It seems self explanatory - Graphic Design is work done on the design of graphics. It's not that simple though. Graphic Designers do much more than work with photos and illustrations. They also work with typography - the placement of words, size color, and style of fonts. And they work with the placement of imagery and words on pages to convey not only information but also moods and emotions.
Designers are the link between the client and the audience. Clients may be too close to their business and their own needs to get a clear picture of their audience's needs, and they also may not understand there is more than one way to convey the same message. Graphic designers work with their client to understand the purpose and the content of a message.
Designers may work with many other people such as photographers, and printers. Some of the visual medium they work to produce are; business logos, magazine ads, album covers, posters, flyers, graphics and web designs. Before I read the description of what a graphic designer does at http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/guide-whatisgraphicdesign I knew the basics but I didn't realize the description of graphic design was so involved and complex.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
How Twitter Works: It May Not Be How You Think
When you think about Twitter you may think of it as an online text messaging site where people talk about mundane daily activities or actors tweet to their fans. These are just a couple of the myths about Twitter listed in an article on HowStuffWorks.com. People are not just talking about the coffee they had for breakfast. Twitter has gained an enormous amount of users in its short existence and people are using it for everything from micro-blogging, business marketing and even political organizing.
In the past couple of years twitterers have kept the world updated on attacks in other countries and Iranians used it to organize protests. There is no right way or wrong way to use Twitter. It can be a powerful tool for businesses when implemented correctly. Businesses can embed APIs into their websites and use Twitter to make quick and easy updates to their sites. Or Twitter can be used simply for fun and chatting.
Some of the greatest features I like about Twitter is that it’s quick, easy and portable for use on mobile phones. You can login from your cell phone and read or post updates instantly. If it’s linked to your website then your website has just been updated too. You don’t have to worry about going into your website and messing up the code. All you have to do is hit send and you’ve killed two birds with one stone by continuing your twitter connections or marketing and updating your news on your website.
Michele Simon
In the past couple of years twitterers have kept the world updated on attacks in other countries and Iranians used it to organize protests. There is no right way or wrong way to use Twitter. It can be a powerful tool for businesses when implemented correctly. Businesses can embed APIs into their websites and use Twitter to make quick and easy updates to their sites. Or Twitter can be used simply for fun and chatting.
Some of the greatest features I like about Twitter is that it’s quick, easy and portable for use on mobile phones. You can login from your cell phone and read or post updates instantly. If it’s linked to your website then your website has just been updated too. You don’t have to worry about going into your website and messing up the code. All you have to do is hit send and you’ve killed two birds with one stone by continuing your twitter connections or marketing and updating your news on your website.
Michele Simon
Monday, April 5, 2010
Web Page Optimization for Faster Download Time
It just makes sense. The more you have on a web page and the more you load it down with cool extras like flash, the longer it will take to download. But is this such a big problem with all the super speedy computers that we have nowadays? Apparently according to statistics around 30% of users are still using dial up. So if you want to casually disregard that 30% then go ahead and pile it on.
For those who prefer to target 100% of users Webmonkey has several tutorials that help you to optimize your site for quick and easy loading. The first tutorial makes several suggestions about trimming out excess from your site and using the correct image formats for your graphics. It also covers when to compress images and using interlacing graphics and progressive loading to speed things up. One good suggestion from the first tutorial is: if you reuse the same images, like logos and headers, on pages then they will be loaded into the user's cache and it will speed up the download times.
The second Webmonkey tutorial covers webpage layout. Tables can be a nightmare for browsers and can really slow down the download times if they are not implemented correctly. Simple tables when formated correctly are best, but when you nest table you start slowing down. The more tables you nest the long it takes the browers to read and create them. CSS is a new formating language for browsers that has become very popular and is fast becoming the standard for formating webpages. With CSS you don't need tables and you can remove all excess formatting code from the html pages. This speeds things up.
I don't think people should jump right in and start cutting down their sites before they take a look at their target market. For example how likely is it that a business that sells upscale diamond jewelry is going to be selling to someone using dial-up? I did a little research on the internet on dial-up users today and found some artciles that said most people using dial-up have the ability to upgrade but continue to use it out of choice. With competition on the web becoming fiercer every year, it doesn't make a lot of sense to dumb down your site, and make it less visually stimulating and appealing, to cater to these diehards. But still for businesses and informational sites that want to reach the largest possible amount of their target audience the challenge is in making a sweet compromise.
Michele Simon
For those who prefer to target 100% of users Webmonkey has several tutorials that help you to optimize your site for quick and easy loading. The first tutorial makes several suggestions about trimming out excess from your site and using the correct image formats for your graphics. It also covers when to compress images and using interlacing graphics and progressive loading to speed things up. One good suggestion from the first tutorial is: if you reuse the same images, like logos and headers, on pages then they will be loaded into the user's cache and it will speed up the download times.
The second Webmonkey tutorial covers webpage layout. Tables can be a nightmare for browsers and can really slow down the download times if they are not implemented correctly. Simple tables when formated correctly are best, but when you nest table you start slowing down. The more tables you nest the long it takes the browers to read and create them. CSS is a new formating language for browsers that has become very popular and is fast becoming the standard for formating webpages. With CSS you don't need tables and you can remove all excess formatting code from the html pages. This speeds things up.
I don't think people should jump right in and start cutting down their sites before they take a look at their target market. For example how likely is it that a business that sells upscale diamond jewelry is going to be selling to someone using dial-up? I did a little research on the internet on dial-up users today and found some artciles that said most people using dial-up have the ability to upgrade but continue to use it out of choice. With competition on the web becoming fiercer every year, it doesn't make a lot of sense to dumb down your site, and make it less visually stimulating and appealing, to cater to these diehards. But still for businesses and informational sites that want to reach the largest possible amount of their target audience the challenge is in making a sweet compromise.
Michele Simon
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