Graphical Elements in Web Design

A Web Hosting Article Contributed by Sonal Raje

Images to Give a Visual Appeal to the Web Design

The visual impact of a web design depends largely upon the graphical content on the pages. People browsing the net are attracted by impressive graphics that communicate an idea at a glance. 'A picture can speak a thousand words'. This can be used to great advantage on the web, where catching the attention of the viewers is very important. A static web page with only textual content can have little visual appeal even when the viewer is interested in the content.

A touch of color within the field of vision adds up to make an impression. The very purpose of a website is to communicate to the people in all corners of the world the nature of business or service offered by your company or introduce the products your company has to offer. A graphical depiction is very essential to give an exact idea about your services or products so that the viewer is clear in his conception of the services or products.

Introducing Graphics in the Web Design

Once you have the images to be introduced in the web design ready, the actual insertion of the graphics in the web page layout has to be considered. There are many factors to be considered while introducing the graphics. The first and foremost factor is that the addition of graphics will increase the file size of the page, which in turn will increase the download time of the site. For a successful web design it is essential to keep the site simple and easy to download.

The viewer if kept waiting for the page to open loses interest and may leave the site altogether. An overkill of graphics is also not a good idea for web design.

Which Images are Essential for the Web Design?

1 ) Images depicting the target audience: When the target audience identifies itself with the images of people enjoying the benefits of the services or products, you can reach out effectively to them. The viewers can easily imagine themselves in place of the people on the website and can be thus persuaded to buy the particular product or services.

2 ) Product images: These are an essential part of a site that sells products as the viewer would not be able to get a clear idea about the product with only a description in words. Well presented images of the products can suffice for the viewers to place orders through the site.

3 ) Technical drawings, diagrams and charts: When an in depth knowledge about a particular concept or of the functioning of a product is necessary for the viewer to understand its capacity, such technical drawings and charts have to presented within the Web Design as images.

4 ) Background image on the page and the images in the header of the web page. The first impression of the homepage is usually based on the header design which has the logo and a few key images depicting the services or products that the site displays. The viewer identifies the site by this design which is repeated on all the pages.

5 ) Icons as navigational aids: These are small images that graphically depict the function and are useful to aid the viewer in the navigation of the site.