Best Free Resources, Part 1 — Graphics Color Your World
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Best Free Resources, Part 1 — Graphics Color Your World
The Web is a limitless supply of clip art and animations, as you have already probably experienced. When you visit complex and highly structured Web pages, like those maintained by large businesses or IT “gurus,†it is understandable that this might intimidate a Webmaster who doesn’t have either the time or the capacity to create such attention-grabbing art forms from scratch.
Take some time to explore Web sites that provide stock photos and clip art. There are unmistakably hundreds of Web sites for online creatives, where you can discover clip art of all kinds and appeal. Some sites offer “free” photos for anybody to use — with or without restrictions. There are many sites with large collections of high quality graphics — clipart, illustrations, and stock photography.
The best advantage of using clip art in your site’s graphic design is that it is a simplified process — just about anybody can creatively use it. You don’t have to be a professional graphic artist in order to design sharp images. Your knowledge of using the computer and the Internet will suffice, and thereby you will be able to construct images that might even outshine images that the best pro’s in graphic design create! At the very least, your chosen art works will reflect your personal taste and values.
When you begin your exploration for great-looking graphics on the Net, you will come up with a mountain of sites that offer clip-art, graphics, and photos. Be prepared… some images – common ones (such as the tired, old “under construction†sign, some forms of free clip art, and world globes — have been used a million times and we have gotten sick of looking at them. Also, a word of warning — free clipart Web sites often supply small tons of banner and pop-up advertising and some even have more menacing items, such as spyware applications that install themselves automatically on your computer. You will never know what hit you, until it HITS you!
The cheerless reality is that you might be able to code HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) in your sleep — but without fundamental graphic design skills, software that fits the online requirements, and a little bit of time for both learning curve and honing artistic skills, you still won’t have decorative, compelling images on your Web site. This includes navigation and “instructional†elements such as buttons, bars, icons, and promotional art.
What is your solution? Relax. This is really much easier than you think. Sit down at your PC and log on to the Internet. Go to your favorite search engine and carry out a search with key words such as “clipart,” “free graphics,” or “animations.” This kind of search more often than not results in dozens of Web sites where you can download all the Internet “Eye Candy†that you could possibly use. Most of these graphics are truly totally free, as long as you don’t do something like placing them on CD and distributing them to somebody else.
No doubt, you are seeking easy layout and design — Web pages typically are made up of headlines, photos, and text. These all must fit together to craft a design that is aesthetically pleasing for your site visitors. Illustrations and photos help you add the visual appeal that translates into a stong desire by your visitor, to buy. Here are a few tips for using graphics in your persuasion efforts:
* Keep your audience in mind -- men and women comprehend
colors differently. So you might want to use one arrangement
of colors if you are advertising to mostly men, and another
if you are marketing to women.
* Keep your product in mind --If your site is for camping or
gardening, you won’t want to use “royal†colors such as
purple, gold, or silver, as these hues are not prevalent in
nature.
* Never misuse the true functions of graphics. The search
engines are much smarter than that. It doesn’t matter how
essential it is for you to quickly become listed in the
search engines. Don’t kid yourself into hoping that you can
put hidden content in the background of your Web site, or
other obscure places such as image ALT tags. This is not
going to snag you a better ranking. In fact, it may do very
much the opposite. This is exactly the flipside of what you
wish to accomplish -- so be certain to steer far away from
anything that might put your footing with the search engines
at risk.
The sheer number of creative design options is certainly overwhelming. Well-designed, with properly chosen colors, your site will by design, set the visitor’s frame of mind for whatever you’re offering. Sensitively selected, quality images that truthfully support your sales copy will help to produce a positive reaction in your Web visitors.
No matter the reason for why you want images of any kind, buying images online, in a structured, organized “showing†or gallery, now measures much better than purchasing a humongous clipart collection and hoping to dig through enough of the CD, to find what you need. This is NOT fun.
Well-thought-out decisions in your images can dramatically change the look of your Web pages instantly — and, more importantly, they can instantaneously increase your online sales. Badly designed Web sites reflect shoddily on your business. Also keep in mind that even if the design of your Web site looks well turned-out, unless it follows the convention of Web marketing — image choices, copywriting, SEO, and the many other facets of Web development — it will not perform its job properly.
Exhibiting your goods and services in the best, most attractive approach — one that will generate a positive response from your potential customers — is a very specialized expertise, and is something a savvy, professional Web company should make a goal to attain excellence.
To your Success,
Carlo Selorio
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