
4. Slow page load. Usually caused by cheap web hosting, too many images, un-optimized graphics, or poor coding, a page that takes forever to load is a bane for any kind of website. Most visitors will leave and find a faster site.
5. Terrible grammar and spelling. Reading poorly written text is not only annoying, it also negatively affects visitors' perception of your website and your company. How could people trust you if a third grader writes better sentences than you do? Grammar and spell checkers are readily available on your computer, why not use them? Better yet, hire a copywriter/editor to take care of your content.
6. Moving objects here, there, everywhere. Flashing banners, animated graphics, words scrolling, a string of fireworks chasing your mouse pointer. They strain the eyes and cause headaches! Limit the use of moving or flashing object on your site, one per page is more than enough.
7. Wrong font size – Huge fonts are perfect for websites targetting people with reading disabilities, but if not then you are shouting and nobody ever wants to be shouted at. Fonts that are too small, on the other hand, are difficult to read and make you seem like whisphering to your audience. Always use the right font size for your site.
8. Missing contact information. A visitor have found the item she's been looking for for the longest time in your and she's ready to buy. However, she cannot find the infortion on how to make the purchase or even a way to contact anyone. Frustrated and mad, the prospective customer left your website with a promise in her heart: never to return. Don't forget to include contact information, or a contact link, on every page of your site, so your visitors can contact you if they want to buy something, make an inquiry or simply buy your domain for $10,000.
9. Other things that should be avoided are links that don't look like links, orphan pages or those which you failed to supply links with and alien pages or those that don't have the same look and feel of the rest of your website thus leaving users feeling like they’ve been suddenly transported to a website from another planet.
10. Navigation tabs and buttons that don't work. Getting lost in a website is frustrating. You can lose a lot of prospective customers if you leave visitors clueless on how to move around your website. Always make it a point to provide easy-to-use navigation keys to encourage visitors to click around on your site and check out different sections.
Do you need professionals to help you come up with a custom web design? We can help you get the effective website you want at a price you can afford. Contact us now for a free quote.
1. Background Music. Loud and meaningless music is a sure-fire way to make people click on the back button! Remember, don't impose your musical preference to everybody: a soothing music to you may be annoying to your audience. If you are keen on putting music on your site, provide visitors with an accessible option to turn it off.
2. Pop Up Windows. Don't you just hate it when you are suddenly attacked by a barrage of pop-up windows? I do and i am not alone. Most people would move on to other sites and swear to never ever come back than deal with the irritating pop-ups.
3. Huge flash animation. Sure it's pretty and really jazzes up a page but not everybody is on a high speed internet connection. Most people will wait two minutes maximum for a page to load, more than that and they'll hit the back button or click on another site faster than the speed of light!
4. Slow page load. Usually caused by cheap web hosting, too many images, un-optimized graphics, or poor coding, a page that takes forever to load is a bane for any kind of website. Most visitors will leave and find a faster site.
5. Terrible grammar and spelling. Reading poorly written text is not only annoying, it also negatively affects visitors' perception of your website and your company. How could people trust you if a third grader writes better sentences than you do? Grammar and spell checkers are readily available on your computer, why not use them? Better yet, hire a copywriter/editor to take care of your content.
6. Moving objects here, there, everywhere. Flashing banners, animated graphics, words scrolling, a string of fireworks chasing your mouse pointer. They strain the eyes and cause headaches! Limit the use of moving or flashing object on your site, one per page is more than enough.
7. Wrong font size – Huge fonts are perfect for websites targetting people with reading disabilities, but if not then you are shouting and nobody ever wants to be shouted at. Fonts that are too small, on the other hand, are difficult to read and make you seem like whisphering to your audience. Always use the right font size for your site.
8. Missing contact information. A visitor have found the item she's been looking for for the longest time in your and she's ready to buy. However, she cannot find the infortion on how to make the purchase or even a way to contact anyone. Frustrated and mad, the prospective customer left your website with a promise in her heart: never to return. Don't forget to include contact information, or a contact link, on every page of your site, so your visitors can contact you if they want to buy something, make an inquiry or simply buy your domain for $10,000.
9. Other things that should be avoided are links that don't look like links, orphan pages or those which you failed to supply links with and alien pages or those that don't have the same look and feel of the rest of your website thus leaving users feeling like they’ve been suddenly transported to a website from another planet.
10. Navigation tabs and buttons that don't work. Getting lost in a website is frustrating. You can lose a lot of prospective customers if you leave visitors clueless on how to move around your website. Always make it a point to provide easy-to-use navigation keys to encourage visitors to click around on your site and check out different sections.
Do you need professionals to help you come up with a custom web design? We can help you get the effective website you want at a price you can afford. Contact us now for a free quote.
viernes, 26 de febrero de 2010
Things to consider when designing a website
A lot of websites are launched everyday. However, only a few of them can be considered effective in providing users with the information they are looking for and giving the owners the much needed traffic they need to boost sales and profits.
In this article, we will discuss little details that should be taken into consideration when planning a custom web design or creating a website. Not paying attention to these minute details is one of the most common mistakes committed by inexperienced web designers, and some careless web masters, who end up producing ineffective websites.
Pictures are worth a thousand words. Images can very well enhance the look of a page but they can be as heavy as a million bytes which is not good if you want to prevent your visitors from leaving your website. Thus, it is advisable to use images sparingly. Avoid using tons of images on your site as they can slow down page loading time. Remember that not everyone is using a high speed internet connection and users usually click elsewhere than wait for a page to load.
Navigability and functionality should come first before artistic excellence. A stunning website is worthless if users cannot navigate around it. An effective custom web design is one that is easy to use and does not leave users dumbfounded on where to go or what to do next. Navigation bars and tabs are innovative ways to let users know where they are in your site and where to go next. These tabs also encourages users to click around on your site and visit different sections thereby increasing page views per visitor!
Putting in worthless content is another major blunder. If your content is out-of-date, inappropriate or irrelevant to your target users or poorly written, delete it and upload a new and more relevant one. Remember to always KISS: Keep It Short and Simple. Users are "skimmers" and only read on text that are relevant to them.
Go for a website that looks good and functions well on all browsers, all resolutions, and all color-depths. Users appreciate pages that look great on their own browser and their own resolution. They make users feel "at home" than a website that proclaims "Viewed best with Browser X at a resolution of 1024x768" that will require them to change browser or screen settings. I'd rather click away than to go through those hassles!
Don't you just hate pop up windows? I do and i'm not the only one! Creating a new browser window should be the authority of the user only. By default, all links must open in the same window. An exception, however, may be made for pages containing a links list. It is convenient in such cases to open links in another window, so that the user can come back to the links page easily. Even in such cases, it is advisable to give the user a prior note that links would open in a new window.
Use fancy fonts sparingly! Keep in mind that some of your users may not have the font installed on their machines and the "Cloister Black MT Light" font on your website may well be degraded into plain old Times New Roman on your user's machine. Stick to the plain vanilla fonts like Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, and Courier. If you are keen on using a fancy typography, make your jazzy fonts into an image and put that on the page (but keep Tip #1 in mind).
Never underestimate the importance of those META tags. They can make all the difference between your users coming to your site and going to your competitor's – just because they couldn't find yours. Meta tags help search engines classify your page. Duplicating or using the same keywords and description meta tags on every page of a website make them worthless. Customize the keywords and descriptions for each page or don’t use them at all.
Also avoid orphan pages or pages you failed to remember to supply links that don’t exist as far as the rest of the world is concerned. As well as alien pages or those that totally disregard the look and feel of the rest of your website and leave users feeling like they’ve been suddenly transported to a website far, far away.
Implementing a custom web design should be left on the hands of professional and experienced designers and developers. They have the skills and are abreast with the latest techniques in building websites that work.
In this article, we will discuss little details that should be taken into consideration when planning a custom web design or creating a website. Not paying attention to these minute details is one of the most common mistakes committed by inexperienced web designers, and some careless web masters, who end up producing ineffective websites.
Pictures are worth a thousand words. Images can very well enhance the look of a page but they can be as heavy as a million bytes which is not good if you want to prevent your visitors from leaving your website. Thus, it is advisable to use images sparingly. Avoid using tons of images on your site as they can slow down page loading time. Remember that not everyone is using a high speed internet connection and users usually click elsewhere than wait for a page to load.
Navigability and functionality should come first before artistic excellence. A stunning website is worthless if users cannot navigate around it. An effective custom web design is one that is easy to use and does not leave users dumbfounded on where to go or what to do next. Navigation bars and tabs are innovative ways to let users know where they are in your site and where to go next. These tabs also encourages users to click around on your site and visit different sections thereby increasing page views per visitor!
Putting in worthless content is another major blunder. If your content is out-of-date, inappropriate or irrelevant to your target users or poorly written, delete it and upload a new and more relevant one. Remember to always KISS: Keep It Short and Simple. Users are "skimmers" and only read on text that are relevant to them.
Go for a website that looks good and functions well on all browsers, all resolutions, and all color-depths. Users appreciate pages that look great on their own browser and their own resolution. They make users feel "at home" than a website that proclaims "Viewed best with Browser X at a resolution of 1024x768" that will require them to change browser or screen settings. I'd rather click away than to go through those hassles!
Don't you just hate pop up windows? I do and i'm not the only one! Creating a new browser window should be the authority of the user only. By default, all links must open in the same window. An exception, however, may be made for pages containing a links list. It is convenient in such cases to open links in another window, so that the user can come back to the links page easily. Even in such cases, it is advisable to give the user a prior note that links would open in a new window.
Use fancy fonts sparingly! Keep in mind that some of your users may not have the font installed on their machines and the "Cloister Black MT Light" font on your website may well be degraded into plain old Times New Roman on your user's machine. Stick to the plain vanilla fonts like Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, and Courier. If you are keen on using a fancy typography, make your jazzy fonts into an image and put that on the page (but keep Tip #1 in mind).
Never underestimate the importance of those META tags. They can make all the difference between your users coming to your site and going to your competitor's – just because they couldn't find yours. Meta tags help search engines classify your page. Duplicating or using the same keywords and description meta tags on every page of a website make them worthless. Customize the keywords and descriptions for each page or don’t use them at all.
Also avoid orphan pages or pages you failed to remember to supply links that don’t exist as far as the rest of the world is concerned. As well as alien pages or those that totally disregard the look and feel of the rest of your website and leave users feeling like they’ve been suddenly transported to a website far, far away.
Implementing a custom web design should be left on the hands of professional and experienced designers and developers. They have the skills and are abreast with the latest techniques in building websites that work.
martes, 23 de febrero de 2010
Content Writing and Custom Web Design
Textual content for websites are as important as the website design. A beautifully-designed website that has little or no textual content relevant to a visitor is deemed ineffective. A visitor is not expected to stay on a site that does not provide the information the he is looking for. Furthermore, keyword-rich content can give a website greater chances of landing on top of search engine results page which is essential in generating more targeted traffic. In other words, a stunning design and well-written content go hand in hand in creating an effective website.
Deciding on the kind of textual content must be made even from the onset of a custom web design project. If web design is the look and feel of a website, textual content would be its soul. Aside from the "copy" and other information that will be included in the textual content, it is also important to identify the proper “tone of voice” and writing style that will be used. These elements should be in sync with the company's overall brand message and placement.
Textual content plays a key role in effective search engine optimization (SEO) which is a very powerful marketing tool. Search engines have programs (called “spiders” or “robots”) which visit websites and collect the data they find there. They will store this data in search engines' database so that when someone searches for keywords, these sites' data will be considered in their algorithms. Depending on how a site does in the algorithm, it will appear higher or lower in the organic rankings. A well-optimized website have greater chances of getting on top of searches and thus attract more audience who are all looking for certain products or services. Thus it's imperative to write the content for your website in a way search engine robots can read it and use it.
Writing content for websites is different from writing for other media. Online folks “skim read” which means they will move away from a website if they don't see what they are looking for and find a site which is relevant to what they are searching for. Below are some tips on how to write content.
* Use subheadings. Since users skim read, subheadings are great way to help them find relevant content quickly.
* Keep it short and simple. Use bullet points; clear and simple language; and avoid using slang, or technical jargon unless necessary. Try and include one concept per sentence.
* Front-load content. Putting the jist of the article on top helps users determine whether the article is relevant to him or not.
* Keep the audience interested. Ensure the text is relevant and doesn’t go “around the bush” to get to the point. Write in an interesting way which will engage your audience.
Aside from writing relevant content for human audience, there are other content that are targeted for search engine "robots". These are invisible to the human eyes but are necessary for any website to be successful. These include tags in a website's page source code (title tags, keyword tags, description tags etc).
Implementing a custom web design project can be complicated for the inexperienced. It is ideal to leave this difficult task on the hands of expert web designers and developers who are capable of creating websites that are visually-stunning, have relevant content and also search engine "robots" friendly.
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Deciding on the kind of textual content must be made even from the onset of a custom web design project. If web design is the look and feel of a website, textual content would be its soul. Aside from the "copy" and other information that will be included in the textual content, it is also important to identify the proper “tone of voice” and writing style that will be used. These elements should be in sync with the company's overall brand message and placement.
Textual content plays a key role in effective search engine optimization (SEO) which is a very powerful marketing tool. Search engines have programs (called “spiders” or “robots”) which visit websites and collect the data they find there. They will store this data in search engines' database so that when someone searches for keywords, these sites' data will be considered in their algorithms. Depending on how a site does in the algorithm, it will appear higher or lower in the organic rankings. A well-optimized website have greater chances of getting on top of searches and thus attract more audience who are all looking for certain products or services. Thus it's imperative to write the content for your website in a way search engine robots can read it and use it.
Writing content for websites is different from writing for other media. Online folks “skim read” which means they will move away from a website if they don't see what they are looking for and find a site which is relevant to what they are searching for. Below are some tips on how to write content.
* Use subheadings. Since users skim read, subheadings are great way to help them find relevant content quickly.
* Keep it short and simple. Use bullet points; clear and simple language; and avoid using slang, or technical jargon unless necessary. Try and include one concept per sentence.
* Front-load content. Putting the jist of the article on top helps users determine whether the article is relevant to him or not.
* Keep the audience interested. Ensure the text is relevant and doesn’t go “around the bush” to get to the point. Write in an interesting way which will engage your audience.
Aside from writing relevant content for human audience, there are other content that are targeted for search engine "robots". These are invisible to the human eyes but are necessary for any website to be successful. These include tags in a website's page source code (title tags, keyword tags, description tags etc).
Implementing a custom web design project can be complicated for the inexperienced. It is ideal to leave this difficult task on the hands of expert web designers and developers who are capable of creating websites that are visually-stunning, have relevant content and also search engine "robots" friendly.
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martes, 9 de febrero de 2010
Fresh Techniques for Modern Web Design
There are so many beautifully-designed websites out there and coming up with one that stands out from the competition can be a daunting task. However, being abreast with the latest trends and techniques can help in creating outstanding custom web design. The following are some excellent techniques and design elements that can help designers in building beautiful and effective websites.
Bright Colors
Add a lot of impact to your custom web design by using vivid colors. Bright colors will work well on sites that want to appeal to younger demographics or for sites which want to exude a casual vibe. However, it is best to use colors either in the similar hues or saturation to keep the appearance cohesive and prevent the site from looking too busy.
Also make sure to allow sufficient contrast between elements without using too much (such as red text on a green background). This is especially important with text, as improper contrast can make things very difficult, if not impossible, to read.
Gradients and Lighting Effects
Gradients and lighting effects are ideal when you want give your site a more dramatic feel. Mixed or used separately, they can add a bit of extra polish to your designs. A subtle tone-on-tone gradient can make a great background, while gradients mixed with lighting effects are often used to create awesome header images.
Take caution when using both gradient and lighting effects (particularly multiple effects). For best results, limit either the colors used, the intensity of the lighting effects, or the overall number of effects to prevent your design from looking too busy.
Transparency
Add interest to your design by using transparent boxes. Whether it’s a photo, a sketch, or just geometric and graphic elements, transparent layers can give your background a larger part in your site’s design. However, this technique only works well when using backgrounds that aren’t too busy.
Grunge
Want to give your boring and antiseptic site an edge? Add in subtle grunge elements. The most common elements of grunge designs include dirty textures; messy borders (that often look like paint brush strokes or decay); torn paper; staples, paper clips and similar elements; muted colors; water or other liquid stains; grungy fonts; and other decayed and destructed elements. Carefully using any or all of these can add a new layer of interest to your design.
Hand-Drawn Images
Sketched and hand-drawn elements can make your custom web design look fun and cool. These elements can give whimsy and artistic vibe to your website. These sketches or doodled elements can work for sites that cater to the younger set.
Muted Colors
Just like vivid colors, muted colors are also a great way to create an inviting site. Mixing in muted colors with one or two brighter or darker accent colors can be put to good use to make certain elements of your site stand out. Muted colors don’t need to be limited to grays or browns. You can use any hue in the spectrum, just toned down or with a grayish-tinge.
Watercolor Effects
Thanks to Photoshop brushes and textures, using watercolor elements to boost the look of a website has become easier. Using watercolor effects in headers, backgrounds, and other elements is fast becoming a popular design trend. What makes watercolor elements outstanding is that they can easily be made to stand out or stay in the background depending on the colors you use and how transparent you make them. Either way works, and what you choose to do should depend on whether you want your site designs to have a bold or subdued appearance.
Elements from Nature
Aside from environmental and green industry websites, nature-inspired elements are also gaining popularity on designer portfolios and personal blogs. These elements can be used in a variety of ways. They can be used as part of a background design or can be incorporated into headers or icons. Some use them all over the place, wherever they’ll fit. Finding creative ways to incorporate nature-inspired elements can be a fantastic and fun design challenge.
Photo-Realistic Backgrounds
Photo-realistic backgrounds are created using multiple photographs or have elements added to photos that appear real but are actually digital or computer-generated. This technique has gained popularity over the past two years with the creation of desk-top or table-top backgrounds which generally consist of a wooden surface with various papers, coffee, cups, and other elements overlaid on them. It’s a difficult technique to pull off (making sure shadows and light sources are all consistent, etc.) but makes for an awesome effect when well-executed.
Oversized Typography
Add importance and impact to certain text elements in your website by using oversized typeface. Some sites even opt to use oversized typography for all their text, which actually works! However, you really don’t need to use humongous fonts for your text to have an increased impact; making it one or two sized larger than you normally would can work wonders for how much weight it has within the overall design.
Decorative Fonts
Fancy typography can definitely make a website pop! using a decorative font like a script together with a serif font gives a very elegant feel to any website. And with the advent of JavaScript and other text replacement tools, replacing text with an image in the desired font, is made easier. However, it is still wise to limit the number of fonts you want to use to prevent the site from looking too busy. But if typography is the primary graphic element within the site, you can use more diverse typefaces as long as you keep color and/or proportion similar.
Bold Backgrounds
The use of big background images is another note-worthy trend in modern web design. There are a number of ways to do this, including creating resizing images. By using more complex or simpler designs, limited or vibrant color schemes, and other, similar design choices, you can change the impact a big background will have.
Retro and Vintage Elements
Seeing retro, vintage, and antique elements on a website design is a refreshing sight. This kind of design is not yet that popular on the web and can provide a website with that fresh and new look. These elements can add a layer of fun or nostalgia to websites when used judiciously and can even add an extra layer of charm or class.
Stunning Headers
The header is usually the part of a website that first attracts the viewer’s attention. It often contains important information you want to stand out to your site’s visitors. They can reinforce your company’s image, provide vital information, highlight important features, and more. Using a header that’s eye-catching, through the use of color, images, and typography, makes it more likely visitors will take the time to look at what’s up there.
Collage Elements
Collage elements are some of the most versatile design options out there. Used sparingly with clean edges, they can make a custom web design look more polished and finished. With rough edges or used copiously, they can add a more artsy look to your site. And when they’re somewhere in between, they add a real flourish to website designs.
Textured Backgrounds
Using backgrounds with a bit of texture can make any website fascinating and add that extra bit of appeal to the site. A textured design, whether dirty and grungy or made to look like cloth or anything in between can really add some punch to the look of your site. There are literally thousands of textured and patterned backgrounds out there you can adapt to the design needs of your sites, or create your own for something truly one-of-a-kind.
Tabbed Navigation
As per our experience, tabbed navigation works better than button- or text-based navigation. Tabs sort of have a subliminal effect on viewers that clicking on a tab will take them to a new page or section, just like in a binder or notebook. This psychological connection makes it more likely people will click around on your site and visit different sections thereby increasing page views per visitor.
Black and White
Want to make a statement on your website? Use a black and white color scheme. Using stark black and white is the most graphic, but combining shades of white, light gray and cream with blacks, dark grays, and dark browns can all have a significant graphic impact. Experiment with different levels of contrast to come up with the appropriate level for your specific design project. A design with mostly white coloration makes a site feel lighter-weight and more streamlined while a mostly black design looks heavy.
Horizontal Scrolling
Horizontal scrolling does not work on all sites. They are best reserved for sites with limited content like a portfolio site. But when combined with modal boxes and other content elements, they can make a huge impact on your visitors. It’s something new to people who are more used to vertical scrolling thus, it can give such a huge impact.
Cartoon Elements
Another design technique that can add a touch of whimsy to a website is the use of cartoon elements. They add a level of fun and humor to your site. Whether you keep them relatively professional and polished in a corporate site or let them get a little looser, cartoon characters and other design elements keep your site looking fresher and younger.
Bright Colors
Add a lot of impact to your custom web design by using vivid colors. Bright colors will work well on sites that want to appeal to younger demographics or for sites which want to exude a casual vibe. However, it is best to use colors either in the similar hues or saturation to keep the appearance cohesive and prevent the site from looking too busy.
Also make sure to allow sufficient contrast between elements without using too much (such as red text on a green background). This is especially important with text, as improper contrast can make things very difficult, if not impossible, to read.
Gradients and Lighting Effects
Gradients and lighting effects are ideal when you want give your site a more dramatic feel. Mixed or used separately, they can add a bit of extra polish to your designs. A subtle tone-on-tone gradient can make a great background, while gradients mixed with lighting effects are often used to create awesome header images.
Take caution when using both gradient and lighting effects (particularly multiple effects). For best results, limit either the colors used, the intensity of the lighting effects, or the overall number of effects to prevent your design from looking too busy.
Transparency
Add interest to your design by using transparent boxes. Whether it’s a photo, a sketch, or just geometric and graphic elements, transparent layers can give your background a larger part in your site’s design. However, this technique only works well when using backgrounds that aren’t too busy.
Grunge
Want to give your boring and antiseptic site an edge? Add in subtle grunge elements. The most common elements of grunge designs include dirty textures; messy borders (that often look like paint brush strokes or decay); torn paper; staples, paper clips and similar elements; muted colors; water or other liquid stains; grungy fonts; and other decayed and destructed elements. Carefully using any or all of these can add a new layer of interest to your design.
Hand-Drawn Images
Sketched and hand-drawn elements can make your custom web design look fun and cool. These elements can give whimsy and artistic vibe to your website. These sketches or doodled elements can work for sites that cater to the younger set.
Muted Colors
Just like vivid colors, muted colors are also a great way to create an inviting site. Mixing in muted colors with one or two brighter or darker accent colors can be put to good use to make certain elements of your site stand out. Muted colors don’t need to be limited to grays or browns. You can use any hue in the spectrum, just toned down or with a grayish-tinge.
Watercolor Effects
Thanks to Photoshop brushes and textures, using watercolor elements to boost the look of a website has become easier. Using watercolor effects in headers, backgrounds, and other elements is fast becoming a popular design trend. What makes watercolor elements outstanding is that they can easily be made to stand out or stay in the background depending on the colors you use and how transparent you make them. Either way works, and what you choose to do should depend on whether you want your site designs to have a bold or subdued appearance.
Elements from Nature
Aside from environmental and green industry websites, nature-inspired elements are also gaining popularity on designer portfolios and personal blogs. These elements can be used in a variety of ways. They can be used as part of a background design or can be incorporated into headers or icons. Some use them all over the place, wherever they’ll fit. Finding creative ways to incorporate nature-inspired elements can be a fantastic and fun design challenge.
Photo-Realistic Backgrounds
Photo-realistic backgrounds are created using multiple photographs or have elements added to photos that appear real but are actually digital or computer-generated. This technique has gained popularity over the past two years with the creation of desk-top or table-top backgrounds which generally consist of a wooden surface with various papers, coffee, cups, and other elements overlaid on them. It’s a difficult technique to pull off (making sure shadows and light sources are all consistent, etc.) but makes for an awesome effect when well-executed.
Oversized Typography
Add importance and impact to certain text elements in your website by using oversized typeface. Some sites even opt to use oversized typography for all their text, which actually works! However, you really don’t need to use humongous fonts for your text to have an increased impact; making it one or two sized larger than you normally would can work wonders for how much weight it has within the overall design.
Decorative Fonts
Fancy typography can definitely make a website pop! using a decorative font like a script together with a serif font gives a very elegant feel to any website. And with the advent of JavaScript and other text replacement tools, replacing text with an image in the desired font, is made easier. However, it is still wise to limit the number of fonts you want to use to prevent the site from looking too busy. But if typography is the primary graphic element within the site, you can use more diverse typefaces as long as you keep color and/or proportion similar.
Bold Backgrounds
The use of big background images is another note-worthy trend in modern web design. There are a number of ways to do this, including creating resizing images. By using more complex or simpler designs, limited or vibrant color schemes, and other, similar design choices, you can change the impact a big background will have.
Retro and Vintage Elements
Seeing retro, vintage, and antique elements on a website design is a refreshing sight. This kind of design is not yet that popular on the web and can provide a website with that fresh and new look. These elements can add a layer of fun or nostalgia to websites when used judiciously and can even add an extra layer of charm or class.
Stunning Headers
The header is usually the part of a website that first attracts the viewer’s attention. It often contains important information you want to stand out to your site’s visitors. They can reinforce your company’s image, provide vital information, highlight important features, and more. Using a header that’s eye-catching, through the use of color, images, and typography, makes it more likely visitors will take the time to look at what’s up there.
Collage Elements
Collage elements are some of the most versatile design options out there. Used sparingly with clean edges, they can make a custom web design look more polished and finished. With rough edges or used copiously, they can add a more artsy look to your site. And when they’re somewhere in between, they add a real flourish to website designs.
Textured Backgrounds
Using backgrounds with a bit of texture can make any website fascinating and add that extra bit of appeal to the site. A textured design, whether dirty and grungy or made to look like cloth or anything in between can really add some punch to the look of your site. There are literally thousands of textured and patterned backgrounds out there you can adapt to the design needs of your sites, or create your own for something truly one-of-a-kind.
Tabbed Navigation
As per our experience, tabbed navigation works better than button- or text-based navigation. Tabs sort of have a subliminal effect on viewers that clicking on a tab will take them to a new page or section, just like in a binder or notebook. This psychological connection makes it more likely people will click around on your site and visit different sections thereby increasing page views per visitor.
Black and White
Want to make a statement on your website? Use a black and white color scheme. Using stark black and white is the most graphic, but combining shades of white, light gray and cream with blacks, dark grays, and dark browns can all have a significant graphic impact. Experiment with different levels of contrast to come up with the appropriate level for your specific design project. A design with mostly white coloration makes a site feel lighter-weight and more streamlined while a mostly black design looks heavy.
Horizontal Scrolling
Horizontal scrolling does not work on all sites. They are best reserved for sites with limited content like a portfolio site. But when combined with modal boxes and other content elements, they can make a huge impact on your visitors. It’s something new to people who are more used to vertical scrolling thus, it can give such a huge impact.
Cartoon Elements
Another design technique that can add a touch of whimsy to a website is the use of cartoon elements. They add a level of fun and humor to your site. Whether you keep them relatively professional and polished in a corporate site or let them get a little looser, cartoon characters and other design elements keep your site looking fresher and younger.
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