KPA WEB Design Services Blog

Why Attractive Websites Work Better

noreply@blogger.com (Kidist) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:36:00 +0000

Please read this long, but highly interesting, article titled "Visual Decision Making" on how "beauty enhances usability" when it comes to people visiting your website. Here is a short quote from the article:

[R]esearch shows that website users are powerfully influenced by aesthetics, and that positive perceptions of order, beauty, novelty, and creativity increase the user’s confidence in a site’s trustworthiness and usability. Recent design writing and interface research illustrate how visual design and user research can work together to create better user experiences on the web: experiences that balance the practicalities of navigation with aesthetic interfaces that delight the eye and brain. In short: there’s lots of evidence that beauty enhances usability.

The author of the article goes into various theories about why attractive websites have better reception by visitors, but the bottom line is that looking good is as important as functioning well.

Read the whole thing here.

The Evolution of a Website

noreply@blogger.com (Kidist) — Thu, 28 May 2009 15:33:00 +0000

On the left is a stock image that the designer used to create the final image on the right

Website design is a long process. It starts with the clients, who have some ideas at hand, but more often than not depend on the designer to produce something that resembles their ideas.

The beginning is truly intuitive, starting with ideas, then going onto more concrete things like colours, fonts, graphics, photos, and of course the text or content of the site.

The designer from Thinkvitamin.com had two days to design an events website with simply the briefing: "To design and build a site to promote [the] new Stack Overflow DevDays event that’s happening this October." Stack Overflow is a programming Q & A site.

It doesn't really matter who or what Stack Overflow is, the interesting part is how the designer worked with:

- Stock image of a globe
- Unique way to display event cities on the globe
- Change of direction from pastel-coloured images and icons to a more line and colour design
- Adding photos instead of just graphics
- Borrowing ideas for elongated fonts from another graphic designer
- Changing the colour scheme to bold grays and reds

The designer spends about half the time thinking and experimenting with his ideas. He pools from his own creative resources, as well as using samples and examples from other web and graphic designers.

Finally, he consults with his client to get their feed back.

Go through a simple visual journey of the design process here.

The Stack Overflow DevDays Event website is now up and running.

Job well done.

Advertising Your Website With Original Business Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Kidist) — Thu, 21 May 2009 13:05:00 +0000

From Another Blooming Designer. Business card as houseplant.

A website is part of your advertisement. It is a place where people can learn about your business, who you are, what you sell, what your specials of the month are, and any other information that can get them to use your services.

But just because you have an online presence doesn't mean that people are automatically going to come to your website. Your website, which is an advertisement for your services, also needs it own publicity! Yes, we have to advertise our websites so that people can access them to see what our services are.

There are many unusual and original ways for you to get people to pay attention to your website based on a loose concept of business cards. Ordinary business cards are 3.5"x2" cards with a 15pt thickness, where you put your pertinent information. But now they have become much more imaginative and interesting. I have blogged about this, and written an article on it (please refer to my main website for information about my articles).

Below are some examples of business cards taken to another level. You can wear, hand out, send these "cards", or find any number of ways to get them out to your potential customers. You can put them at the counter in your store (and even sell some of them), you can leave them in other stores or community centers, you can get your kids to wear them around town (t-shirts would be a good one), and the rest is up to your imagination!

Here are some imaginative examples:

- Stickers and fridge magnets

- Small pins

- Matches

- Holiday ornaments

- Small toys

- Functional things like pens, pencils, key chains, coasters

- Fun shapes and objects

- Games such as playing cards

- Mimic your store - if yours is a bakery, make some shapes that resemble breads or pies

- Make something crafty - like a hand-sewn sachet

- And more...

You can read more at this site. The great thing is that once you start using your imagination, all kinds of ideas start popping up.

Getting Stock Photos for Free

noreply@blogger.com (Kidist) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:49:00 +0000

If you are adding photos to your website which are related to personal (or unique) posts, that only your own photos can enhance, I recommend getting a simple digital camera, and with no worries about film and extra costs (make sure you get the re-loadable batteries). You can then just shoot away.

But, other times, the perfect picture can be elusive, or you don't have sufficient training or a good enough camera that can deliver. That is why online stock photos are so useful. Some will charge you some money - very minimal unless you plan to use them for print editions or commercial ventures. Many are free. Make sure you read the terms and conditions just to be on the safe side.

Here at Tutorial Blog, you can find "25 Places to Find Awesome Stock Photos — Free and Cheap!", as describe by the post editor. Each option comes with a review.

Some commentators at the bottom have added a couple of other sites. Make sure to scroll down to get their links also.

Why Typography Counts

noreply@blogger.com (Kidist) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:07:00 +0000

In my last post, I talked about the importance of writing for the web. Now I will talk about a more visual aspect of writing, which is typography.

Just as we spend time on the colour, layout and other design elements of a web page, the type of font (size, style, colour etc.) is equally important.

There are limitations, of course, as I demonstrated in this blog post. For example, back ground colours and font colours should be carefully chosen to allow maximum legibility.

A blog dedicated to typography called I Love Typography, gives you all the ins and outs about how to make a font, the winning fonts (for 2008), a history of typography, and much more.

I especially recommend the post: On choosing Type.

Browse through this little blog, it has a wealth of information.

The Importance of Writing

noreply@blogger.com (Kidist) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 15:14:00 +0000

Websites have to juggle many things to make their sites successful. Technology is one which we of course cannot avoid - blogs, videos, slide shows, animations, interactive sites, and the list goes on.

How good your website looks - colour, layout, where your items are positioned and overall design also makes a difference.

But, I have seen very few people address writing.

A techy web designer from Particletree advocates the power of writing. He is trying to learn a new skill, and in the process found for us a good list of places to go.

This is what he says about writing, which he also calls communication, quoting from another blog Writing clear and simple:

The words you use, either written or spoken, can have powerful effects on your audience‚—if you use them carefully and skillfully. Whether your goal is to inform, to persuade, to call for action, or to entertain, your words and your stories can be powerful. They can be powerful, because language is software for the mind.

Here are some of the links he gives to help with writing skills:

Writing for the web is also a special skill. After honing some good preliminary writing rules and skills, it is still important to gear your writing for the web rather than for print. People read differently on the web.

I have written a blog and an article about this which you can preview here.

Free and Stock Icons

noreply@blogger.com (Kidist) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:18:00 +0000

A new website called Icon Dock has launched affordable (and a few free) icons for use on websites. Many people don't have time to design a full-fledged icon for simple functions like:

- forward and back buttons
- links to different pages
- visual guides to page and topic headings

Icon Dock makes this much easier by providing appropriate (adjustable) icons.

Here are more reasons why Icon Dock thinks their stock icons would be of use to you:

Affordable

Buy only what you need. There is no minimum quantity. You can buy Icons individually or buy a complete set for better savings.

Flexible

Our vector icons are scalable, so you can export them to any size for web purposes or high resolution print materials like brochures and advertising.

Editable

Edit icons with any vector software (such as Adobe Illustrator) – easily change the gradient and stroke color to fit your designs.

Combinable

Create your own icon by combining a few of ours. Try combining the “page icon” with the “plus icon” to get a “create new page” icon. The possibilities are endless.

They are just starting out, so their choices are limited. But, according to their terms of use, icons you download are flexible in a number of ways (as explained above), which gives you more options than just what they have provided.

Make sure to check their blog for news, and also for new icons (both free and stock).

A good idea that goes just a little further than the clip arts of yonder years.

Original Navigation Menus

noreply@blogger.com (Kidist) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:58:00 +0000

A unique navigation menu makes your website that much more interesting.

You have to be careful, though, that the theme of the navigation menu fits the theme and overall design of your website. Being too original can also distract your visitors from going through the information on your website and finding what they want.

For example, don't make the navigation menus:
- Too complicated
- Have too much information
- Take up too much space
- Have too many unnecessary links (cut down as much as possible)

Navigation menus are tools for...navigation. That should be their primary purpose.

Here are some suggestions for original and successful menus from Smashing Magazine.

I agree with the authors on the majority of their suggestions (they have written helpful blurbs on each choice, and provided links to the actual websites), but I still think some of the designs could have gone a little further with the ideas.

For example, when hovering over a link on a menu, it would be useful to have some visual cues as well. Like the hover produces a different colour, or a different script, just to indicate that the link is "active".

Another suggestion would be, why not take the design to its logical conclusion?

Here is a navigation menu which look like piano keys (not quite, but that is the impression I got when I first saw this design.) It is the second example on the list at Smashing Magazine.

The original design just lets you click on each link, without changing anything. See the original design at the website, or here below.

Original design, with no interaction

Why not add a "sliding" component when you hover over each link, and change the colour as well? This fits in with the overall design, isn't too overwhelming, helps isolate that particular link and shows it is active. And it adds an interesting interaction for the visitor.

I have redesigned (using Flash) this menu. I've changed only the "About" link just as a demonstration. You can view it here below.

Click on the "About" link to see it sliding forward and changing colour. This feature is not on the original, and I think it makes their design better (more interesting and more functional.)

Redesigned "About" link to add more interactivity

I think many of the examples the authors gave could have gone just this extra mile (or inch.)

5 options when website budgets get slashed

noreply@blogger.com (Kidist) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 03:29:00 +0000

Here is an excellent site with pragmatic solutions on how to design or redesign a website if your "internet" funds have been reduced.

I have made a short summary of each of the five points, but reading the whole article is worthwhile.

1. Realign rather than redesign
One good point this web article makes is that a complete overhaul of your site may actually confuse your loyal visitors. Rather than make colour or layout changes, why not look at what the site is actually doing - is it providing the appropriate information, is it preventing viewers from getting that information quickly and efficiently? Then "realign" accordingly.

2. Simplify
Instead of adding content, links and other features, why not reduce or remove? Careful analysis of traffic to the website will indicate which features are popular, and which aren't.

3. Prioritize and phase development
Make changes on an incremental basis. Have the core of the website ready, but make new additions over time. This works well, for example, with content rich material such as photos and videos. Have the space available for them, but install them over time, or when they're ready.

4. Reuse and recycle
This is really a variation of the first point. Use, for example, the already constructed Google maps, rather than designing your own interactive map. Or Youtube and Flicker to add video and photo content, rather than designing custom video and photo galleries.

5. Move beyond the website
This relates to my post of about two weeks ago where I said "Blogs are the new websites". Why not open a Facebook or a Myspace account? You can post pictures and videos on both, and update your readers on various activities. There is room for short biographies and other content (even if you are selling things). You can open these sites for free, and many blogging sites are either free or of minimal cost.

Web Design Trends for 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Kidist) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 04:39:00 +0000

Here is an interesting website describing web design trends for 2009. I have posted some of the more functional ones.

- Multi-page layouts: This is a blog style layout, where the middle section (often with the changing content) is competing with the left and right margins - which are filled with links, and other more permanent information.

- Huge illustrations and vibrant graphics : This would be good for artists' sites, or for sites which want to have a pictorial representation of the website - such as restaurants and retail stores.

- More white space: This kind of website avoids the clutter of too much colour, text or images.

- "Speaking" navigation: We have often been confused by navigation buttons which don't give us enough information (or are just icons for us to decipher). Giving enough space to be more descriptive about navigation buttons can help web browsers get where they need to quicker.

- More creative layouts: The trend has been to follow set rules and structures for web layout. Part of the reason is that people will have an easier time following what they are familiar with. But, websites have been around for while now, and web browsers are getting more comfortable with unusual or more creative layouts. In fact, this could be the driving force for them to visit your website.

Do continue to read these trends at Smashingmagazing.com.

Blogs are the new websites

noreply@blogger.com (Kidist) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 22:36:00 +0000

Yes, your website can be a blog!

New software such as Movabletype and Typepad are progressively making their blog software look more and more like websites.

For example, they are making it easier to add (with a little help) special navigational features such as "About", "Home", "Specials" and any other menus that you wish.

Of course, the main part of your website will then be blogging. But, for updating your clients and visitors about your latest activity, even on a daily basis, this could be the route to take.

It also adds a slightly less formal aspect to your website, where you appear to be conversing or chatting with your "visitors".

You can even activate the comments section, and let people drop in their views, questions and suggestions.

This actually means that you don't have to depend on your designer 24/7 to update some aspects of your website - specifically your latest activities. You can manage parts of your content yourself.

An Attractive Website Is To Your Advantage

noreply@blogger.com (Kidist) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 17:26:00 +0000

There are a million and one websites to click through. Many focus their attraction quotient on their product. Some on their marketing ability. Others on bells and whistles. And still others on their interactivity.

There is no question that all these are important points to consider in the overall design. But, I have seen very few websites which genuinely consider how good they look as one of their selling points.

Part of the reason is that many websites are designed by "techies". People who love to fiddle with codes, scripts, and other structural aspects of websites. Even amongst a team, the person who's considered the "designer" often has no formal background in color, composition, graphics or typography.

Quite frankly, most people can build their own basic website. Some of the technical components are not so complicated anymore. You can choose from thousands of software to do the rudimentaries. Of course the trained web designer will be able to narrow in on the appropriate, cost-effective and most reliable software in very short notice, saving you both time and money.

But, a trained graphic designer, with an eye out for aesthetics, is hard to find. As are those especially attractive websites. One of your criteria for your website should be how good it looks. And spend some time finding the designer who can do that for you.

Merry Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Kidist) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:26:00 +0000

And A Happy New Year!

Online Music

noreply@blogger.com (Kidist) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 08:30:00 +0000

Sam the Record Man recently shut its doors forever, leaving the building and the neon sign to Ryerson University. I used to buy my classical music CDs from there, for bargain prices of around $7. There were also knowledgeable salesmen who could advise me on the smallest details from the quality of the recording studio to the proficiency of the musician.

At another music store, this time a second-hand one, the owner was describing how he was losing customers due to online music stores for CDs and DVDs (Amazon.com is a well-stocked online store), as well as downloadable music (iTunes is a popular download program available for free).

Patrons can also find all kinds of help online, including a community of like-minded aficionados, where discussion boards, blogs, and other sources of information have replaced the music store salesman.

These digitized music sources are a great advantage for music on websites. Downloadable music from iTunes (or other web sources) are relatively easy to acquire since you can usually buy a single piece of music at at time, rather than whole CDs.

Once at iTunes, you can convert these songs into the appropriate files, which you can then incorporate into your website for whatever purpose you desire: either as samples of music, or as a background music for your website.

Or, if you have even the rudimentary software, you can convert your songs from your CDs into digital files, to use for your website.

Of course, you have to provide credit for the music, to avoid copyright issues.

Here is a good comprehensive web article which describes all the various facets of online music.

Website Navitation and Layout

noreply@blogger.com (Kidist) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:33:00 +0000

This blogger provides the same kinds of tips that I do in my articles and blogging topics.

His main advice is:

A clean layout and neat navigation... enhances its looks.

Not only does a clean layout and neat navigation enhance the look of our website, it will also attract, and keep, your visitors since they will find it easy to get around your website the get the information they need.

Here is the rest of the post titled: "Give importance to layout and navigation", which I've posted in its entirety (with a few of my additions, in italic). You can read other tips and recommendations here.

Give importance to layout and navigation

· Prepare your site navigation before designing to prevent cluttering up the site with forgotten links.

· A clean-cut and uniform navigation system is a must.

· If you have too many links then you should use drop-down menus for your main topics.

· The navigation should be flexible enough to accommodate any amount of additional links since you probably will be adding pages periodically. For this using drop-down menus or section home pages is a must [Not necessarily a must, since you can add more links horizontally. But drop-down menus will accommodate a large number of links.]

· Keep your main links together as much as possible so that visitors can absorb them at one shot and know what your site conveys about your company. Check out how all our major links appear in our top navigation bar and all related section links are listed in the right hand side menu.

· There is no harm is showcasing important links (even repeated links) that you think might interest the visitor. Small boxes describing the link should look good.

· If you like a graphic intensive site and find there is not much space for accommodating all your links, you can have a separate home (splash) page and all other pages as content pages. Thus your home page can have visual appeal and your inner content pages can have elaborate navigation structures while focusing on the content.

· Use your navigation space efficiently. Use short, clear and precise words in your links so that your visitors know what the corresponding page will contain.

Background Colors Revisited

noreply@blogger.com (Kidist) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:07:00 +0000

I am reposting this important blog entry on background colors.

The background color of your site affects how people read the information at hand, and is therefore extremely important.

News sites, which mostly on text almost always have a white, or very light, background. And most professional museums and galleries, whose main attraction are the images, also use white as their background.

My recommendation will always be: keep the background light. A little creativity (pale yellow or cream) may add to the uniqueness of your site, but for maximum clarity, keep the background light.

Addendum: Try the link at the end of the post to view different background colors with a multicolored of text.
------------------------------------------

Background Colors

One of the most difficult decisions to make with a website is the background. Text is usually best read when on a contrasting background. But, usually, it is much easier on the eyes if the background is light, and the text is dark. Even different colors are easier to read if the background is lighter.

Think about it, most of the time we're looking at things in daylight - a light background. At night, a dark background, even with as many lights as we shine on things, it is still more difficult to see our way around things than during the day.

See what you think (and see) by clicking on different background options at this very ingenious link.

Websites Can Counter the Economic Crunch

noreply@blogger.com (Kidist) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:40:00 +0000

Websites catering to small and mid-sized businesses report increased demand for their services - some as high as 24% - as a result of the economic downturn.

Most savvy business owners have already realized that a website provides for exponential benefits if it is designed well, and advertises cleverly. But, especially during harder economic times, small and mid-sized businesses are beginning to realize the benefits of having websites.

The cost of designing and maintaining websites are minimal, compared to print and third party advertising venues. The web, like its name indicates, builds an endless network of contacts, attracting clients from far and wide, increasing its business base through low-cost and high visibility.

So, now more than ever, a website will definitely bring in those extra benefits, and the gains will certainly exceed the costs.

Reading Online

noreply@blogger.com (Kidist) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:42:00 +0000

People read websites differently than they do books or other printed material.

One pattern of website reading resembles the letter F:

Reading the first few lines from all the way horizontally from left to right, with vertical scanning taking precedence going down the page.

Another online reading behavior is that people will look for outstanding cues like bulleted words, changes in color, type-face and font size variations and supporting graphics and images.

What is happening is that online readers want their information quickly, easily and fast.

Unless readers come to your website purely for the writing (and there are websites which are primarily there for reading long articles and essays), the reality is that they want a web version of writing.

I discuss this in my article: "How to make the most of your website", which is in fact written in the exact manner that I describe above, with bullets, font changes and color variations.

To obtain this article, both as an example of online writing (of a relatively long article) and to improve your website, you can purchase the article for only $5, and read a preview of it by logging into the membership section.

Here is an excerpt from "How to make the most of your website" which focuses on writing online:

How can you make your website a success?

One of the most important things about a website is that you say everything you want to say in an organized manner, in a way that whoever is reading will easily remember by connecting with you.

How can you do this?

Make sure your website address is easy-to-remember
Use your name or the name of your company for your address
That way your website address alone can become your publicity

Most people scan online, they don’t really read
Don’t write too much
Make it easier for people by bulleting and highlighting your text

Try to use some images in your website
Don’t rely only on text
Find the appropriate images. For example, people really like to see photos of the people involved in the website and the business

Have an interactive space
Have a comment box for your email so people can write back to you on the website. That way they feel like they’re talking to you
Try to have slide shows and other galleries. By clicking buttons, people feel they’re participating in the show

Make it easy to browse through your website
Have a simple design
Edit out as much as possible – text, images, buttons, etc…
Have clear links

Finally, don’t forget your external links
People always want to know who you are associated with
Have carefully selected links to other websites in your Links section

Reference:
Online Literacy Is a Lesser Kind
Slow reading counterbalances Web skimming
By MARK BAUERLEIN
The Chronicle for Higher Education

To Flickr or to Youtube

noreply@blogger.com (Kidist) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 19:57:00 +0000

There are many professionally designed methods to put photos and videos onto your main website. This is the recommended route if you want your website to look serious.

But, there is no reason why you cannot put in photos and videos onto your blog, using the many free or low-priced website sources.

The most popular, and the most user friendly are Flickr and Youtube.

Part of the charm of Flickr and Youtube is that they act like a type of a blog. Some people opt for purely a Flickr or Youtube presence, uploading their videos and photo and posting them with comments, to maintain a photo or video journal.

You can connect to your Flickr and Youtube posts by simply having a link on your blog, or by actually downloading a video onto your blog posting. Unfortunately, you can upload only from your Youtube account directly to your blog. Photos need to be uploaded from your files (from your hard drive, or other file sources, not from Flickr), or just linked to from a Flickr page.

Movable Type, Wordpress allow a seamless website/blog look

noreply@blogger.com (Kidist) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:30:00 +0000

Older blog software were limited in their function. Their primary purpose was to let you post your blog articles on regular intervals, have your readers comment on them and provide an easy way for them to find older posts (usually by date or by category).

Many individuals and companies have been adding blogs to their main websites for a while now. This gives their customers and readers a place to find a variety of updated, current information, and even interact with the website besides just sending emails.

What is happening now is the reverse. Many bloggers are finding that they want to add a website-like appearance to their blogs.

For example, they may wish to sell some products (often books or artwork), they may want to add an extensive "Abouts" page, or a section for scheduled events , and a special menu for their links (to other blogs and other sites), an articles section if they also write for other journals or online sites, and of course the requisite "Contacts" page.

The site then seamlessly functions both as a website, and as a regularly updated blog.

Popular blogging software such as Movable Type and Wordpress have come up with just this version of web+blog.

Here are some examples of websites and blogs that combined together to provide the functions of both.

* Serious Eats very successfully merges both the functions of a blog and that of a content-driven website.

Regular bloggers post daily on a number of topics, and readers can interact with comments, and even participate by asking questions and making entries in the "Talk" forum*.

Besides blog posts, there are also columns which provide article-style posting.

* The Torontoist website posts daily information about Toronto. It has categorized its topics in its menu on top of the page, as well as adding a more conventional website menu including "about", an interesting "schedules" menu to know when the various topics will be posted, and a "staff" link with emails and contacts also added.

The Torontoist is part of a large, urban-based network of websites/blogs also found in New York, Vancouver and London, England.

* Even big organizations and institutions are using the Movable Type and Wordpress web and blog combination to greater effect, allowing for regular updates of news and events, some with commenting possibilities, and others with blog-like features for sharing and emailing these posts.

Almost everyone is now used to some kind of interactivity on websites. They also expect regular updates on information on events, specials (sales, items), schedules and other news that regularly change.

I have written briefly about this in another post.

*A forum is an online place where members login to discuss issues of similar interest. There are thousands of forums out there from discussing the latest reality TV episodes to intricate mathematical questions. Many websites are now including forums as well as blogs.

Promoting Your Website

noreply@blogger.com (Kidist) — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 14:06:00 +0000

In my article, How to Make the Most of Your Website, I have a section called:

How serious are you about promoting your work?

Here is a list of my recommendations.

The most important being:

Use every setting possible to publicize your website.

* Post on online sites

Find other websites to link to yours (and link theirs to yours)
Post your website on blogs and online groups
Start your own blog, and link to other like-minded blogs
Leave messages with comments and your services (subtly) on online boards
Send out your website on E-news letters
Find commercial websites that can advertise your site (usually for a small fee)

* Sign off everything with your website

On your business card
On your brochures
On any article or piece of writing

* Tell people your website address

Try to make your website easy to remember. This could be through a short address, a meaningful address (i.e. it spells out your company name clearly) or other ways to make your contact remember your website.
Just saying your website address can trigger someone to look it up later

* Put your website in visible places

On t-shirts
On paintings or craft work
On cars
On carry-on bags
On other merchandise

* Make sure that search engines like google can easily find your website.

For more information on how to obtain the article: How to Make the Most of Your Website, please go to kidistdesigns.com, and follow the membership information.

Introductory Animations

noreply@blogger.com (Kidist) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:13:00 +0000

Do introductory animations enhance your website?

Here are a few golden rules to follow.

- Make sure that the theme of your animation fits your website.

- The length of the animation is also important. Many animations give you the option to "skip intro." This is usually because the animations are so long that the website viewers may lose interest and leave the site before the animation is over.

- So, short, (5-10 seconds) animations will make everyone happy: the website has an interesting introduction, and it is not too long to lose readers.

- Make the website animation part of the logo and overall look of the website. That way, there is a continuity between the introductory page and the rest of the website.

- Add sound if it is necessary. Animations work well with or without sound.

- But, many readers may not want any sound, since they would have to adjust the volume of their speakers to hear your animation (or turn it down).

- There is nothing wrong with a little bit of creativity and motion. It is after all the bells and whistles that sometimes add the finishing touches. So work hard to produce a creative animation - put some work into it - rather than just doing one for the sake of it.

- Finally, such details in design - color, composition, layout, and also animations - are the extra elements that enhance your website to keep your visitors coming back.

Here are a couple of introduction animation samples that follow (most) of the rules outlined above:

- A rotating globe as an introduction to a website whose theme is "nation to nation"

- An animation of a book opening for a library website

The Advantages of Web Video

noreply@blogger.com (Kidist) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:54:00 +0000

In my earlier blogs, I wrote about the useful additions of images. A picture is (sometimes) worth a thousand words. But of course, the picture has to be a good one.

The same with web video. Often, a a video can interest a reader to further investigate what else is available on the website.

Some helpful ways to use videos are:

Videos to show short samples of the organizations activities.

trailers

website

Videos presenting information and direction.

flag folding

cooking chicken dishes

Videos for complete speeches or interviews.

interview

Although the size of the video (1/2 an hour or 30 seconds) is no longer an issue in today's web technology, it is still always important to keep the size down to a bare minimum. The larger (the longer) the video, the more space you will need to store it. And why use up space unnecessarily.

So, like everything else about websites, editing is a very important step to keep your own website functioning well. The smaller the video size the better. Of course, that doesn't mean affecting the quality of your video. If a 1/2-hour is really necessary, then keep the video that long.

There are many ways to install video into your website; Real video, Media Player, Youtube and Flash Video are some of the options.

To decide on which one to use, it is best to discuss the options with your website designer.

Your Own Image Libarary

noreply@blogger.com (Kidist) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 16:42:00 +0000

Many sites want to promote their images without necessarily selling anything. Usually, the reason for their site is to inform people about their collections. This type of website slightly differs from a site whose main function is to promote and eventually to attract a market.

Online libraries, or galleries have to carefully display their images, and provide pertinent information on their images.

Here are some ways to do this.

Start with clear thumbnails, which can be clicked to view an enlarged version of the image

When making thumbnails, make sure that the smaller images are clearly visible, so that they direct the viewer to the enlarged version.

The thumbnails should really include the whole image, rather than a cropped section, to make it easier to identify what the image is.

A long, scrollable thumbnails page is a good idea whenever possible, since viewers often don't want to click to the next page just to get another list of thumbnail images.

A good number of thumbnails to have per page is between 20 and 40.

The enlarged image of the thumbnail can open up in a new window or a new page. Either way, the viewer will have to click the new window closed, or link back to the original thumbnail page.

If you're going to open a new window, make sure it is large enough to fit the image and the text, and your viewer doesn't have to scroll up or down to find all the information.

I tend to prefer linking the larger image onto another page. That way, I can write as much as I want when describing the image.

Online galleries and image libraries are a good way to introduce your collection of images, whether for non-profit reasons, for a blog, or as a virtual gallery/library.

Here are some good examples which use online galleries using the list I've described above.

Armenian miniature illustrated manuscripts: This site displaying 20 thumbnails per page, each one clearly visible. The large version opens into a new page.

Virtual Museum of Canada featuring here A.J. Casson's work: Again with clearly identifiable thumbnails. The larger version opens into a new window. This window is a little cumbersome, since it is scrollable, and you have to adjust the size to see all the image.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art with a page on Christian artworks in Ethiopia: Notice how the main page has extensive writing with cropped off thumbnails (not recommended.) But each thumbnail opens to another page of a larger version. You can even enlarge the image more by opening it in a new window. Text is a very important part of this web museum, which is why they've opted to have the image open primarily in a new page, rather than a new window.

Preview from article: Where Should You Put Menus? And Should You Have Sub-Menus?

noreply@blogger.com (Kidist) — Wed, 14 May 2008 07:59:00 +0000

Websites often have lots of menus to list. The standard About, Contact, Biography and Services are often not enough.

The dilemma is where to put all those menus and sub-menus.

Here are some options:

- List everything horizontally across the top

Advantages: People can see every topic and item you wish to cover as soon as they enter your website

Disadvantages: If you have a lot of content, your web page has to be pretty wide, usually extending from one side to the other. Otherwise, you would have to edit very carefully what makes up your menus.

Example: Artdaily.org. Art daily has placed all of its menus (all 11 of them) across its website.

- List the important menus where they're most visible, and subsidiary ones like About, Contact, Privacy Statements etc... either at the very top or at the very bottom

Advantages: Frees up more space horizontally

Disadvantages: Could be difficult to find the subsidiary menus

Example: Paypal has put it's most important menus to get you started (Home, Personal, Business, Products & Services) horizontally about 1/4 from the top. At the very top, and at the very bottom, it has a large list of subsidiary menus for more detailed and additional information.

For more information on the article, please register here, or purchase it at the store .