Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Irish Art - Investment For Art's Sake

Art has become an increasingly popular area for investment and Art investment has become a fashionable, sociable and fun way for some of the Celtic Tiger Cubs to spend money. Occasionally, paintings are passed down through generations of families, but more and more, people are starting their own collections.

Many experts offer a simple piece of advice to those interested in art investment; Buy what you love. The piece is essentially something you should be happy living with for a long period of time, unless of course you are investing in art for the purpose of making a quick profit; however for most people a piece of artwork is a long term investment.

Starting out on the road to art investment is simple. Experts advise that the best way to become familiar with valuable or potentially valuable pieces is to visit galleries, exhibitions and shows regularly. This way, potential investors can become au fait with particular artists. Visiting galleries and exhibitions is also an excellent way to get an idea of price ranges for art work of current and historical value. Be prepared to research extensively on your chosen artists’ works. The artists’ entire body of work generally needs to be considered to determine its future value. Many new investors find that contemporary art – with all its diversities is rewarding financially and aesthetically.

When all is said and done, it is wise to remember that art, like any other investment will always be a gamble. So as formerly stated, buy what you love. While the monetary value of the piece you have invested in may fluctuate,http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif its inherent value to you will remain!

Owner of Sol Art, Martin Davis has been an art dealer for several years. In his vast experience from buying and selling art all over Ireland, he is in an excellent position to offer sound advice to potential investors. “These days people tend to put a lot of emphasis on saving money. Art is an investment and there is great pleasure in owning something which will rise in value, whilst giving aesthetic and visual pleasure as well”, Martin says.

Author is an independent journalist who periodically researches and publishes articles and reports about and Investing

By: Derek Carroll

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Understanding Art

Art is anything that people add to their 'output' which is not functionally necessary and is other than the default properties of that output. The word "art" has been derived from the Latin word 'ars', which, loosely translated, means "arrangement" or "to arrange". This is the only universal definition of art, that whatever it is was at some point arranged in some way. There are many other colloquial uses of the word, all with some relation to its etymological roots. This word comes from the Greek technic meaning art.

Art and science are usually treated diagonally opposite to each other. While science means some phenomenon resulting in truth, which is universal and objective in nature. In other words, science findings can be repeated under the same set of circumstances anywhere in the world at any given point of time. Same cannot be said of art. Art, on the other hand is purely subjective in nature. Take for example, a painting - while one calls it a masterpiece, same feelings cannot be expected from other individual.

Art can roughly be divided into two, namely philosophical art and aesthetic art. The philosophical type of art involves human figures for some purposive actions. In other words, philosophical art depicts human condition or it is the conceptual frame of mind of the artist.

Aesthetic art, on the other hand, shows the perceived frame of mind. Two examples will help illustrate these two points of view - a Mona Lisa painting is philosophical art, while a demon being killed by a super human is aesthetic. These two categories are also called classical and modern art respectively.

There are other ways of classifying art - major among them being architecture, design, painting, music, drawing, literature, performing art, etc. While these have been (and still are) traditional forms of art performed by human kind, newer forms of art have emerged with the advent of technology. Some of the later era art forms are games, animation, movie, computer art, shooting, etc.

Two of the most researched areas of interest to artists, critiques and archeologists has been the art movement (or art history) and art school.

An art movement is a typical style or tendency in art with a specific common philosophy, followed by a group of artists during a restricted period of time (ranging from a few months to years or decades). Art school is any educational institute offering education to its students on various forms of art.

Birth of art gave rise to another group of individuals - art critics. Art critics study and evaluate a piece of art. Its main purpose is to rationalize the evaluation of art, and ridding of any personal opinion affecting the work of art. Art criticism today deploys systematic and formal methods to evaluate the piece of art.

Museums are known to nurture and store work of arts across the world. Early era museums were patronized by the then kings and emperors. Today these are maintained by governments or private trusts with or without public money. Three major museum institutes are British Museum, Museum of Modern Art, New York and Galerie des Offices in France.

Understanding art in its totality is almost an impossible task for a human being. There are over 3,600 terms in art to be understood. And these are not definitive in nature. Art is when you are free to redefine these.

Redi Zartey is the owner of Art Diz which is a premier resource for art information. for more information, go to http://www.artdiz.com

Monday, November 26, 2007

A Career In Graphic Design

Graphic designers are predicted to hold the most jobs by 2014. Keeping in mind the future of the media and the need for creative work, graphic designers are projected to have the best employment opportunities of all creative professionals.

Job of a Graphic Designer

Graphic designers analyze, plan and make creative visual solutions for communication. They help to express the message in the most effective way, in the form of print, film or electronic medium. A variety of methods like color combinations, illustrations, photography, print and print-layout techniques are used in graphic designing.

Graphic designers create the layout and production designs for newspapers, magazines, corporate reports, journals and other publications. They also develop promotional displays, marketing and packaging brochures for various products and services and unique design logos for businesses. In addition, they also make signs for government and businesses. The graphic designer also produces material for interactive media, Internet web pages and multimedia projects.

Job Qualifications


A Bachelor's degree is a must at the entry level in graphic designing. Some entry-level technical positions may require an Associate's degree. However, problem-solving skills and creative communication are essential. Graphic designers should be familiar with computer graphics and the various design software available. A good graphic portfolio, with a collection of work samples showcases design ability effectively.

Graphic Designing Course Curriculum

Typical Graphic Design Curriculum Components:

• Studio art

• Computerized Design

• Principles of Design

• Printing techniques

• Commercial graphics production

• Web site design

Besides formal graphics training, there are some courses such as writing, art history, psychology, foreign language, sociology, cultural studies, business and marketing that are effective aids in understanding the intricacies of graphic designing.

It is the job of the graphic designer to give meaning to thoughts and ideas. When an idea is expressed, the job falls on the graphic designer to present it on paper and create a suitable combination of visual medium. This can be accomplished with pictures and animated presentations, which could include sound as well.

Working Of The Creative Department

After the client gives the company a rough idea about the project and his expectations, the creative team gets down to the business of trying out various ideas and techniques to achieve a positive end result. Although most creative people work as a team in advertising agencies and various publications, the graphic designer can do the job independently.

Earnings of a Graphic Designer

Architectural, engineering, and related services ................................$42,740

Specialized design services ...........................................................$41,620

Advertising and related services ................................................... $40,010

Printing and related support activities ........................................... $32,830

Newspapers, periodicals, books and directory publishers .....................$32,390

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solutions - Six Sigma Online ( http://www.sixsigmaonline.org ) offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Colour Wheel Theory In Web Design

This article examines the use of the colour wheel theory in relation to web design. It explores the basic six colour schemes that are possible as well as touching on the history and origin of the theory, its advantages and disadvantages.

The colour wheel theory is used for analyzing hues in design, a very important factor to consider is that it generally only targets hues and does not incorporate saturation or brightness levels. While this seems quite severe you must remember there are almost infinite amounts of shades and a more limited amount of colours that can be analyzed.

Its origins lie with Sir Isaac Newton and his experiment to split light into various colours. His original colour wheel features red, orange, yellow, green, cyan and blue and was joined at the ends by Newton to display the natural hue progression. Over a century later Johann Wolfgang Goethe studied the psychological effects of colours and modified the colour wheel to split the colours into two sides, the plus and minus colours. Plus colours were ones that had a positive effect on psychology and generally included the warm colours such as red and orange. The minus colours generally invoked unsettled feelings in participants and tended to lean to the blue and green.

The next major revolution was by a Swiss art theorist named Johann Itten. He modified the wheel to the form we see today based on the primary triad and the twelve basic hues.

In web design it is highly recommended to stick to one of the following colour schemes for your web design. To venture outside them causes colour "clash" and will spoil the overall impression of your page. Do remember however blacks and whites are neutral and (if used correctly) complement any of these schemes well.

Monochromatic

The monochromatic colour scheme is exactly what is sounds like, a simple theme that use differences in saturation and light/darkness in a single colour to give a design that's "easy on the eye". It can be very soothing to use and looks good in blue or green. Monochromatic is fantastic for simple web pages such as blogs as it prevents design elements drawing attention away from information.

Analogous Colour Scheme

This colour scheme centres around one main colour being gently supported by the two colours adjacent to it on the colour wheel. Like monochromatic it is a gentle colour scheme that is best applied to achieve calming effect. Blogs and certain online shops would be best to use this scheme.

Complementary Colour Scheme

The complementary colour scheme is made up of two colours that are opposite each other on the colour wheel. This should always be achieved by picking your main colour then tracing a 180 degree line across the wheel to find its exact opposite. Some complementary sets do not suit web design as they are so high in contrast. While a complementary colour scheme can achieve great effects in highlighting areas for websites such as online shops I do not recommend it is sued heavily as it strains reader's eyes after a while.

Split Complementary Colour Scheme

The split complementary scheme is used a little more often than its standard complementary brother in web design. It uses a combination of three colours which means you can create softer contrasts. It is done by picking one colour on the colour wheel and find the two colours that are adjacent to its complementary.

Triadic Colour Scheme

The triadic colour scheme is my personal favourite for web design. It uses a combination of 3 three colours that are equally spaced around the wheel. Its major advantage is that is strikes a great balance between harmony and contract. It looks especially good on online shops as it give you the ability to define several sections with different colours without creating a offensive contrast.

Tetradic Colour Scheme

The tetradic colour scheme is the most complex and varied stand colour wheel scheme. It is sometimes referred to as the double complementary as http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifit uses two sets of complementary colours. Although there is no standard for defining which it is a good idea to ensure they are evenly spaced. While this scheme can be successfully applies to make a website look varied and colourful it is especially hard to balance.

I hope this article has been at least a small help to you in your search for additional information about web design and the use of colour. While I have written this article with web design in mind the colour wheel theory can be applied to almost any form of graphic design or art.

Frank Woodford conducts extensive research when writing new articles for friends and businesses partners and aims to produce quality content that address the purpose of the article currently. He is currently helping to write content for Soula .

Monday, November 19, 2007

Design Strategies for Your Promotional Pens

If you are looking for ways to increase your sales, you need offline and online marketing strategies so as to make your company or your products or services visible to costumers. One of the best offline marketing ploy you can add to your existing ones is by giving out promotional pens or having one tucked in your pockets, ready to be given out anytime to prospective customers. Nonetheless, there are some design strategies that you must consider for this promotional strategy to work.

Logo for your company

Embossed or in ink print, your company logo must be in your promotional pens. However, it must be in a form of abbreviation (of your company name) or image logo. For instance, your law firm's logo is a pencil-sketched balance, with thin lines that convey a modern look. Print your firm's logo at the upper part of the pen, so that it can be seen easily by anybody. Or if your law firm's name is Smith, Wesson, Colt & Jacobs, you can instead affix the law firm's abbreviated name, that is, SWC & J, for brevity.

One product or service

To promote your products or services, your promotional pens must have just one product or service printed on the ridges of the pen. This to avoid confusion as to what products or services you are offering and to keep the focus on a specific product, as though it was on a spotlight. The text must begin one inch from the tip of the pen, and ends just half an inch before your logo.

In the case of a law firm, if the firm specializes in alternative dispute resolution, mediation and arbitration, the firm may write along the ridges the following: "International arbitration, mediation and alternative dispute resolution." Even if the law firm engages in properties, wills and testaments and corporate law, it cannot put every service that it renders in a single pen. This is to keep the focus on one service.

Plain, two-tone colors

If you can avoid it, don't go for multi-color. Your aim is for the texts and logo to be visible and readable even at a longer distance. You can only do this if your texts and logo stands out from the pen. Therefore, just go for plain, two-tone colors to create a clear contrast between the pen and the text and logo print.
http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
Select plain, bold colors in navy blue, dark green, maroon or black. These are considered as safe colors for your pen -- safe because these colors can be used by professionals and entrepreneurs (for the corporate look), and college students and the academe (for the clean and clear look).

To avoid overkill in design, follow these design strategies and you wouldn't go wrong. You can also ask a promotional pens supplier to give you samples of their designs to give you an idea on what to do with yours. Always remember that for your promotional pens to work, they must have simple designs that read clearly what products or services you are offering.

Gareth Parkin is the co-founder of Ideasbynet, the UK's leading online promotional pens and printed company based in the north of England. Established in 2001, he has taken the UK gift market by storm by the application of modern business thinking and the latest search engine marketing techniques. For more details visit www.ideasbynet.com

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Color Sets the Mood

You're ready to take that step and put some fresh color on the walls. With all the different choices available, which color will you choose? What shades? Well, before you make that final decision, consider how colors can actually change your space and the overall mood of your room.

Red


Red is the color of love. It is known to stimulate a faster heartbeat, increase blood pressure, and energy. Designers usually use red as an accent color. A red wall or red furniture will defiantly get attention. Red also increases the appetite, which makes it a good choice in dining rooms.

Black

Black is the color of authority and power. It also makes a great accent color against white. When used against white, it becomes a very stylish and timeless combination. Black and white accent pieces are extremely popular.

White

White symbolizes purity and innocence. It is one of the most used colors in decorating. This light and neutral hue goes with virtually anything. White is a great color for bedding or drapes when trying to achieve a peaceful, tranquil space.

Blue

One of the most popular colors, blue represents peace. This tranquil color causes the body to produce calming chemicals. People are usually more productive in rooms painted in blues. Blue is a perfect choice for a bedroom or a home office.

Green


Green is another relaxing color. The different shades of green can be used many ways. Lighter shades of green are great for bedrooms, living rooms, and great rooms. Dark greens are more masculine, and are popular in professional offices. Hospitals usually use green to help relax patients. Mid tone greens are great for kitchens.

Purple

Purple represents luxury, wealth, and sophistication. Dining rooms, bedrooms, and libraries work well with this color. Lighter shades of purple are great for children's rooms, and play areas.

Yellow

Yellow gains attention and is considered an optimistic color. It also enhances concentration. It is a very warm and welcoming color. Babies tend to cry more in yellow rooms, so it not wise to use this color in a nursery.

Orange

Orange tends to warm the room in a friendly way. There are many shades of orange, and can be used in many rooms. Burnt orange is extremely popular for living rooms, while lighter tones are great for bathrooms.

Brown

Brown is known to be reliable, and one of the more popular earth tones. It is a great accent with just about any color, but is especially nice with blues. Light browns are a symbol of genuineness. Most men enjoy browns, so consider this when decorating his favorite space.

A. R. Julien is the C.E.O. of Drea' Custom Designs. For more info please visit http://www.dreacustomdesign.com

Friday, November 16, 2007

The Design Checklist

Before any SEO campaign can begin, a site must be analyzed to determine how well the site is being spidered by the search engines. It is also important to assess and modify the architecture of the site as needed. We always assess and recommend changes to the design of a site before doing any optimization. This ensures that a solid base is beneath the optimization and minimizes the amount of design changes we'll have to make later.

Before you begin optimization of a site, you should review the following areas. Ignoring certain aspects of the design can seriously limit the impact of the optimization.

1.) Spiderable Links

The search engines typically follow standard HTML. They do not render most scripts. The most common design problem is the inclusion of non-spiderable links. Often, these links are coded in either JavaScript or Flash, but non-spiderable code also includes HTML Forms. It is important to the optimization that as many pages as possible be indexed by the search engines. If the pages aren't indexed, they can never rank and do not provide value to the other pages on the site.

The most common usage of non-spiderable links is in dropdown navigations. The most common dropdowns are coded in JavaScript and are not spiderable. It is always ok to use JavaScript for animation or other functionality, but the link itself must be in standard HTML. There are numerous CSS/JavaScript alternatives that allow using standard HTML links with div tags to accomplish the same drop down effects without using non-spiderable links.

2.) Maximum Internal Linking

The architecture of the site tells the engines a lot about what pages are important and what pages are not. The search engines try to view sites the same way a user does. This means that pages linked to from prominent locations like a main navigation will automatically receive more attention and authority. This is why search engine-friendly CSS drop down navigations are a good thing. Our goal should be to provide as many direct links to important pages from as many other pages as possible on the site.

As a rule of thumb, do your absolute best to ensure that no page is more than 2 clicks from any other page on the site. It is not possible to link every page from every other page on a larger site, but proper organization should lead to pages being accessible through main categories that are accessible from anywhere on the site. Authority filters down. If a page is available from only one other page on the site and that page is hard to get to, the original page will never rank well. Make it easy for users to find and you'll make it easy for search engines to find.

Depending on the size of the site, it can take a good bit of planning to optimally lay out an architecture and internal linking structure. Generally, it's best to lay out a site like a pyramid. The home page should act as a true hub to the site with main categories providing maximum access to pages under its control.

3.) Portal Home Page

This ties directly into maximizing internal linking, but is important enough (and a common enough problem) to get a special note. The home page is given the most authority of any page on the site. The search engines assume most traffic will enter the site through the home page. They also assume that the webmaster understands that and links the most important pages and information directly from the home page. If the site uses a 'splash' or some minimal home page, it is seriously limiting itself.

An optimized home page will act as a hub to all information on the site. If a page is hard to get to from the home page, it will be treated as a supplementary page and NOT an authoritative page.

4.) Text Content

Good web pages provide good content. Without good content, the page has no value and no purpose on the Web. It should be assumed that good text content will need to be added to the site. If the site's design does not allow for the addition of content, it should be addressed as early as possible. The goal with any optimization campaign should be to provide the content that users are searching for. Grow your site, find out what people want, and provide it.

It is also very important to assess the visibility of the text content to the search engines. Text content should be written in standard text. Content that appears in Flash, images, JavaScript, behind HTML Forms, or in secure sections of the site will most likely be invisible to the search engines.

As we can see from the previous points, we have to address some things with each site before planning any real optimization strategies. We must determine what the search engines see. We must determine which pages are important and display them as such. We must cater to both the search engines and the users. This will provide a strong foundation for the optimization and help the site reach its potential.

Thank you for reading TreeHouse SEM articles. If you would like to know more about any of these topics, feel free to contact us. If you would like to reprint any of the above text, please contact us first.

About the Author: Steve comes from a rich Web background where he has worked on the design, development, and marketing aspects of hundreds of Web sites. Formerly from Mississippi where he attended Ole Miss, Steve moved to San Diego to pursue further challenges in the Web marketing arena.

To compete in the rapidly growing marketplace of SEM, Treehouse immediately set itself apart by placing Chief Technology Officer DeVries at the helm, who is one of the most coveted experts in the industry today. DeVries was previously a lead technical consultant at a competing local firm, achieving top rankings for major clients such as Entrepreneur, Vegas.com, Viacom, Workopolis, and Ziff Davis Media. DeVries' experience has brought him much industry attention and placed him in high demand as a speaker at industry events by those looking to pick his brain.

By: Steve Devries

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Graphic Design Course at University

Today no longer are you restricted to getting your graphic design course at University if you want you can in fact do it online. Certainly today the demand for graphic designers is increasing and especially demand is high in businesses that carry out advertising and marketing campaigns as well as for designing websites.

Anyone who has a love of design and has some artistic capabilities has the chance to become a graphic designer. But in this article we will be taking a look at the steps a person needs to take in order to become a graphic designer who can then use their skills on the internet.

Step 1 - You first need to decide just what sort of course it is you want to do. Do you want to do one for a complete beginner or have you much more advanced skills? As previously mentioned you can attend a university or do it online or through a correspondence course. So even if you are currently employed and are looking to change careers you can do your course whilst still carrying on with your current job.

Step 2 - When picking your course it is important that you select one which meets your particular requirements. So you need to decide whether you are going to make a career of this or whether you are just going to be doing it as a hobby. Also you need to check with the place where you are taking the course as to whether you receive a certificate or degree once it has been completed.

Step 3 - Before making the final decision on which university, correspondence or online course you are going to be taking you need to make a decision of what area of graphic design you are interested in training. If you are interested in designing websites or web design then find a course that meets these requirements.

Step 4 - You need to find out just how much the course is going to be costing you. Certainly if you do a Graphic Designer course at University this will cost you some what more than if you choose to do one online or through a correspondence service. Simply because you and the course suppliers will not have any additional overheads to worry about. You may also be surprised to learn that there are some graphic design courses now available online which are completely free.

As long as you keep the above in mind actually finding a graphic design course at University or online that suits your requirements will be much easier. So don't delay whether as a hobby or a change in your career take a look on the internet and see what graphic design courses are now available.

P Abbey owns and operates http://www.graphicdesigncoursesguide.com/graphicdesigncourseatuniversity.html - Graphic Design Course At University

Monday, November 12, 2007

Finding a Website or Blog Designer and Being a Good Client

So you need a website or a blog and haven't the faintest idea how to go about choosing the best one for you or your business? My best advice to you, speaking as a small business owner, a website and blog designer, and well, a human being is know what you want your website or blog to accomplish first and then start your search. Why? Well, it will cost you less in time and money. You won't have to do as much research for one. And second, the designer or firm you hire will spend less billable hours talking with you and redoing whatever it is you want undone or adding whatever it was you forgot to mention for your website or blog to meet your needs.

Ultimately, when you're looking to hire a designer, developer or firm to design your website or blog, know your needs and know your wants, then get a reality check. In writing school we were always told to "kill your babies". Meaning, get rid of the part of our story or article that we love too much, so much that everything else suffers or so much that we get stuck. My advice to you individuals and businesses who are looking to get a website or blog created, make a list of your needs first, your wants second. Keep those things that overlap, keep the rest of the needs, put the rest of the "wants" in your pocket for a rainy day...or until your budget expands to support these wants.

Your Basic Website or Blog Needs

You need a domain name and a web host first and foremost. You can either do a search at Yahoo or your preferred search engine for "domain name" or "web hosting", or checkout Webhostmagazine. Web Host Magazine breaks down how to choose the ideal web host for your needs. We use Hostgator and Lunarpages for some of our websites. Both are excellent. My suggestion for choosing a web host is get more space than you need, think about what technologies you might need (i.e., database) in the future and make sure your host has that option as an upgrade or with the package you've chosen. It's just better to have more than you need than less 'cause switching web hosts can be a pain in the *arse*. My suggestion for choosing a domain name is make it relevant, easy, and put at least one keyword in the name.

You need to determine how big or small your site needs to be currently and how much growth it will have in the next year or two. Be realistic in what you need now, but think ahead about what you'll need later.

You need a designer and a developer. You can higher one person to create the design and another to make the design into a website but it'll cost you more and your design may suffer for it if the designer and developer you hire don't see eye to eye. A designer often designs and a developer often develops. But, more so than ever these days, a website or blog designer does both design and development.

Decide how you'll be contacted by whomever visits your site and let your web designer/developer know. It's often the case that site owner's don't want to have to login to their web host's server (via the cpanel or whatever administration area is used) to check email with some generic email account like Horde or Squirrel. You'll maybe want the email address to have the suffix of your website (i.e, youremail@yourwebsitename.com). So, tell whomever you hire you want email forwarding which basically means you want to use youremail@yourwebsitename.com but want the emails sent to that address to be automatically forwarded to perhaps your Yahoo or Gmail address for convenience. If you plan on receiving lots of emails, you might want a contact form, too. So, decide that and let your designer/developer know. Also, if you decide on just having a link to your email address on your site, make sure you get spam protection otherwise you'll be inundated with promises of cures for impotence you don't have and offers to make you wealthy by becoming an envelope stuffer.

You need to decide on the purpose of your web presence. Is the purpose of your site to inform people about something? Sell to them? Create community? Promote you or your business? What is the raison d'etre of your site?

You need to decide on how you want you or your business to be perceived. Think of your online presence as clothing and accessories. You want to convey an image to your site visitors that represent who you are and what you're about. Are you or your business high-end, playful, humorous, low-cost, artsy, reliable, etc.? Ask yourself.

You need to decide on a budget and be reasonable and aware of how much labor is involved in having a website designed and developed. In the end you get what you pay for. A site or blog designed or developed for under $500 is very basic and often has no personality. A site under $800 is still basic and has maybe just a smidgen of personality. If you're in the service industry especially, you know that your labor is pretty much your service so don't take that for granted when hiring a website or blog designer. Projects defer in time, scale and money based on needs and wants. Remember that, accept that and you'll get the best services your money (your budget) can buy.

You need content. One of many mistakes that new site owners make is assuming whomever they hire to design or develop their website or blog (website especially) will automatically provide or edit their written content or supply images for them. Not so. The written content is the site owner's responsibility and is usually generated from marketing materials already in their possession. You can and should hire a web copywriter for your website or blog if you are not a good writer or don't have any marketing material. The written content is what "sells" your service, product or whatever your purpose to your site visitors. Don't skimp. As for the images on your site, outside of icons created specifically for your site, images such as photography and clipart you must purchase or find yourself. We love istockphoto. Most importantly, remember to clear copyright for images. It's not the designer/developer's responsibility to clear permission to use the image on your site. That's just standard policy among most, if not all, designers and firms.

You need to decide who and how often your site is going to be maintained. Will you maintain and update your site or will you hire your developer to do it for you for a monthly/yearly maintenance fee?

You need assistance with SEO and marketing if marketing is a priority. Your designer/developer may know SEO, or she may not. Ask. SEO is search engine optimization. It's basically a way to make sure search engines know that your website exists and is found when people search the search engines with relevant keywords. Also, it would be a good idea to hire search engine marketer or an online marketer. Some designer/developers know all about SEO and how to get your web pages ranked higher in search engines like Google, Yahoo and even vertical search engines like C/nets download.com or directories like Dmoz. Most don't. So, you should definitely hire an SEO or online marketing expert. It's an investment, not "another cost".

Your Typical Website or Blog Wants

You want fancy dynamic moving images. Well, that's great, but be prepared to pay for it. Flash movies are labor intensive to develop, more so than a static image. If you want moving objects, ask yourself why, first. Then, discuss with your site developer what you'd like. Many common dynamic elements can be achieved using JavaScript and some using PHP and fewer using animated gifs. These are often more cheaper alternatives. If you insist on using Flash, first make sure your target audience is web savvy and use computers sophisticated enough to support Flash without slowing down loading time. Also, you can also check out sites like Flashfiles and other Flash file directories that offer free use of flash movies created by others.

You want dynamic interactivity for your users. Fine, you should. Your users deserve it and it keeps them engaged and not bored. But, be specific and give your designer/developer the specifics of how you'd like your site visitors to interact with your website and they can tell you how that can be achieved given your budget and time constraints.

You want a database to store information. Again, ask yourself why. Then ask yourself what type of content will be stored in this database. Articles? Images? Videos? And then ask yourself who'll be in charge of updating and backing up this database of information. You? Someone in your business? The web developer you hire (for a monthly maintenance fee)?

You want a kick-arse fancy, artsy design. Design is labor hours. It takes time to think about, come up with and implement a design that's customized for you or your business. Don't take this for granted and you won't be disappointment. Trust me, if you want a customized designed that will make your competition pay attention or your site visitors never want to leave, it's damn well worth the price. It's not as expensive as you think (depending on the designer) but not as cheap either. Regardless, just let your designer know your vision and trust that she can make it happen if you're willing to pay more than expected and not as much as you fear.

Of course, there are many, many other things you may want for your web presence. Write them down and separate them from your needs. Interview a few designer-developers and compare pricing and timelines.

Be a good client by doing a little research, asking your designer lots of questions, giving them room to create what you asked and taking into consideration that you are paying for a service, not a product so the cost is rarely streamlined.

Kemi Oyesiku
http://www.polesapartdesign.com/blog

If you need help trying to choose a domain name, try this article from site ground on how to choose a domain name.

Friday, November 9, 2007

Graphic Design Course In London

The main role of a graphic designer is to help get information across to others easily in such a way that is causes an impact on that person or persons. They do this through the use of images and words. Mainly you will see the work of graphic designers appearing in magazines, the covers of books as well as on TV and on websites. But in order to become a graphic designer a person first needs to train. In this article we take a look at what a graphic design course in London is made up of.

Although there are some graphic designers now working in the world of advertising who have no qualifications what so ever there are many others who do. Generally these designers would have gained either attained their BTEC HND or the Foundation Degree or a Degree in Graphic Design. Whilst some others may have when attending either a college or university in London obtained a degree in either art or design whilst there.

Certainly when it comes to finding out just what graphic design courses are available for a person to attend in London the best place to start their search is online. As you will soon discover the main college now in London which offers students the chance to earn a degree in graphic design is at the London College of Communication (LCC).

All students who participate in any kind of graphic design course will learn how to express and communicate a particular idea through the use of images and text. But not only do the students have the teaching staff to rely on them to help them better understand what is required of them they have the chance to gain help from other students and also people who are asked to speak at the college as well.

Plus all the tutors who provide the students with their training are themselves actively involved in various types of research relating to graphic design and some are involve in professional practices so they are able to help their students develop their own personal identity.

Above all the reason why many students choose to carry out their graphic design course in London at LCC is that it has a very strong relationship with professionals in the industry. This then provides the chance for students to have the opportunity to gain access to the expertise of others which can provide them with a much more solid foundation for their learning. Plus this particular college understand how important graphic design is in modern society. Not only does it contribute in a large way both directly and indirectly to the economy in the UK but also to the well being of those that live their.

P Abbey owns and operates http://www.graphicdesigncoursesguide.com/graphicdesigncourseinlondon.html - Graphic Design Course In London

Thursday, November 8, 2007

A Logo Without Your Name... Can Be A Big Branding Pain!

I often get asked to develop a small business's logo as a symbol-only logo. But for many small businesses, this isn't the right choice for a couple of reasons.

Designing a symbol-only logo is a much more complicated (and often more expensive) process, because the symbol has to:

- Carry a lot more meaning - there's no text to help explain the business. It's important that your logo has some meaning and a role in explaining your business - and that's a lot for a little symbol to do all by itself.

- Be entirely unique all on its' own. I don't need to tell you that there are a whole lot of logos out there. A lot of the basic shapes - and even some of the more complicated ones - are already "owned" by big corporations. But you can still use variations or combinations of those shapes when they're designed into a logo with your company name.

- Communicate to your audience. The more obscure the symbol design that you create, the less likely that your customers will understand its meaning. Or they may interpret it incorrectly. Either way your clients will feel alienated - and that's never good.

If you do create a symbol-only logo, you'll have a couple of challenges with your brand identity:

- It will take a lot more time and effort to educate your target audience about your business. Think of all the symbol-only logos that are really memorable, like Nike or Apple. The reason that those are so memorable and well-known is that each of those companies has a very large advertising budget. They can afford to dedicate people and time to getting the word out. Their deep pockets build visibility and encourage recognition. Small businesses just don't have those kinds of resources.

- Trademark infringement can be more of a problem - from both sides of the fence. It can be very difficult for your designer to design a logo that won't look like any other trademarked logo out there, regardless how hard they try.

1. First of all, it's hard for a designer to comprehensively research all of the other trademarked logos just to see what you're up against. However, the Trademark Office has more thorough tools and methods of researching the other existing logos out there and they might find one that you overlooked.

2. Secondly, logos and trademarks can be a bit subjective. Just because you and your designer think that the design that you've created doesn't infringe on other logos, the Trademark Office might reject your application based on their interpretation of "similarity"

3. And you're not just worrying about what the Trademark Office thinks. Any other business with an existing trademark could also challenge your application. They can even ask you to cease-and-desist using your logo after it has been trademarked if they held their trademark to a similar logo first. While surrendering might not seem like such a bad thing, remember that you'd also have to destroy any existing printed collateral, forfeit your trademark (and the trademarking process isn't cheap!) and redesign all of your materials. You'll also lose the equity and memorability that you will have built up in your logo if you do have to redesign.

If you do finally manage to design and trademark a symbol-only logo, you'll have to be extra-vigilant about making sure that other companies don't design a mark that's similar to yours. You are ultimately responsible for "policing" your own trademark and will have to stay up-to-date on trademark applications.

Alternately, you could hire someone to keep an eye on new trademarks for you but that can be expensive.

You can easily avoid all of these complications by designing a combination logo that includes both a symbol and your company name. Once you've designed your combination logo, you should always use the components together. This helps avoid potential legal issues like those mentioned above.

Erin Ferree is a brand identity and marketing design strategist who creates big visibility for small businesses. Through her customized marketing and brand identity packages, Erin helps her clients design effective websites that help them extend their brands, bring in new clients and make sales. http://www.elf-design.com

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Basic Graphic Design Course

A basic graphic design course will teach a person about all the elements that are involved in producing a great design. These basics can then be used to further their career either by advancing in to more technical areas of design such as for motor vehicles or for the designing of furniture or clothes.

The first lesson that a person will participate in when they choose to do a basic graphic design course defines what are the building blocks one should be using when producing a design of their own. You will be made to look closely at the 5 elements that all graphic designers use in their own designs and these are as follows:-

1. Line
2. Shape
3. Mass
4. Texture
5. Color

All of which are essential for a person to understand and know how to use if they really want to become a competent graphic designer.

After learning about the 5 elements mentioned above during the next lessons a person will learn exactly how these pertain to designs. Although we all know what lines are during this lesson a person will learn much more about the various different lines that can be used during the design stage of a project and the ways in which they can be used.

Once the student has learnt about the importance of lines in their designs they can then move on to the next lesson which involves shapes. The three main shapes that any basic course will include are squares/rectangles, triangles and of course circles. During the lesson the student will closely examine the role that these shapes play in the scheme of a design.

Although to some people mass and texture in relation to a drawing or design may not seem important to a graphic designer it is. Through participating in a basic graphic design course a person is able to understand the visual weight of graphics and text elements which they will include in their own designs and in the designs of others. Plus by learning about texture a graphic designer is able to understand how embossing or other visual textures may make a person react in a certain way to a design.

Finally as part of any good basic graphic design course a person will learn how important the colors are that they choose for their design and the way that are likely to impact on it. Also it provides them with a better understanding of how certain colors work together and which don't.

When it comes to finding a basic graphic design course the best place to start your search is on the internet. Not only will there be schools located close to where you live that offer you the chance to learn a little bit more about graphic design but there are also some courses available which you are able to take online. So in fact you are not restricted as to when and where you take yours if you choose to do one.

P Abbey owns and operates
http://www.graphicdesigncoursesguide.com/basicgraphicdesigncourse.html
Basic Graphic Design Course

Graphic Design - Topography and Images to Present Information

Meaning

Graphic design is process of visual communication using topography and images to present information and attract people. It gives an interesting mix of presenting varied information in attractive formats to increase the overall users' base. Whether you are reading your morning papers or commuting by a public bus, or open a book to read, element of graphics can be seen every where. It gives a great way to express your thoughts, ideas and opinion to reach millions of other users. This creative process involves different formats of graphics, which are easily available in today's world:

Logos


Logo is an important form of graphics that conveys lots of ideas to its readers and users. A logo provides identify to the vision and the purpose of the organizations or any other agencies. In addition, it is difficult to register a company without a valid logo attached with it.

Websites


Websites reflect the major works of graphics aiming to attract promising clients to the organization. So, make sure your website reflect good piece of information prepared through graphic design services.

Business Cards


Business cards are essential in this competitive business boasting world. An impressive business card can get you really good impact and you will be successful to express your mind freely and effectively.

Advertisements

Graphics in advertisements have a specific role to play. You can hire a graphic design company to get your advertisement really rocking and reflecting you ideology.

Brochures

Brochures also consist major graphic designing in it. Without a good design, a brochure may not look very impressive. So, graphic can bring a life in brochures.

Billboards

Billboards or hoardings consist of advertisements promoting a product or services so the major attraction point is graphic designing.

Product Packaging

Nowadays, product packaging has a definite role to play in the promotion of a product or a service. Packaging clinches eyes positively and gives you several benefits in future context.

Posters


Posters are one of the popular methods to express the ideas and opinions. Therefore, it becomes necessary to make it really effective with lots of graphics and pictures in it.

Book Design

Graphic has a definite role to play in book designing. While designing a book, it is necessary to represent the content of the book to attract the promising readers.

Magazine Layout

Magazines offer wide information about varied subjects and current happenings. Therefore, it has to be attractive enough to tempt readers to go through its pages. So, the role of graphics can be really important here.

Newspaper Layout

While layout a newspaper, the importance of graphics can not be ignored. Anything colorful and informative attracts readers to a great extent.

Greeting Cards


In greeting cards too, graphics can do wonders and equally express your ideas to the fullest.

Introduce myself, I am content writer for Web Site Design. Synapse India is a Graphic Design Company and an eCommerce Website Development firm in India. For more information, please visit Graphic Design Services

By: Martine Moore

Monday, November 5, 2007

Top Five Brands In Camping Tents

For many folks, when it comes to making any type of purchase brand names are important. The same can be said for campers looking for camping tents. Buying a tent from a top rated and trusted manufacturer can make or break your camping experience.

Here is an overview of some of the most trusted names in tents:

North Face

The name alone may make you think of mountains. So, when you think of North Face tents, being comfortable, dry and warm probably comes to mind. North Face was founded in 1966 by two California-based hikers. Their brand focuses on high performance hiking and backpacking gear.

North Face expedition tents can range up to $2500-but for those braving the elements of mountains this high ticket price could literally save a life! The model for the aforementioned price is a smaller dome, which sleeps eight. Lower price tents in this category cost around $400-$500. North Face's three-season tents start at $159, and come in many styles and sizes. The company also offers an ultra-light category

Coleman

There is probably not a more trusted name in camping gear than Coleman. In fact, that's their slogan: "The Greatest Name in Camping Gear." This company has been around over 100 years and makes over 100 camping items, everything from stoves and lanterns to, of course, tents.

Coleman tents are also very affordable, ranging from $50 to a few hundred dollars. There are solo tents, and tents with several rooms that can sleep up to four people. They make backpacking tents as well. Some of their tents come with pet play areas, too!

Kelty

Kelty specializes in tents, backpacks and sleeping bags. The company was founded by avid outdoorsman, Dick Kelty, who started his outdoor business making backpacks for his friends in the Sierra Club. Now, his company in addition to other gear, offers several dozen tents, sleeping from one to eight people. Prices start at $89 and go up to several hundred dollars.

Sierra Design

Sierra Design began improving the wilderness experience in 1965, by offering tents, sleeping bags, clothing and more. Sierra Design's website has an excellent section for choosing a tent by the activity you are using it for. They offer backpacking tents, family tents and even origami tarps for backpackers or for use on beach vacations.

L.L. Bean


L.L. Bean is a catalog company that is synonymous with the outdoors. They offer shelters, family tents and backpacking tents of all sizes.

Bill is an avid tenter. He is a regular contributor to Tents Today. Visit Tents Today and its sister site RV Today for all your outdoor information. Both are Camping Outdoors projects.

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Become a Master of Graphic Design

Graphic design is a creative process that combines art and technology to communicate ideas. It is the process of communicating visually using typography and images to present information, usually used whenever visual intricacy and creativity are needed to present text and imagery. It can also be applied to the layout and formatting of educational material to make the information more accessible and more easily understood.

Designing a masterpiece graphically is the art of combining text and graphics to communicate an effective message. It is primarily used in the design of logos, brochures, newsletters, posters, signs, and other type of visual communication. Graphic design is the use of words and images to pass on information or to create a certain visual effect. This art form is sometimes referred to as commercial art because of its application to advertising and its vital contribution to business function.

Graphic design practice embraces a range of cognitive skills, aesthetics and crafts, including typography, visual arts and page layout. Graphic designers have a unique ability to sell a product or idea through effective visual communications, and are asked to perform the difficult task of being creative every single day.

Combining visual communication skills with the interactive communication skills of user interaction and online branding, graphic designers often work with web developers to create both the look and feel of a web site and enhance the online experience of web site visitors. Color is also another powerful way of helping users find their way around a site, and color coding sections of the site helps users identify where they are.

Graphic design adds a visual and emotional context to the purely cognitive text on the site. The primary tool for this art form is, of necessity, the creative mind. With the advent of computers and software applications, the task of the designer has become a little easier, as these have provided more effective production tools than traditional methods. It is a creative profession and things that were once only conceived in the mind are brought to life through skills and imagination.

There is a downside to the inclusion of graphic design on websites. Many designers have tried to force the Web to be what it is not, creating ineffective and sometimes unusable websites. There is a tendency to forget that words, and not images, are the building blocks for the vast majority of websites. People are strongly visually orientated, and their response to the website's aesthetics and visual structure plays a strong part in how they interact with it as a whole.

The mid 1980s heralded the arrival of desktop publishing and the introduction of graphic art software applications. This introduced a generation of designers to computer image manipulation and 3D image creation that had previously been a tedious and intensive process. Today's graphic designers often use desktop publishing software and techniques to achieve their goals.

Graphic design requires that the advocate must continually keep up to date with the development of new and updated software, usually either on their own or through software training programs. Contrary to popular belief, anybody with the right software can not necessarily do it, creativity is the biggest attribute that needs to be added.

Graphic design is not just a case of being fluent in some type of software, but also about communication, solving visual problems, and imagination. The tools that are now available do not detract from the need for creative imagination, rather just make the performance of the task easier, and perhaps open the floodgates to applications that may have been out of reach previously.

Sharron Nixon is a 44 year old mother of 3 who lives in New Zealand. To get all the information you will ever need on Graphic Design, check out Sharron's website: www.sharronnixon.com/graphic-design And first Special Report: 15 Awesome Tips For Your Cheap Las Vegas Affair

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Web Design Company, The New Style Guru For Your Website

Once a spider web helped king Robert Bruce to get up. But humans have become more advanced now. So, they are more dependent on the World Wide Web, rather than spider web. If you need to publicize your product through a website, then you need the help of a web design company.

A web design company
helps the client to create their own website. The client just needs to say what exactly he wants. The company will do the rest of the work.

In this age of packaging, information is not just the only thing you require. You need glamour and style. If you want to popularize your website, then you have to make it look good, trendy and smart. The web design company will do just that for you.

A web design company knows your requirements. And as they have a strong experience, they will easily understand how your website can look catchy. And with the help of a step-by-step plan, they will give your dream a realistic shape.

The web design companies will provide you some efficient web designers who will help you to design your website. They will also look after the programming part and will upload your website.

Once you have a good website, you can reach to more and more people and the more you reach to people, the more your websites will start getting good advertisements.

A web design company will not only design your website, but they will also look after the maintenance of your site. If you want to use any logos then they will help you in designing them too. They will also take care of the marketing side and will promote your web site.

A web site is created mainly by using HTML, java, CSS etc. One specific website can contain multiple web pages for different kinds of information.

After the structure of your website is made, then you should concentrate on the uploading. The website has to be uploaded in the Internet. Uploading a website is not an easy task. You have to keep a lot of thing in mind. Like, the domain name, network service provider, your server etc. A good web design company will help you in all these matters. So, you don't need to do anything apart from providing the information.

In today's life a web design company is becoming mandatory for the web world. And these companies help you in many ways. They are providing you the structure, color and all the other ingredients. They are the one who are giving all the labor thereby giving you much relief. Because you won't have to pay much heed to your website. The web design company is there for you always.

But remember, if you want to make a good website, then go to a professional and good web design company. Otherwise you may land up in a problem zone. So make up your mind, search and give your dream a new direction.

Mark is a software engineer and web site developer. For more information on the work pattern of a web design company, he recommends you to visit www.smartimeinc.com

Friday, November 2, 2007

How To Design A Website In 3 Easy Steps

Forget even all your so called web designers who are out to quote a killer price for you. I know because I've been there. There is a plague going on where people think that using a certain jargon will give them the ability to "overcharge" you.

The good news is those days are over and almost anything you want to do can be done quickly and easily. All it takes is a good will to succeed. Plus, a dash of a heart to learn from others and what they have to say. Likewise, lets begin your lesson on how to design a website.

Step #1: Determine Your Theme

Just like any other web designers will ask you is this. They will try to figure out how to design a website with your personality. Hence, questions like your favorite colors, feel and layout. Don't be freaked out just keep reading. Colors can be anything from your own liking or a certain format.

Name 3 type of main colors that you like. Remember this and start to imagine what would you want to website visitors to feel when they arrive at your website. Relaxed? Excited? Touched? Sexually Aroused? All these are emotions when visitors come.

Pick one or a combination then decide the format of your website. Where you want to position your menus or contents.

Step #2: Getting Your Website Done

Often times, many of my friends gets puzzled when they want to learn how to design a website. They say it takes a good software like FrontPage or DreamWeaver to do it. Guess what? You don't even need to know HTML to start.

It may be useful in the future but you really only need to know how to write an email to get started. Go ahead and search about the many "free website editors" you can find on Google. Choose on that you like and start editing like its a MS Word document. Then save it. Its as simple as that.

Step #3: Making Your Website Public

Get the word out! Thats what you need to do after you have designed your website. Use an FTP uploader. Don't worry if you don't know what that means. It just stands for File Transfer Protocol. You will need a web host (a space for your website to reside) to store your work on the Internet.

Invest in a good reliable host. Make sure you get a good uptime, space and support with this service. Some web hosting services can cost between $10 - $100 monthly depending on what you want.

All in all, make sure you have the consistency to continue to update yourself. Learn more advanced methods on how to design a website online. Making your web content fresh and appealing will really impact your bottom line profits and traffic conversion.

About The Author:

This article is the property of http://www.Simple-Riches.com - you may freely publish it on a website as long as it is not modified in any way. It must include the author bylines; all hyperlinks and URLs must be made or remain active.

Vern How has been earning online since June 2006. He is a professional affiliate marketer who believes in giving back by helping others.

To find out how Vern can help you work from home, visit him today at
Simple Riches

For more information about profiting massively online, just check out How To Design A Website Using Good Hosting!

Thursday, November 1, 2007

How to Create an Effective Tagline For Your Logo?

Many people require designers to add a tagline to their logos, but I found out that several times the required taglines came as sentences and even paragraghs. This is horrible. The business owners want to enhance their company’s advertising on the logo design and try to cover as much information as possible, but they ignore the tagline’s definition and functions.

How to create an effective tagline for your logo then?


First, we need to know what a tagline is and what it can do for your business. A tagline is a branding slogan that is typically used in marketing materials and advertising. The idea behind the concept is to create a memorable phrase that will sum up the tone and premise of a brand or product. From this definition we know that a good tagline can make your business and even your logo more memorable in the target clients’ minds.

A good and effective tagline should be concise and clear, usually including from 3 to 7 words. This will avoid being overly wordy and will ensure your audience understand what your company does or offers.

An effective tagline should be inspiring and also reflect the personality of the company. For example, Nike’s tagline-‘ Just Do It’ inspires their buyers to take action to achieve their goals; while Apple Inc.’ s tagline-‘Think Different’ reflects the personalites of both their products and their clients.

Last but not least, an effective tagline should also be memorable. For example, Mcdonald’s tagline- "I'm Lovin' It." , deeply captures attention and interest from both you and me.

An effective tagline will make your logo design look more powerful, and will reinforce the image that your target audience holds about your company. Follow the principles illustrated above, and create an effective tagline for your logo!

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