|
|
|
12 Tips for Creating an Artist Website that Sells
Summary
Here's the scoop on what you must know when designing a website to showcase your art, impress galleries, and win over collectors. Learn how to avoid the mistakes most emerging artists make when creating their online portfolio. 1. You need...
How Much Does A Website Cost?
To receive a complementary consultation and free quote for your website project, complete our project survey form located here.
As a website designer, this is often the first question that I am asked by a new client. The simple answer is that...
IS YOUR WEB SITE UNFRIENDLY? Part 2 of 9
Part 2: IMAGES: make every one count Don't load your page with graphics, especially those "under construction" things. If the graphic has nothing to do with the content of your page it is best left out. "Why," I hear you ask, "shouldn't I have as...
Web Accessibility. . . Making your Pages Friendly to People with Disabilities
Did you know that nearly 20 percent of all Web users have some form of disability? “Making your site accessible for all is a matter of courtesy, is good business practice, and is not difficult,” explains Robert Roberts, a professional SEO who owns...
Web Hosting: Shared or Dedicated - Which Should You Choose?
Before you begin your search for a web host you should first determine whether you need shared web hosting or dedicated web hosting.
A shared web hosting account is an account on a web server that hosts other shared accounts. The number of...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Web Design for the No-Talent Artist
Not everyone can hit a 90 mile per hour fast ball 400 feet.
That's why there are so few major league baseball players.
Most everyone enjoyed art class while in school, but we also
realized there was probably only one in each classroom who
actually had a talent for drawing. So too with web design.
We can't all be like the brilliant Willie Otto
(http://reticulum.net/wso/), but that shouldn't limit our
ability to present a credible web offering that serves our
purposes, and attracts attention. If your graphic art talent
is limited to stick figures and cartoon landscapes, this
article may just be for you.
Know Your Limitations
Honestly judge your own abilities. No one knows better than
you the level of artistic talent you possess. Operate within
the limits. If you can't draw two straight lines, stick to
computer generated graphics. If you don't know the
difference between a pixel and a palette, perhaps you're
better off with text effects. If art is important to your
web site's business, consider hiring a professional, or
borrowing from the free graphics sites, but always give
credit where due.
Never Try to Baptize a Cat
. . . or develop your web graphics with Adobe Photoshop if
you have but two hours of training. The result will be the
same; lots of fur and blood. If you've never used any kind
of graphics editor before, I recommend Adobe's ImageStyler
or Jasc's Paint Shop Pro. They each have a very short
learning curve, a number of creative built-in special
effects, and make your first-time images look better than
average. Neither are very expensive, and ImageStyler
operates on both the Windows and Macintosh platforms.
Familiarize yourself with dingbats, and no, I'm not talking
about Edith Bunker. Don't know what those are? They are
little pieces of iconized art that a talented illustrator
has developed and turned into a font. There are thousands of
them available for download on the Internet for free, or a
small shareware fee. Type the letter A, and right before
your eyes you have a beautiful coat of arms or smiley face.
They come in all shapes and sizes; look like buttons or
arrows or caricatures; and make your job so much easier.
Plan Ahead
This is equally important to the most gifted professional or
rank amateur. Even if you can't draw or render, you can
visualize. Spend a lot of pre-computer time conjuring images
in your head. Make feeble attempts to transform those images
to paper
so you'll remember what you had in mind. You may
not be able to draw, but at least you have an imagination.
If you aren't a whiz with HTML, consider a WYSIWYG layout
editor. The editor will allow you to move your creation from
your mind to the screen.
If you do know something about programming and the modern
constructs of web page design, consider building your site
with external, included files. One of the most important
tenets of good web design is a consistent look and feel,
especially the navigation. The navigation should look and
operate the same on every page within your site. It gives
your guests a feeling of comfort.
If you construct your navigation within an external file
that is included at page load, you can save yourself tons of
repetitive effort. If you want to add a new section, instead
of having to change hundreds of pages, you merely change the
included file and you've added more functionality. There are
probably other pieces of your site that will appear on every
page. If so, put them in external files. You'll be glad you
did. Read up on server side includes and ASP (Active Server
Pages) too.
Photographs Are Our Friends
For the no-talent artists like me, photography becomes the
ultimate substitute for computer generated art. Buy yourself
a digital camera, or a scanner. If you need a graphic that
looks like a pumpkin patch, take a picture of one. Want to
create that perfect background scene to set the mood? No
better realization than the actual thing. Props in
photography can serve an equally compelling purpose as that
omni-filtered vector you spent days developing. If you don't
have the money or inclination to do digital photography
yourself, there are plenty of stock catalogs available for a
reasonable fee.
In summary, why make it harder on yourself than it needs to
be? If you get scared off by the marvelous professional
artists out there, you'll never give yourself a chance. Many
of the most enjoyable sites on the web were created by the
other twenty people who sat in that art class admiring the
work of Willie.
About the Author
Jeff Clark is webmaster of Internet Brothers: Helpware for
the Cybercommunity (http://internetbrothers.com), a web site
devoted to helping newcomers compete on the Internet.
Offering free tips, tutorials, and interviews about HTML and
DHTML, graphics editing, page layout and design, digital
photography, desktop publishing, and site promotion.
|
|
|
|
|
| Web Development |
| This web summarizes the complete life cycle methodology for web development: planning, analysis, design, implementation, promotion, and innovation. |
| www.december.com |
|
| Web Development |
| Professional Web site design, graphic design, and Internet development services. |
| webdevelopment.com |
|
| Web Developer's Virtual Library: Web Development Tutorials and ... |
| News, tutorials, and reference material focusing on technical web development topics. |
| www.wdvl.com |
|
| Open Source Web Development Tutorials - Dev Shed |
| Open Source web development tutorials, forums, and tools. Topics covered include PHP, Apache, mySQL, Zope, Roxen, Jserv, Zend, XML, DHTML, and Javascript. |
| www.devshed.com |
|
| WebDeveloper.com |
| Hello all, I am new to web development. I have an understanding of website development, but no scripting experience. I have heard of JavaScript, PHP, ... |
| www.webdeveloper.com |
|
| LevelTen Web Design | Professional Website, Flash & Graphic ... |
| Offers logos, web sites, multimedia presentations, and custom media. Quote form. Based in Dallas, Texas. [Requires Flash] |
| www.leveltendesign.com |
|
| Web development - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| For larger businesses and organizations, Web development teams can consist of ... Since the mid-1990's, Web development has been one of the fastest growing ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| Web Design - HTML XML - Web Development - Web Site Design |
| Web Design and HTML are all about creating a great Web site. Use Web development and Web site design to build Web sites that customers return to over and ... |
| webdesign.about.com |
|
| Agile Web Development with Rails—Second Edition |
| Dave Thomas, Mike Clark, David Heinemeier Hansson, Leon Breedt, Thomas Fuchs, Andrea Schwarz; Pragmatic Bookshelf, 2006, ISBN 0977616630. |
| www.pragmaticprogrammer.com |
|
| CYGAD's WebDevelopment - Welcome to CYGAD’s WebDevelopment! - The ... |
| CYGAD's WebDevelopment - The finest Resources for WEB-Design, WEB-Master and WEB-Developer! |
| www.webdev.cygad.net |
|
| Web Development Bookmarklets |
| Includes tools for viewing and testing CSS styles, viewing scripts and variables, and showing the structure of a document. |
| www.squarefree.com |
|
| SGI - Freeware - Web Development |
| Links to freeware web development tools, browsers, software, etc. |
| www.sgi.com |
|
| Webmonkey: The Web Developer's Resource |
| Resources for web site developers including how-to guides, code libararies, server technologies and authoring resources. |
| www.webmonkey.com |
|
| Web Development Tools - Web Developer's Journal |
| Tips on Web page design and development, HTML, graphics, scripting, favicon, development tools, Java, sql basics, building web sites, and much more for ... |
| www.webdevelopersjournal.com |
|
| Web Developer's Handbook | CSS, Web Development, Color Tools, SEO ... |
| Web Developer's Handbook is a list of essential web-sites, which make the life of web developers easier. Compiled and updated by Vitaly Friedman. |
| www.alvit.de |
|
| Ceonex Web Development & Web Design - Full Service Digital ... |
| Web design, web development, online branding, application development and other full service business solutions focused on prospect conversion and customer ... |
| www.ceonex.com |
|
| Cayenne Web Development - web design agency, Oxfordshire, UK |
| Specialist web design agency based nr Banbury, Oxfordshire, offering a complete website design and development service. |
| www.cayenne.co.uk |
|
| Web development mistakes | 456 Berea Street |
| When I visit a website, especially if it’s the site of a competitor or a prospective client, I like viewing… |
| www.456bereastreet.com |
|
| Web development mistakes | 456 Berea Street |
| Articles and news on web standards, accessibility, usability, and other things related to web development and web design. |
| www.456bereastreet.com |
|
| Anil Dash: Web Development Trends for 2006 |
| Here, then, is a random assortment of new web development trends to be ready ... Web Development trends 2006: Überblogger Anil Dash maakte (een paar weken ... |
| www.dashes.com |
|
|