Free Website, Printing and Graphic Design Tips

Every print and web project I work on requires me to come up with new and innovative designs. I could probably give my clients one of the usual flavors and they would be happy but it wouldn’t make me happy. I’m constantly looking for new ideas to incorporate into my website designs and my print projects.

There are a number of resources readily available to all of us beginner, intermediate and advanced designers. If you own a small business, for example, you may need to layout your own brochure design or you may just want to impress your boss with something beyond the average in-house brochure styling. If either of the last two instances describe you and your company uses Microsoft Office Professional with Publisher, then I suggest you look here for just how to layout a brochure. Brochure Design with Publisher

If you’re an experienced designer looking for ideas try executing a google search for things like “good design practices” or “brochure design examples”. In the results you’ll find many great sites with some very interesting graphic designs. Now, the point here, is not to copy someone eles’s design but rather, to have it sit in the back of your mind as a technique you can apply to a current or future project. Saving the more ineresting sites to a folder in your favorites (a.k.a. bookmarking it) is an excellent practice.

Just browsing through the designs can be inspiring and educating. You may find that using only a portion of an image can have much more impact than using the image in its entirety. You may also see how text can be manipulated and used as design element. Remember, all the object in your project should complement eachother and unite to create the look you were aiming for.

Another great resource for ideas and tutorials on industry-standard products is adobe.com. Here you will find tutorials and samples of work created with the adobe suite of products. Even if you don’t own any of their software, the visual experience will supply you with many ideas about techniques you may want to use in your own website designs, brochure layouts, or other projects. Looking at what’s out there coupled with a desire to improve your work will be greatly rewarding. You can raise the level of your current and future designs.

If you’ve found a great resource for graphic design or web site design inspiration, please let me know. I’m always looking for new ways to branch out and increase the number of items in my design toolkit.

Remember, design matters. 

When designing for virtually any medium, it’s important to consider all the details.

Web design is much more than impressive text and imagery. You’ve got to keep the design functional as well as visually appealing. For instance, when you create an online form be sure to return a thank you page after the submit button is selected. On the thank you page include any additional information a visitor may need. How to contact you, how to check their order status and an idea of what to expect next. These small details go a long way in making a site visit pleasant and professional. Provide your contact information, or at least an option to email you, on every web page in your site. Remember google ranks pages not entire websites. If a potential client visits a page from your site without some way of contacting you they may not want to go to another page to do it. Make it easy. Make it simple. Immediate gratification is often the difference between a sale and a lost deal.

If you have a website please reply to emails using an email from your domain. If your website is greattoys.com then reply to all your inquiries with an email that ends in “@greattoys.com”. For instance, customerservice@greattoys.com or salesgreattoys.com. This is the most professional manner of handling email replies. Using an email address like “greattoys@yahoo.com” is not professional and isn’t going to inspire confidence in the size and validity of your company. A number of email addresses should already be included in your hosting plan. Contact your hosting service and find out how to use them. This is another small, but so very important, detail that you shouldn’t overlook.

The details are just as important in graphic design and printing projects. Create a design that fits the market you’re reaching out to. Be aware that design choices have a direct impact on how a client may view your company and/or its products and services. Use your logo, web address, and contact number whenever possible on printed materials, especially when purchasing promotional items (also known as “give-aways”). Quite often when you order promotional items the manufacturer asks for the information you would like imprinted and your logo. Find out who is preparing the art and whether or not they will be maximizing your exposure by utilizing the entire print area and if you are getting custom design. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen pens designed with nothing more than simple lettering, magnetic calendars, etc. where nothing about the company stands out. The print is “run of the mill” and there isn’t any design detail. Get your supplier to use your logo and make it recognizable! It can be done. You’re paying for a product which will represent your company as it travels from person to person or sits on someone’s desk. The idea is to do it right and get it recognized. Average layout and type do not attract the human eye. If your supplier doesn’t want to customize your printable space…get someone else.

Think about your projects from a client’s point of view. Consider that site visitors or people reading your brochure do not know your business as well as you. What are the questions they may have? What will set your company apart from all the others? What market are you trying to reach and is your design appropriate for that market. Maybe your design should appeal to multiple markets thus getting you more value from the product or website. In short, try to create an experience that educates potential clients, is easy to follow and stays with them.

Black is black…except when it’s not. Color is an integral part to any successful website, logo or type layout. Consider using colors and  art at less than their 100 percent values. For instance, a black symbol used at 50 percent of its color value, would appear as gray. When combined, a color and its tinted equivalent can have a striking effect.

In the above example we see green used at 100 percent (also referred to as “solid” color) to display a cell number and email address (lower right hand corner of card). That same green is used at 20 percent to create the two large script letters in the background. As a result, it would appear that we have used two different colors.

This simple process, of using one ink color at different percentages, can create the look of a multi color business card when, in fact, only two colors have been used (black for the band and green at 100 percent and 20 percent). If you were to eliminate the black and make the band green the card would print using only one color. Using one color is even more economical than two.

This technicque is really less about economics and more about adding style to your text and images. The tinted script letters shown above could also have been printed in 100 percent green but would not have had the same end effect as printed them as a tint of green. Consider using tints when working with logos made of text only or when you want to add an image or symbol to the background of another.

Be aware that when colors overlay they will combine in the overlapped areas and the dominant color (darker) will prevail. For example, in the business card image above if the black band were the same color and tint as the large script letters and the large script letters were black, you would see the black letters showing through the light green band. Not necessarily the effect you were going for.

Experiment using tints in your designs. They can add a layer of  visual interest to almost any application.

When designing your website be sure to include a header and a footer on each page. A header can include your logo along with your business name or website name, a slogan or tag line if you have one and any contact information your visitor’s may want immediately such as a phone number, email address or travel directions. You may also want to include a brief description (one or two lines) of what type of services you offer. Your navigation menu, whether horizontally or vertically positioned, should also be considered as part of your header and, as such, should be included on every page in your site. The footer can include your logo, usually on a smaller scale, a horizontal version of your navigational menu (links to each of your main pages as one or two lines across the bottom) and, most importantly, your contact information (in addition to the link to your “Contact Us” page).

Use this header and footer on every page. Doing so will create a sense of continuity and legitimacy for your potential clients. A visitor will never have to click more than once to contact you and they will be able to do it from any page within your site. This is a great way to make it easy for people to get in touch with you! With this in mind, be sure to include an “email us” link” in your footer. Have this link open up your visitor’s email client and have the subject line already filled in for them (i.e. “Website Contact”).

Practices such as these will make your visitor’s experience positive and will improve the overall appeal of your website. An effective web site design is simple yet informative. Great design and functionality go hand in hand. Function and design are codependent and integral to a successful website. If you’re starting from scratch, be sure to include these items in your website design. If you already have a website, it’s a good idea to review it and be sure that there are headers and footers on all your pages and that they contain all the information your visitors will need to have at their fingertips.

I firmly believe an image can “make or break” your web page design. Use photos that are clear, sharp and eye-catching. You want to evoke a feeling in your viewers. Motivate them to buy or browse further into your website. Images with electric lines running through them or other unrelated items aren’t going to get the results you want.
When taking a photo look carefully at what’s in your viewfinder and change your position to get the best image possible. Unrelated items in the background or forefront of your image are distracting and unprofessional. Crop out unwanted areas. Take note of how the available light is “falling” on your subject. Use your flash during daylight to fill in shady areas.
Make sure the object you want people to see is large enough to make an impact. If you’re selling surfboards you don’t want 80 percent of your photo to be the skyline and beach. Bring the surfboard up to the front of the picture! Zoom in on the surfboard either when taking the image or when cropping it for your website. You can keep some beach and sky but the board is the main focal point and should be sized accordingly. Visitors shouldn’t have to “try” to see portions of your photos.
Keep your main subject matter sharp, clear and up front. Reduce clutter and make the photo  large enough to compliment your layout and be easily seen. Take these few extra steps and your images will have more impact and your site will look a thousand percent more attractive and professional