Wed Design Ideas II: Using Photos and Illustrations

In this article, I talk about design (that is, web site design) and content. "Design" includes the parts of your web page that show up repeatedly throughout your site – typically, this includes the header area, navigation bar, footer area, maybe the background, etc. "Content", for the purposes of this article, includes just the bulk of your text, which is typically located somewhere in the middle of each page.

When talking about design, I cannot stress enough: High quality photography and/or illustrations are the best way to create visual interest in your design – they will really, really increase the level of professionalism of your web site. And it is especially important that you invest in high-quality photography or illustrations rather than using low-quality snapshots you might have lying around ... the difference between the two is stunning, and your site visitors will notice. If you are unable to buy or create high quality photography or illustrations, then it is probably better to leave photos out completely than to use low-quality snapshots in your design.

On the other hand, low-quality snapshots can be a great way to supplement your content. You can use snapshots to convey meaning, to show something specific (a person, place, pet or an object), or to help illustrate an idea. Plus, they also add visual intrest to what is typically the most visually boring area of the site (large swathes of text).

In a design, photos or illustrations can be displayed as they are, they can be cropped to show only specific parts, they can be blended into a background, etc. – obviously, photos can be used in numerous ways.

For professional photos and illustrations at fairly reasonable prices, check out online sources such as Corbis.com and Shutterstock.com. Another source that tends to be a bit more pricey but often has a larger, higher-quality selection is GettyImages.com. All of these sites offer low resolution versions of photos and illustrations, which is usually perfect for web use. (Note that low resolution does NOT mean low quality!) High resolution photos are usually necessary to create printed material, such as magazine ads, while low resolution photos are great for the web because they display just fine on computer screens, they always cost less, and they load faster into peoples' web browsers because the file size is smaller. (By the way, I get no kickbacks from any of the online photo sources listed above -- I'm just a web designer who is always on the lookout for really good photography at reasonable prices.)

Web Design Ideas I: Home Page Content

Every web site should have certain qualities, such as easily-understood navigation links and a clear, up-front description of purpose. But it is also critically important that a site's home page capture a visitor's attention by being visually interesting – but not cluttered – and by offering something of value to the visitor.

A web site is not read like a book!

Most of the time, people skim the home page of a web site much like they skim the front page of a newspaper – quickly, looking for any "headlines" that indicate there may be something of value to them, something worth reading in-depth. And just like with a newspaper, people start reading more carefully once they find an interesting "headline" and click farther into your site to read more about it.

So when you think about the home page of your site, think about posting content and/or images that will capture your visitors' attention and – most importantly – that will show your visitors what terrific value you can provide for them.