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Article 1 - Design for no talent
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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, 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.
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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 linkware sites, but
always give credit where due.
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Plan Ahead
This is equally important for 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. Visualization is
important. 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 database served pages too.
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Photographs Are Our Friends
For the no-talent artist 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
intimidated 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.
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Article 1 - Design for no talent
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