What Designers Do and Dont Want You to Know About Deadlines

By Jeremy Tuber

Deadlines are a part of business, particularly in the business of design. Clients often approach me in the 11th hour, expecting a miracle. The truth is, while accomplished designers can create extraordinary artwork in a shorten amount of time, it's more advantageous for business owners to afford the designer ample time to go through her/his creative process. Sure, I can pull some rabbits out of my hat and work some minor miracles, but you'll get some much more out of your investment if you allow ample time.

Good design, like Rome, was never and shouldn't be created in a day.

The amount of time needed by a designer to work through the creative process depends on a number of factors; some are more measurable than others. As a general rule, the more creative energy and thought that a project requires, the more time a designer needs to create a lasting, imaginative, and effectual piece of artwork. What this means is that your periodic web site updates will require much less creative "juice" than creating an entirely new business identity. Some projects are more routine than creative, the more routine they are, the faster they can be done (most of the time). Ideally, I'd like to have at least 2 days on a project.

Secondly , the scope and size of the project also has a direct bearing on the time needed to complete a project. Projects with smaller project scopes naturally adapt better to a compressed time frame - they are smaller. So if you have a project that is small in scope or if it requires more doing than thinking, you might be in luck. Projects that are both lengthy and creative in nature should be given ample time to conceptualize and design.

Short + routine = speed.

Lengthy + lots of creativity = time.

In a perfect world, business owners and designers would have all the time they need to collaborate and complete a project. But the real world often doesn't work out that way, and experienced designers know it. Tight deadlines are a part of everyday business but designers often charge rush fees, which can range from 1.5 to 3X her/his normal rate, so you'll want to avoid them whenever possible.

Here are a couple of things you can do to save yourself money and maximize your design investment:

• Contact the designer early on in the planning phase of the project, find

  out what his/her workload is like

• Ask how much time he/she will need to complete the project
• When you are ready to move forward try to give the designer as much time

  as you can to complete the project

• Ensure your notes, ideas, content, graphics, etc are clear and organized
• Make yourself available to the designer for questions and feedback, you'll want to keep them ontrack and moving forward with your project

Jeremy Tuber runs the only business savvy graphic design firm who helps companies build more confidence and credibility into their business identities. He is an atypical designer with a passion for marketing as well as design. Jeremy infuses solid marketing expertise into design projects that he guarantees to bring satisfaction and results. Clients often remark that he brings a terrific enthusiasm and a "can do" attitude to each project. In 1st quarter 2006, he will introduce his first book aimed at helping aspiring artists run a more profitable and more enjoyable design business called, "Being a Starving Artist Sucks".

Learn more about Jeremy and how you can gain a competitive advantage with a better brand by visiting http://www.candographics.com

Want Prospects to Do Something After Seeing Your Advertising? Ask em!

By Jeremy Tuber

Business owners are often perplexed that prospects that have been exposed to her/his advertising do not take any action. "We've run an ad in the (insert advertising medium here) but we haven't gotten any action from potential prospects, can you tell us why?"

I usually respond with, "Did you ask them to take any action?"
Savvy advertisers like you know that you always want to include an easy, low risk ways for their prospects to take action. Take for instance the folks over at AT&T, with their 1800-CALL-ATT collect call line. Not only do they tell you what action they want you to take, they show it to you - you actually see the fingers dialing the keypad: 1-8-0-0-C-A-L-L-A-T-T. AT&T takes no chances in getting their "call" to action across. Your advertising should do the same in conveying a clear, easy to follow call to action.

Remember, if you don't ask or prompt your prospects to act - they won't!

You can focus on getting your prospects to act by offering: additional, valuable information; promotions and contests; discounted products/services; coupons and more. What you elect to choose goes beyond the scope of this article, but what is important is that you offer a soft step that interested people can take if they like what you have to say. You want to make this step easy to follow, convenient, fast and something that will provide some value to your prospect. If you're a nature person, think of it like coaxing a squirrel to come over and visit you: if you run over to the squirrel like a banshee, he'll run from you. If you invite the squirrel to take low risk, easy, comfortable action steps that lead him closer to you, you will increase your chances infinitely. Clients aren't squirrels, but I hope you see the point.

With all of that said, I have to tell you that offering a call to action isn't going to be the magic bean that will make your sales numbers grow up into the clouds. What I can promise you is that if you don't place easy to follow, clear and convenient calls to action in your advertising, you are leaving action up to you prospects and hoping they'll know what to do next - and this is a scary place to be.
Here are some examples that might help you along: Take advantage of our end of the month, 50% off sale. Starting this Monday, from 10AM to 5PM, come in and enjoy the best prices in the tri-state area.
Do you want a better-looking smile? Do you want to feel better about the way you look and feel? Visit our web site today for a free, easy to understand guide to "Getting and Maintaining Your Perfect Smile". Get the answers you need today.
If you want more information about advertising or calls to action, give me a call at 480-391-0704 or email me at comments@candographics.com

Jeremy Tuber runs the only business savvy graphic design firm who helps companies build more confidence and credibility into their business identities. �I help you take your business' vision and shape it into a company identity that will make you look better, feel better and have more confidence about your business.�

He is an atypical designer with a passion for marketing as well as design. Jeremy infuses solid marketing expertise into design projects that he guarantees to bring satisfaction and results. Clients often remark that he brings a terrific enthusiasm and a �can do� attitude to each project. In 1st quarter 2006, he will introduce his first book aimed at helping aspiring artists run a more profitable and more enjoyable design business called, �Being a Starving Artist Sucks�.

Learn more about Jeremy and how you can gain a competitive advantage with a better brand by visiting http://www.candographics.com

CDC, FDA, 4D Holographic Data Imaging of Flows

By Lance Winslow

4-D Situational Analysis of Cycles, Flows, Logistics, Events. Just got done reading the reading the Ben Bova book about Jupiter and recently read about the DOD contracts on 4-D imaging for war room readiness and field ops. By taking into account the latest technologies and understanding the principles of such a realistic real time modeling study, so much is possible. Good things for mankind and we are so near, so close really. Think of the tools we have infrared, thermo scanners, night vision, radar, lasers, GIS, GPS, along with terrain data and ARC programs (Jack Dangermond's stuff); all coordinated together and recording onto a multiple 2.6 GHZ processors recording the data in holograph in front of you. Can you see it?

A holographic real time visual data progression as it happens? Able to be replayed over and over again, with unlimited scenarios. Watching as each small change is made and how it effects the pattern of perceived chaos and bring the situation under control. Picture a display below you the size of a half tennis court with 4D view in holographic motion presentation. Augmented reality of the real world and possible futures.

This technology at work can be used to enforce standards to allow for freedom and peace and no disruptions on the way to the utopian society. Can you see how the human race can develop a defense strategy for our benefit and future? And why stop their? We can fight fires the same way. Fight and respond to natural disasters and put the whole thing in Mobil units for FEMA. And with the data flow, it does not even cost a lot to do it. We can use this modeling to understand and control weather and master our planet. Stop pollution, by controlling its flow. We already have all this technology right now, time to spend a little and get the top people working on it now. Imagine studying demographics the same way, watching real time money flows, electronic transactions to and from territories, states, Countries, companies and people. All on a similar floor right in front of your command and control mobile situation center.

But in the Flows of Civilization this technology shows even greater promise for instance The Federal Reserve can watch in real time and predict flows to make better decisions. Knowing and watching bank transactions, foreign wire transfers, taxation flows, currency markets, large purchases, stock market, bond market, commodities markets, etc. A complete 4D Beige Sheet which never stops and never lies, it is all on the table in front of you to help you make the right decisions and see true trends as they are happening.

Now then the reason I mention this is that the CDC needs a full blown system like this to track diseases and things which threaten to disrupt our lives. Mad Cow, Bird Flu, SARS, West Nile Virus, AIDS, Influenza. CDC can watch disease situations and the USDA food contamination to eliminate it by watching the DOTs version of transportation flow, like airlines, cruise ships, border traffic, food shipments by truck, train, container. All inter-connected and available at any time. And best of all you can record all of it for the future to teach the next new controllers of the system. Controlling everything for the future of mankind to serve us. That is what I see from this technology. You are in the beginning of the first step. Imagine watching these flows move about the cities in every market switching the holograph view, by clicking a button on the console or headset computer. The Controllers of civilization will be able to protect human life and prevent wide spread break out s.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance in the Online Think Tank and solve the problems of the World; www.WorldThinkTank.net/

Learn Now or Pay Later, How to Know if Your Logo is Going to Be a Source of Joy or Pain

By Jeremy Tuber

You might just use your logo on your own computer in Microsoft Publisher, or you hired a designer to create your logo that will be deployed across your web site, apparel, brochures, banners, advertisements and more. In either case, I promise you that taking a moment to internalize this article before you really settle on a logo will save you loads of time, money aggravation in the long run.

Knowing a little about logos ahead of time will save a lot down the road.

There are essentially two main categories that logos, and for that matter, graphics can be designed in: raster and vector. Both have pros and cons, and you'll ideally know what format the logo is going to be in before it's created for you. Having the logo designed in the right format will allow you to easily transfer it to a t-shirt, a business card, a trade show banner, whatever you want - this format is called vector.

In order to get the most out of your logo, you'll want to ensure that it's designed in a vector format. Vector logos and graphics are comprised not of tiny pixels like raster graphics but mathematical equations. Logos designed in vector format can be enlarged to banner size and beyond. As the graphic enlarges the mathematical equations and relations change and the logo never experiences loss of quality or degradation. This means your logo will always look crisp and clear.

I know, who cares?

Well, if you or someone you hire creates your original logo in a raster format, you may run into problems down the line. Take for example, Mindi, she's a good friend and client who had a designer create some DVD cover art for her a while back. In the process the artist quickly created a sort of a logo for her and slapped it on the DVD cover. The logo was designed in a raster format.

On the DVDs her logo looked fine, so Mindi didn't think anything of it. Recently she made a decision to have a trade show banner created and wanted to use the same logo. That's where things got complicated. Mindi's logo was created in a raster format, and when you enlarge it to banner size it doesn't look so good. In fact, it looked "fuzzy" or "jagged" - not the professional image she was shooting for.

Mindi was faced with a difficult decision because her logo was not created correctly in vector format. She could just not use the logo or have the logo recreated in vector form, which will cost her some time and money. Either way, the decision was not a fun one.

If you intend on using your logo for more than just business cards you print out on your computer you want to ensure you know your logo is being created in vector format so you can avoid the quandary Mindi found herself in. So remember, even if your logo looks good on the computer screen it may not look as good when printed, this is especially true when printing a logo in what they call "large format" printing (banners, etc.).

The best way to ensure your logo will look good on whatever you place it on is to work with an experienced, savvy graphic designer. He or she will create your logo so you can use it, your staff can use it, and it will be welcomed and accepted by any printing professional. You will have the peace of mind knowing your logo will look outstanding whether it's on a business card or a banner. If you have any questions about your logo or feedback about this article, give me a call at 480-391-0704, or email me at comments@candographics.com. I would be happy to talk to you about your logo and how to get the most out of it.

Jeremy Tuber runs the only business savvy graphic design firm who helps companies build more confidence and credibility into their business identities. �I help you take your business' vision and shape it into a company identity that will make you look better, feel better and have more confidence about your business.�

He is an atypical designer with a passion for marketing as well as design. Jeremy infuses solid marketing expertise into design projects that he guarantees to bring satisfaction and results. Clients often remark that he brings a terrific enthusiasm and a �can do� attitude to each project. In 1st quarter 2006, he will introduce his first book aimed at helping aspiring artists run a more profitable and more enjoyable design business called, �Being a Starving Artist Sucks�.

Learn more about Jeremy and how you can gain a competitive advantage with a better brand by visiting http://www.candographics.com

Targeting the Affluent Consumer

By Jim Koppenhaver

Affluence is an interesting word. To some it means having the discretionary income to take a year-long global vacation. To others the implication of affluence or luxury may be less ambitious. But to marketers, affluence has been the Holy Grail, representing consumers with money to burn.

Today, �luxury� constitutes a $400 billion market and is estimated to become a one trillion dollar market by 2010. According to the Luxury Marketing Council, the wealthiest 10 percent of U.S. households have an average income of $270,000, an average net worth totaling nearly $3 million, and more than $1 million in average financial assets. More than 1.2 million households have a net worth of more than $5 million. By all standards, the luxury market is the most robust and while regular retail sales have increased between four and six percent annually, the luxury market has grown between 20 and 30 percent in the last decade. What�s more household income for the top 20 percent of the wealthiest households is up 70 percent in the last 20 years.

But, thus far, this potentially lucrative market has been elusive to most marketers. It used to be that affluent consumers bought premium items, middle-class consumers bought value-priced items, and lower-income consumers bought strictly based on price. Simple, right? Not any more. Today, many people are living beyond their means, and millionaires shop at Wal-Mart.

What�s more, traditional prospecting is less effective than ever before. Everyday, consumers are faced with thousands of images, from billboards to banners. Marketers are faced with decreasing budgets and a mandate to do more with less, and looking for new ways to reach elusive markets.

But today, there is a way to effectively identify and target potential affluent buyers. It starts with an understanding of the capacity to spend � a reliable and important indicator of the likelihood to buy because it�s focused on discretionary income. Discretionary income refers to money that is left after consumers take care of essentials such as food, clothing, and shelter.

Two households that both have $250,000 in income and that are in the same life stage may in fact have substantially different spending power and patterns depending on their tastes, attitudes, where they live, and their financial asset base. These are the factors that determine what each consumer can or can�t afford to buy and what they choose to spend on. The fact is that �birds of a feather� do not always �flock together.�

To be successful, marketers must focus on a combination of assets and discretionary income. It all starts with an understanding of a prospect�s ability to purchase. Without this, no amount of persuasive copy, award-winning graphics, or hard-to-beat offers will yield results. Typical gross household income measures tend to be unreliable and do not effectively target consumers. In addition, most income selects stop at $100,000 � that is, all households with income of more than $100,000 are categorized together. It is simply an unrealistic measure in terms of what people are likely to spend on.

With that in mind, targeting methods must identify access to money � that is, discretionary funds, regardless of income, in order to qualify current and future prospects. Useful tools segment, prioritize and target both current and prospective customers based on their true ability to buy, viewing wealth based in part on liquid asset factors, not just income.

Armed with more specific information, marketers can better target customers, locate more individuals with similar profiles, all with an understanding of each consumer�s true ability and propensity to spend. With the advance knowledge of a consumer�s capacity to buy discretionary products and by customizing offers and marketing messages to be highly relevant for each audience segment, marketers can more effectively utilize their marketing budget to reach truly worthwhile prospects and increase their marketing ROI.

Echelon Targeting provides a superior measure of consumer spending power to consumer goods manufacturers, retailers, and service providers of all types. Consumer marketers can use Echelon�s systems to gain intelligence on customer and prospect discretionary spending capacity and purchase propensity in order to improve their segmentation, targeting, and marketing strategies.

To learn how to capture the unrealized value of your customers and prospects, or to arrange a test of an in-house file, please contact us at 866-788-9677, e-mail us at jkoppenhaver@echelontargeting.com. or visit our web site at echelontargeting.com.

Jim Koppenhaver is Group Vice President for Echelon Targeting�. Echelon Targeting provides segmentation and targeting solutions focused on finding consumers with discretionary spending power for both for profit and nonprofit organizations. As a division of IXI� Corporation, Echelon Targeting offers products and services based on the proprietary wealth-measurement techniques of IXI. Jim Koppenhaver can be reached at 847-808-7652 or via e-mail at jkoppenhaver@echelontargeting.com

Online Arbitrage � Internet Income Made Easy

By Joshua Spaulding

The attraction of online profits is bringing more and more people to Internet marketing. With this growing attraction, come fewer easy opportunities. Fortunately, there is one technique anyone can use online to gain a respectful online income. This technique is called �arbitrage� and it has been used off-line for centuries. This very well may be the last true technique to generate �easy money�.

There are literally thousands of different ways that arbitrage can benefit you so I will only name a few.

eBay � This auction giant has grown to an enormous size in the past years and it seems it is only growing larger. With the growth, come more and more products of all categories. This provides the perfect opportunity for one to profit with arbitrage. Find products that people are selling for a really low price and bid on them. Of course, you will not win all of the bids but you will win some. Now hold on to the product for a few days while other potential bidders enter the market. Place the items up for bid and put a minimum sell price on them that is a little higher then what you paid.

Adsense � This is one that can get a little tricky and it does take a fair amount of knowledge in Google Adwords to master, but nonetheless, it can be extremely profitable. The theory behind it is that you create a website or even a simple page with adsense ads on it, and you create an adwords campaign to promote it. You must target keywords with very little competition that pay out very nice. So, think of it this way; if you can get one dollar per click on your adsense ads and you are only paying thirty cents with adwords, you are gaining seventy cents per click.

Outsourcing Graphic work, Writing etc. � This is a form of online arbitrage that has earned a huge online income for thousands of people. This one is pretty self-explanatory. Just find a writer, coder or graphic designer that offers their services for a cheap price. Now create a sales page and promote it offering the same services. When you get customers requesting the product you contact the artist, writer or coder and have them do the work. Now pay them and send the product to your customer for a higher price.

Hopefully this article has put a few ideas in your head as to how you can earn your piece of the online income pie. Take these ideas to head and come up with your own. Do a little investigation and initial work and you will see how so many people earn so much money with online arbitrage.

Joshua Spaulding is an Author and Webmaster providing Proven ways to Make Money Online. Joshua also runs a Quality Article Directory where you can submit your articles for top SE placement or publish other Quality articles to your web site or blog.

Graphic Design Opportunity

By Darcie Zackowski

The opportunity for a graphic designer to express creativity in a unique prosperous way has been discovered! Hand painted window ads is an untapped avenue of expression and requires no artist talent to implement. It has been proven that graphic designers can be highly successful at this business by either creating these ads on their own or hiring others to implement the display layouts that the designer has created.

As any graphic designer knows, the ability to display information in a balanced enticing way is extremely important to achieving the results that marketers are searching for. The way an idea is presented has far reaching abilities, and implementing this talent into an untapped industry has success written all over it.

Window painting is a specific form of sign advertising done on a client�s windows. Its potential to draw desperately needed attention to retail outlets is incomparable to any other form of marketing. Most retailers spend the majority of their marketing dollars on advertising avenues such as radio, TV, and print adds. Although their importance in generating traffic is undeniable, there is a financial sacrifice to be made and it is high. As an example a half page black and white ad in a local newspaper may run around $1000. If you were to add color, plan on adding an additional $500. The distribution is one time. How many of those people will actually take the time to read the ad, remember the ad, and act on the ad?

For a mere fraction of the price, window advertisements work 24 hours a day, every day for the duration of the ad. It provides direct attention not only to the storefront, but also up front, no nonsense information about in store promotions. All information is readily available to the potential customers right in front of their store.

Due to the demand of the well-informed consumer, the retailer has to offer far more than good deals. They must offer an experience, a felt experience. Graphic designers have the ability to create this needed felt visual experience through creative, enticing window design layouts.

An unrealized opportunity has been discovered that will enable graphic designers to express their talents through an amazingly lucrative business. The launching of the the website http://www.wildways2ads.com offers a graphic design idea that is lucrative as well as rewarding. It has proven to be a most profitable start up business!

Are You A PC Gamer And Want The Best Out Of Your Graphics Card?

By Stephen Hames

Introduction

In this article you will learn how to get the most out of your graphics card by installing new drivers and tweaking Windows. The guide is based around Windows XP Professional Edition but you can use the same guide to tweak other Windows operating systems.

Step 1.

The first thing you need to know what graphics card you are using. The most popular graphics card companies are nVidia and ATi. Both these companies have an excellent range of products and offer excellent service. Once you know what graphics card you are using, then head over to the companies website where you can download the latest drivers.

Drivers are software that runs your graphics card, printer or scanner correctly. Being up to date with drivers will help solve issues that may arise with modern PC games. Just recently I had to update my drivers to fix a problem I had with a game I recently purchased, and this solved my problem.

OK once you have downloaded your drivers for your graphics card make sure you create a restore point using the utility System Restore. This can be done my click Start->Programs->Accessories->System Tools and then System Restore. Then follow the on screen instructions to create the restore point. By doing this it makes sure that if a problem occurs after you installed the new drivers, you can return to the restore point to see if the problem is the drivers you installed.

Once you�ve finished creating your restore point, you need to install your drivers. This can done by double clicking on the file you downloaded and then you follow the on screen instructions. After you�ve installed your drivers you will have to restart Windows so the changes can take effect.

If everything goes according to plan you should see an increase in performance in your games and you will not need to go back to your restore point. If you do have problems, use your restore point to go back and fix the problems. If the problem persists, then contact the company that made your graphics card.

Step 2.

Make sure you have the latest version of DirectX. This can be done by going onto the Microsoft website http://www.microsoft.com and searching DirectX. Once you�ve downloaded the latest version, you will need to create another restore point. One person I know installed the latest version of DirectX and then had problems afterwards, and because they didn�t create a restore point they couldn�t fix the problem and so they needed to reformat their computer to solve the problem. Again to create a restore point, go to Start->Programs->Accessories->System Tools and then System Restore.

Once you�ve created the restore point install the latest version of DirectX by double clicking on the file you just downloaded. Follow the on screen instructions and once you�ve finished you will have to restart your Windows.

Step 3.

In this step I will guide you through tweaking Windows XP. The first step will be changing the performance of Windows, to do this right-click on My Computer and then Properties->Advanced->Performance->Settings and select �Adjust for best Performance�.

The next step is to change your Themes, so right-click on your desktop and select Properties. Under the Themes tab set your theme to Windows Classic.

About The Author

I run a small PC gaming website called Gaming Archive. I'm currently a student in England studying ICT. steve.hames@gaming-archive.com

10 Tips On How To Create A Website That Works

By Connie Casparie

1. Formulate a plan Before you build a Web site, consider the following:

� What is the purpose of the Web site? Are you selling a product, advocating policy, educating readers or posting volunteer opportunities?

� Who is your audience?

� How do you plan to promote your site?

� what payment system do you plan to use?

� Who will design your site and for what cost?

� How often will you need your site updated?

2. Know your audience

Understanding your primary and secondary audience is important for any project you undertake.

For example, an older audience may appreciate a Web site that has a larger font size. Studies show that children are more apt to click on a banner ad than an adult; find out who you are serving and tailor the page to meet their needs.

3. Design for multiple platforms, browsers and screen resolutions

Besides knowing the demographics of your users, knowing what type of computer they use is helpful as well. While the differences between the newer versions of Internet Explorer on the Mac and Windows platforms are few, older versions display Web pages very differently.

For example, a resolution of 640x480 means that your monitor, whether 15", 17" or bigger, will display 640 pixels wide and 480 pixels long. The bigger the monitor (and often the better the video card), the larger resolution you can use.

You should never force users scroll horizontally to view content, so designing your Web site for a screen resolution of 800x600 is a safe practice. Most new computers default to 1024x768 on a 17" monitor, however, if you have an audience that is not especially high-tech, they may be viewing your page on a smaller monitor with a lower resolution.

Older versions of browsers for testing purposes can be downloaded at: http://browsers.evolt.org/

4. Provide consistency in navigation

Users who cannot find items on your page will leave your site. Provide a consistent navigation structure with a link to your home page to allow predictability and ease of use. Also, do not be too clever in your site design. Unless you know your audience prefers abstract images and metaphors, keep it simple; use common names such as "about", "contact", and "help".

The Web Developers Virtual Library has a good article on navigation, it is older but most of the info holds true: http://www.wdvl.com/Location/Navigation/101/

A site map is another important feature for a couple of reasons. One reason is the user will be able to find everything they need quickly and two the search engines spiders will find all your pages quicker which means it is one more way that you could get indexed quicker.

5. Write quality code

I know that coding is sometimes scary for a lot of beginners but, not all hypertext markup language (HTML) is created equally. What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) Web design tools such as Microsoft Front Page and Macromedia Dreamweaver produce different HTML code that may create unexpected results in some of the different browsers.

Use an external HTML validator to verify your code so you know that your visitors will see your site the way you intended: http://validator.w3.org/

6. Create accessible Web sites

Allow all users, including those with disabilities, access to your site by following consistent guidelines; ensuring that your documents have alt tags for images and scalable fonts is a good start towards making your pages more useable for everyone.

7. Effective use of fonts, images and colors

Graphics, colors and logos are all important to personalizing your page. However, misuse can drive away visitors. For example, a font you interpret as "fun" (e.g. Comic Sans) may be viewed as immature by a visitor.

Basic human psychology is something you should consider when designing your site. Think of your targeted visitor, their wants and what will trigger the emotional response you want from them. Below are some quick tips to follow regarding these issues:

� Use a sans-serif font such as Verdana or Arial for displaying text, as these fonts are easier to read on a monitor. Serif fonts, such as Times New Roman and Georgia fonts look best on printed material

� Avoid use of italics; blocks of italicized text are difficult to read on a monitor

� Optimize any graphics; large images may take a long time to download for a visitor using a dial-up modem -use a thumbnail image instead

� Animated images are not cute. Pixilated, moving graphics were popular in 1996, but have lost much of their appeal on todays Web sites for the common user

� Keep the font and style consistent by using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).

� Create a color palette and use it consistently; depending on the mood of your page. Refer to the Wheel of Color for basics and recommendations: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnhess/html/hess08142000.asp

8. Writing and copy, just a couple of things to remember. We will go into this one more later.

� Most important speak the language of your visitor

� Omit needless words, don't ramble on too much (although a long sales letter does convert better than a short one)

� Define acronyms, if this is a first time visitor they may not know what you are talking about. define the acronym the first time you use it, then you can use the acronym elsewhere on the site

� Check your spelling, one of the most common mistake and yet the one that is easiest to fix

9. Promote your site

Ensure each page contains relevant keywords, a brief, accurate description in the head of your HTML document, is titled appropriately, and sponsoring or related organizations provide links to your site. The more links to your Web site from other pages results in a higher ranking on some search engines. I am not an SEO expert but do have some resources I will share with you at another time.

10. Verify and credit sources of information

Give credit where credit is due; plagiarizing copy, design or images without prior permission is unethical. Be sure to acknowledge and verify credibility of all sources. While it is not technically impossible to steal code, or articles off the Web, it does not lend credibility to your own organization.

Connie Casparie is a Freelance Graphic & Web Designer and Instructor. She has been working in the design field for over 25 years, both offline and online. She has an education background in Graphic Design, Web Design, Photography and Instructional Technology. She enjoys applying creative design techniques with her teaching and coaching. Visit http://www.thecreativenerd.com to find out how you can also get creative with your web sites and receive weekly free ebooks, videos, software etc. to help you learn the easy way to creating web sites.

Art Logo Design

By Sania Salman

Art logo designs are the most amusing kind of logos. They are colorful and have amazing designs pertaining to their industry. This fact cannot be denied that logo designs are a part of the company. So much that they become the recognition of your company. Every industry has certain special attributes which they tend to highlight in their advertising materials. For instance, health club logo designs display dumbbells whereas a fashion logo would display dresses or accessories related to fashion.

Similarly, art logo designs have attributes related to arts and crafts. You are likely to find paint brushes or easels incorporated in art logo designs.

Some attributes of art logo designs are given below:

Colors: You will find art logo designs very much intense and colorful in nature. The reason is because arts and crafts are deeply related to colors. The whole job of an artist is to play with colors. Art logo designs show this relation with colors. There are not any special colors which relate to arts field in a specific way however most of the art logos have blue, yellow and red colors.

Fonts: The fonts cannot be formal among so many colors. Therefore, art logo designs do not have decent or formal fonts; instead you will find artistic and inventive fonts in these logos. Again, it relates to the industry.

The overall look: The over all look of art logo designs can be defined as an artistic and a creative look. Incorporating colors and amusing fonts makes the logo look more fascinating. Sometimes, you will find art logo designs a bit dull compared to the normal art logo designs. But those are then referring to the deeper side of life which can only be understood by an artist.

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