The biggest challenge for web marketers, brand managers and organizations targeting at more sales and brand loyalty via Web is engaging their website visitors. By engaging, we mean getting website visitors to spend time on the website and get involved in it. The ultimate purpose is, of course, conversion.

What most marketers and brand promoters miss is the fact that the goal should not be keeping website visitors (prospects) engaged with ‘cool’ graphics; the goal should be getting website visitors to involve, and understand the message, and become a customer. There is no denying that good a copy, decent color scheme and attractive graphics grab the attention of website visitors but what makes them stay or come back to the website is something else. ‘Something else’ – that creates the desire to know more about the brand or own the product.

This post is intended to give you an insight into ‘something else’ that works.

(more…)

We just had a round trip of the World Wide Web and brought back some useful pointers for you.

Future of Web Design

First thing first, the much awaited Future of Web Design Conference 2011 is going to commence on May 16^th. This is going to be an eventful conference with three days of workshops and technical sessions on HTML5, CCS3, web design, creativity and a lot of exciting ideas for designers, developers, startups and entrepreneurs. You would also get a chance to talk to gurus like Jeffrey Veen, the founder of Typekit, Aarron Walter, the user experience lead of MailChimp and many others. If you are in London, register today to confirm your booking.

(more…)

Done with your latest and the greatest web design?

Do you know that a large number of people in your audience would not be able to view your design as you intended. Imagine how a person with vision deficiency (like color blindness) would experience your website. According to an estimate, among adult computer users of the USA alone, 1 user in 4 has vision difficulty, 1 has dexterity problem and 1 in 5 has hearing problem. By ignoring these users, we not only reduce the number of users but also limit the scope of our products.

Today’s post is all about designing accessible websites/ web applications. Accessibility is the measure of ease with which users with physical disabilities, say visual impairment, can use a product efficiently and perform the required tasks satisfactorily. In other words, accessibility means that every user in his own context can operate a system and get required output without any constraints.

Here, it is very important to understand that many end-users may be using the product in a context that is very different from the context in which it is designed. For example,

• The user may not be able to see, hear, move, or may not be able to process some types of information easily or at all.
• The user may have difficulty reading or comprehending text.
• The user may be colorblind.
• The user may not have or be unable to use a keyboard or mouse.

These and many other contexts should be taken care of when designing or developing a system. The following is a set of basic rules of accessibility that you should understand and comply with when designing websites or web applications.

Use Colors Wisely

(more…)

Recently, we have seen the entire landscape of web design transforming from traditional design and layouts to creative experiments in all directions. Most recent tends included rich imagery, table less layouts, interactive interfaces and extensive use of jQuery, CSS 3 and HTML 5 to minimize Photoshop and Flash.

For the rest of 2011, we can expect a number of new trends as basic requirements of good web designs.

Here is how Greep It! foresees the future of web design for the rest of 2011.

Touchable Designs

With rapid proliferation of iPad, tablet computers and touch screen phones, web designs are transforming rapidly to catch up with the new generation of mobile users. Web pages and applications, now, have to be ‘touch-enabled’.

You should design interfaces that render flawlessly on traditional PCs as well as on touch screens of multiple sizes and resolutions. On the same note, your applications and pages should load fast on mobile devices with lower bandwidth. Hence, web pages and applications have to be simple, fluid and lightweight.

Splash Pages

The trend of photographic splash pages would continue to grow for the rest of 2011. You can see a large number of one-page designs on WordPress and all other platforms on the web especially since the launch of services like about.me. You can expect more and more creative experiments with splash pages/one-page designs with a lot of imagery, portrait pictures and animated background.

(more…)

960 Gridder – A Grid Layout Design Tool for web designers & developers that you can either use as an integrated component to layout your websites or use it as a bookmarklet. The grid is fully customizable but it defaults to the “960px grid standard”.

960 Gridder is built upon the very famous JavaScript framework jQuery. 960 Gridder will automatically identify if jQuery is present at the website and if it is not, it will include it.

It injects your website of choice and you can then work with this tool to help you out with whichever layout/design task you find it useful for.

Compatibility: 960 Gridder is cross-browser compliant and works well with all major browsers.

Website: http://gridder.andreehansson.se/

PSD Guarantee Seal

Download PSD Guarantee Seal

Flag buttons in AI and PSD format

Download Flags
(more…)

Webnode is a free website creation tool aimed at helping web design novices get a modern-looking website online in minutes. Once you’ve registered for a Webnode account, you’re asked to choose a title and slogan for your new site. Then you select a template and start adding content.

Webnode uses a common modular system which allows you to drag content areas to create different layouts or add content like polls, forums, and photo galleries. There are also widgets for PayPal, Flickr, YouTube, and Google Maps. It lets user to use his own domain instead of somename.webnode.com.

(more…)

Designers stay much busy in their lives. This is a normal routine for Designers that they are working on several projects at a time. They could be working on their own projects, friend’s project, company’s project.

In this busy life, Inspiration means a lot for the Designers. They need inspiration to speed up the work and to finish in a timely manner. I thought to collect some nice Breadcrumb for Designers.

So here is the Breadcrumbs inspiration for you fellas.

IDEO

Coolspotters

Apple

(more…)

sIFR is a javascript alternative specially for Designers & Developers. It gives them the freedom to choose the font they like for their audience. It accomplishes this by using a combination of javascript, CSS, and Flash.

Features:

• Fully accessible to screenreaders and other assistive technology
• Works on Mac, Windows, and Linux
• Works with all major browsers
• sIFR is less than 10k and only loads once

Website & Demo: http://www.mikeindustries.com/blog/files/sifr/2.0/

Download siFR 2.0 Code

I wonder if you knew that visitors to your website form an instant opinion? And they form it about you and your offer. This instant opinion is created subconsciously. It happens automatically within the visitors mind. It happens automatically. Your site visitors can’t help themselves. It matters not a jot how clever the text is on your page. You can have paid an expensive professional to produce your copy for you. The visitor need not read a single word, and yet they will form their instant opinion.

The quality of the images on your web page won’t make any difference. Their quality doesn’t affect in this instant opinion. You might think if you make an unrepeatable offer, that your visitor is bound to be swayed by that! I’m sorry, the instant opinion clicks in, and your brilliant offer lies unseen. This is because the instant opinion is made when your web page is displayed to your visitor. You may have guessed there is something subliminal at work here. In a way, that is right. Immediate opinions are formed by visitors to every single website. You may have already worked out that the answer is colors. When your web page appears to your visitor, the colors you’ve used go to work on the subconscious of your visitors.

(more…)