Services - Graphics

Graphics |

Visually "You"

When a customer lands on your site for the first time, what business image do you wish to portray? Professional? Casual? Playful? Serious?

William Hazlitt said �First impressions are often the truest", and no more so as in the internet age as it races past faster than the eye can see. So what can you do to grab that customer, get him to slow down long enough to read your content and hear what you have to say? A visually compelling web site.

First, understand your audience. Try to view your site through their eyes, and make decisions based upon their likes and dislikes. First-time parents looking for a stroller won't give your site a 5 second look if it's black and red. Look into demographic studies, you'd be amazed what kinds of information is available.

Next, look at the elements of visual design. It's true that Content is still King, but if so, Design is the alluring Queen. The key elements of this "queen" are:

Color - Is your company in finance or construction? Pinks and purples, or bright primary colors may not convey the image you want to project. Think about your target audience when choosing colors, what appeals to them?
Composition - Are the key elements or important information in a body of text, or bolded and up front? Think of the old real estate adage "the most important thing is location, location, location".
Balance - Size, shape, and intensity can unify a site, if used correctly. Is the header graphic you love just a little too big or bright? Are the navigation buttons too small to be clearly seen?
Unity - How many colors, fonts, and graphic elements do you see? Too many colors can look messy, jumbled. And too many font faces can do the same thing. Look for simple color schemes. And only 2-3 font faces.
White Space - Squint your eyes. All you see is big chunks of grey text? Or is you site designed with "white space" where your eye can rest, and permitting the important info to jump out?

Finally, surf the web, and take a critical eye to some of your favorite sites. Why are they your favorites? What about them pleases you? Why would you come back? What about their site: instills trust, looks exciting, has a calming effect, or portrays confidence?