Themed Graphics
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Themed graphics are simply graphics that are part of a coordinated set that are geared towards, or compliment your industry / craft items / products you sell.
An example would be a background, navigation buttons, and maybe an advertising banner that reflect your topic of choice. If you were selling home made pet foods or treats, you would possibly get a page background with little pet paws in a muted tone, add a couple of buttons with a dog or cat on them, and use an advertising banner that also had some type of pet food related graphic included.
What are themed graphics?
You want to give customers an instant idea about what you are selling. Notice I said instant. People want to be able to identify what your business is immediately. Internet users are not fond of waiting or trying to click pages to discover what it is you are offering. They are looking for confirmation that they have arrived at a site that can provide them with either pet food, or information about pet food. Giving the customer that visual information, can be a great service to your shoppers as most people who shop on the web are under time constraints.
Using themed graphics are great to give a web site that little extra welcoming feel, and really make your products pop when compared to a cold, stark web site. The right graphics will compliment, but not override what you are selling. Graphics that distract the viewer from looking at your items for sale, can kill your business. This includes graphics that flash, change colors, or are animated. Themed graphics should also be small in file size and not slow the page from loading. Navigation buttons should be visible, uniform, and the text on them should be clear about the topic, so the user can get around your web site easily.
Most importantly, themed web graphics should be affordable. You do not need to spend a fortune. There may come a time when you might decide to make color, design, or display changes to your web site. Look for affordable graphics that you may be able to combine for many different looks. Personally I avoid free graphics, because they sometimes are a little too busy or animated. You may be able to find some decent free graphics by searching on the web. For industry specific graphics, you can sometimes find graphics from university sites that allow you to use them, with permission. I personally have found, that for cottage type, or craft businesses, searching for country graphics turns up many more results for graphics more suited to the craft industry.
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© 2002 and beyond by - L. Schoen
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For more information and articles about Paint Shop Pro and graphic design,
visit Heaven Country Graphics or contact the author.
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