Think You Can Create Video Games?

by Kate Henlay

About the Author

Kate Hanley is an expert on online media solutions, web development and search engine optimization in Dubai, UAE along with 360 online media solutions. He has vast experience of working in Dubai online solution providers market. ]]> http://designermeetup.com/how-important-is-website-usability/feed 0 http://designermeetup.com/color-psychology-and-graphic-design http://designermeetup.com/color-psychology-and-graphic-design#comments Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:51:06 +0000 Jessica http://designermeetup.com/?p=488 Continue reading →]]>

Author: Bharat Bista

Colors have psychological impacts. They are attributes of eyes, but are the chemistry of the mind. Colors are perceived though pupils, and the effects are produced with associated nerves to the brain neurons.

Light reflecting through objects in different wavelengths and frequency stimulates different “cones” or color receptor cells of the retina in the eyes and makes perception possible for different colors.

Colors influence people through psychological changes and are associated with certain feelings and meanings. Colors exist everywhere else, it is omnipresent. Colors represent cultural, social customs and emotional values and its use in arts, printing, designing, websites, graphics, etc. – these days are unavoidable.

Choosing proper color is an essential constituent for your website and its graphics; as visitors to your website first encounters colors and graphics before they read your textual descriptions.

Colors are used in website design and graphic design for various forms; use of colors can be for backgrounds, navigation, logos, and navigation buttons to emphasize, highlight, symbolize your text description and outlining your site.

Despite the fact that your website is enhanced and fabricated with textual and graphical design, if you are using the wrong color combinations, then you are annoying your own visitors rather appealing them. As a result, to attract your customers, it is important to understand psychological behavior of your customers to your websites chromatics. The use of wrong colors results in the wrong impression.

Below are the details for color interpreted through different professions, culture, and physiology science;

Red: Red is a color of intensity, stimulants, love, gaudiness, blood, war, excitement, speed, heat, leadership, masculinity, power, passion, strength, energy, financial loss, Danger, fire, radicalism, aggression, stop, anger, and revolution.

Blue: Blue is a color of peace, unity, harmony, depression, coldness, ice, tackiness, winter tranquility, calmness, coolness, confidence, water, ice, loyalty, conservatism, dependability, cleanliness, technology, winter, idealism, and obscenity. ???? ???????? ?????

White: White a color of peace, innocence, cleanliness, simplicity, security, humility, sterility, winter, reverence, purity, coldness, surrender, cowardice, and fearfulness. Black: Black is a color of power, sophistication, Evil, death, fear, anonymity, anger, sadness, mystery, formality, elegance, wealth, style, remorse, mourning, and unhappiness.

Green: Green is a color of nature, spring, good luck, illness, greed, vigor, generosity, go, grass, wealth, money, fertility, youth, environment, envy, misfortune, jealousy, aggression, and inexperience.

Purple: Purple is a color of spirituality, royalty, nobility, enlightenment, sensuality, creativity, wealth, gaudiness, ceremony, mystery, wisdom, mourning, profanity, exaggeration, confusion, arrogance, and flamboyance.

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Brown: Brown is a color of richness, stability, anachronism, dirt, dullness, filth, heaviness, poverty, roughness tradition, calm, depth, natural organisms, and nature.

Yellow: Yellow is the color of joy, happiness, optimism, idealism, gold, summer, hope, air, sunlight, hazards, dishonesty, avarice, weakness, cowardice, and illness.

Orange: Orange is a color of energy, flamboyance, playfulness, balance, heat, fire, enthusiasm, overemotional, warning, danger, fire, aggression, arrogance, flamboyance, and gaudiness.

Even choosing color is a professional skill in graphic design business, as it is not only just the colors, but are the color that stimulates the mind of your viewers. Graphic designs inevitably comes with colors, and selecting the best ones for your business is an expertise.

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Author: Bharat Bista
Resources and References: Graphic Design – Custom Web Site Design – Silk Flowers

Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_78713_4.html

It’s hardly a secret that the recent economic slump has hit quite a few professionals around the world pretty hard. Many who thought their jobs were secure are now thumbing their way through the classifieds. There are few industries that have been untouched by the devastation, but there is one sector that has not only remained relatively unscathed during the recent recession but actually grown in some cases. That’s the field of Interactive Media and Design. While print media continues to decline in importance and market share, the realm of Internet media and development is only now beginning to explore its potential for future growth.

Interactive Media and Design is a multidisciplinary line of work that revolves around Creating Rich Internet Applications and websites. Using tools like Flash, HTML, Javascript, ActionScript and many other cutting-edge and innovative technologies, graphic designers create eye-catching and useful media and applications both for E-commerce and for entertainment. Simply put, Graphic Designers and Web Developers take ideas and turn them into reality. This can include everything from crafting web pages both for the desktop and the mobile phone ecosystems, as well as applications for emerging platforms like tablet PCs and more.

As globalization makes our world smaller and more integrated with each passing year, companies and entrepreneurs need to work harder than ever to make themselves visible and recognizable. On a level playing field populated by millions of worthy competitors spread throughout the world, firms use rich media and applications to get the attention of prospective customers and clients, and to provide value for their users. One of the best things about Interactive Media and Design is that it requires such a versatile skill set that designers and developers can work for businesses in literally every field imaginable, from medicine to government to law and beyond.

While anyone can get involved in web development and Graphic Design on their own, it helps to learn the trade in a more structured environment. Obtaining a degree in Interactive Media and Design helps you get a foot in the door when trying to break into field. You don’t have to attend your local university and rack up thousands in debt to educate yourself and get the skills required to get a job in Interactive Media and Design. One of the best ways to get accredited is through online course work. This allows you to freelance and practice your new found skills on the side while earning a diploma and making money at the same time. There are tons of great options available as far as online universities are concerned, each with their own strengths and specialties.

A career in Interactive Media and Design entails working with a wide range of different professionals in diverse fields. Taking their vision and translating it into a visual medium is your job as a designer. The one constant that you can depend on in this type of work is perpetual change. It’s a fast-paced career choice that doesn’t give you much time to breath, but at the same time doesn’t give you much of an opportunity to get bored either. Out of all the different career choices one can make, a life spent in Interactive Media and Design is one of the most challenging, satisfying and lucrative that you can ask for.

Author: Avi Solutions

Being a graphic designer is a career that is ideal for anyone who loves to use words and pictures to communicate ideas and messages to other people. Graphic designers are used for a whole variety of different jobs in lots of different fields which can include things like:
•    Advertising on posters and in magazines.
•    Designing the layout of websites for companies.
•    Creating CD-ROM pages.
•    Designing logos, letterheads and other branded material for companies.
•    Creating brochures.
•    Designing leaflets and handouts.
•    Designing effects and credits for movies and television.

A graphic designer can do all of these and more as it is such a wide ranging and challenging job, but many people choose to focus on one or two specific areas and make them their specialty. Being a graphic designer is also very rewarding for anyone who has a keen interest in advertising and the way that design can influence people.
So what does it take to become a graphic designer? Firstly it is a good idea to take art and design related courses whilst at school, as this will give you a good grounding as you start on the route to becoming a graphic designer. If you have not done this you might be able to get on a college course which will help you to learn more about being a graphic designer and will help you to further your education. To be really successful as a graphic designer you should really have a bachelor’s degree and this is one of the most basic requirements for many of the graphic design jobs that are advertised.
During your bachelor’s degree to become a graphic designer you will cover a great deal of difference mediums and types of design. This will help you to gain an understanding of a wide range of different areas and it will also help you to decide what you would like to specialise your bachelor’s degree in. Subsequent years will then be spent in more specific areas in which you would like to work. There are so many different disciplines that are involved in graphic design that you might want to pick two or three and then in your final year focus on just one.
If you are already a graphic designer and would like to pursue your career in a different direction you will be able to get onto an associate degree or a certificate program. These are designed to help graphic designers to branch out into different disciplines and increase their knowledge of these disciplines. However you must be aware that you must also have a bachelor’s degree in graphic design before you can start on a different graphic designer course.
Becoming a graphic designer does mean a lot of hard work and a lot of determination, but it will be more than worth it when you are in your chosen profession. So even if you have not taken are or  design school, you still have a chance to become a graphic designer.

Get free in-depth information on graphic designer careers and graphic designer salary ranges from http://www.careertoolkits.com

Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_822689_22.html

by Alan L Smith

Graphic design holds great position of importance along with website designing although both processes are different from each other. Graphics is more associated with the creative part whereas website design with the coding side. Their combination leads to a site that is good looking and appealing. Those who fail to recognize the importance of application of graphic design in websites, fail to generate the sites that are attractive. Adding visual appeal to a site goes a long way in deciding their success level.

From visual aspect, graphics are of paramount importance on a site. A picture can convey many messages or information that sometimes words fail to tell. It is easy for people viewing a site to connect better to graphical designs. Sometimes these designs establishes strong emotional bonding with the customers. It is obvious that visitors like to see images that are good looking and attractive and comeback to such sites for regular viewing. Adding and updating the pictures on regular basis is an extra benefit for the website owners. This goal can be very well achieved with the help of graphic designing.

Graphics provide a sense of professionalism to a website. Therefore it is important for site designers to have its knowledge. Many times a site might be coded very well with advanced javascript functions and fail to get visual appeal. So if you want to give that polished and professional look to your site, don’t ignore the element of graphic designing.

Apart from looking good, a website should be high on usability quotient also. Visitors should be able to use it in the manner it was meant to be. Keep it easy on navigation and also the visitors should be able to locate the desirable content in it. Try to avoid going overboard with graphics and keep it moderate and within a specific range so that there is maximum website usability.

In other words you can make your web design user-friendly with graphic design elements,  and give a professional overall look. Online competition to grab the target customer base is highly competitive, therefore to present your company in different yet attractive way is essential.

You can view graphic design portfolio of the designing company, which would give the gist of their work quality and standard. It also gives an idea whether their designing team would be able to do justice to your designing project or not.

Copyright©2009

SPINX – Best web design company offers services like Website Design Los Angeles, Website Design Bay Area, Website Design Beverly Hills & also across the globe.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Benefits-of-Graphic-Designing-Combination-with-Website-Design/682052

About the Author

SEORank use all the latest and most established technology to create a website design that is visually lip-smacking and just perfect for your needs. Also provide an ongoing web consulting process that will clearly identify your requirements in web design Sydney.

There are VERY successful websites that use the “bad” techniques labeled here, but generally and for a large number of websites it will be to their great benefit to at least consider the following critique of graphic design for the Internet. Too many designers put the visual elements above the actual content of site. For most purposes this is a bad design trait. Although it’s repeated over and over again, it can result in frustrated customers and more important a lot lower percentage of people who actually read your site. Although graphics and visual elements are important, the core to any website is its content or information it wishes to extend to its audience. On most websites this comes in the form of text with hyperlinks to other areas of interest. This is slowly changing as more dynamic content becomes more popular online as broad band and high speed internet access change the way we surf.

There are two major problems inherent in most graphic design for the Internet. One of is ‘too much’ and the other is ‘no connection’. Designers tend to put ‘too much’ emphasis on the graphic elements which can take away from the actual site content, and they tend to have images and graphics which don’t really connect to their website’s purpose or theme. Remember that there is no magic formula for a successful website or even for good graphic design. This article is designed to clarify and answer the questions a potential audience will ask themselves when looking at your graphic design.

There are VERY successful websites that use the “bad” techniques labeled here, but generally and for a large number of websites it will be to their great benefit to at least consider the following critique of graphic design for the Internet. Too many designers put the visual elements above the actual content of site. For most purposes this is a bad design trait. Although it’s repeated over and over again, it can result in frustrated customers and more important a lot lower percentage of people who actually read your site. Although graphics and visual elements are important, the core to any website is its content or information it wishes to extend to its audience. On most websites this comes in the form of text with hyperlinks to other areas of interest. This is slowly changing as more dynamic content becomes more popular online as broad band and high speed internet access change the way we surf.

In the future the main content might come from a mix of audio, video, and slideshow formats, but for now it’s mainly simple text. So your audience has to read those tiny black characters. Overly complex or continued animation, harsh contrasting edges and color combinations can give too much to the graphic elements and make actually reading your pages difficult. If you’re over using the graphics, your audience will read a lot less and that means they’ll take away a lot less of the information.

Some major signs that a graphic designer is of the “too much” camp include:

Little text boxes with scroll bars: Don’t you hate that? Nobody likes text all scrunched up in a little box like that. It’s hard to read and involves lots of scrolling, so why do it?

Overly busy backgrounds: keep it simple or at least a lower contrast so you spare you audiences’ eyes and allow them to focus on the content of your site.

LONG animated intros or animation sequences: Remember attention span, attention span attention span. Online surfers do not have the attention span to wait for a long overly done intro or animation.

The second major shortcoming that most graphic design for the Internet is the lack of cohesion or a clear connection of the graphic elements to the purpose of the website. The web is absolutely stuffed with sites that you can’t even tell what they do or are about by their first page. The images, logos, and visual design does not connect to the company’s theme or purpose. Your online audience has a VERY limited attention span. They may have stumbled onto your site on accident. This isn’t TV, on most sites there is no audio directing your visitors as to what they’re seeing.

People aren’t necessarily going to read the text of your website just because a girl in a bikini is on it. You also see this concept in sites that are too simple. Simplicity is good, but when taken to the extreme, it can make it very difficult to figure out the sites purpose and extract the basic information that your audience needs, before they commit to reading through large areas of text.

Some major signs that a graphic designer is of the “lack of cohesion” camp include:

Lots of different style graphics: If a website seems to jump time periods, color schemes, and image themes that is not a good sign.

LARGE text areas without any graphics: The web is about a mixing of graphic, text, and other elements. Too much text and it becomes difficult to gather meaning quickly.

Hard to see connection to product/service: Logo, tagline, and text on beginning pages do not describe what the website is actually about. The graphic design should key people in both emotionally and intellectually to the purpose of the website.

Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_30043_4.html

About the Author:

Solomon Rothman is a web designer, filmmaker, and writer. A modern day renaissance man, he directed, shot, and starred in a full length movie. Learn more about Solomon and watch the free movie Boy Who Never Slept at http://www.solomonrothman.com. He also authors a non-themed blog that contains daily posts on topics of all kinds – Subscribe here.

http://www.solomonrothman.com

The American Heritage Dictionary (2006) defines “collaboration” as “to work together, especially in a joint intellectual effort.” Also known as brainstorming, collaboration stems from the ancient Greek practice of group dialogue, an art which follows certain rules. Socrates established three principles of discussion (or “Koinonia” meaning “spirit of fellowship”) in group dialogue: (1) Establish dialogue (don’t argue or interrupt and listen carefully), (2) Clarify thinking (suspend all untested assumptions), and (3) be honest (even if your ideas are controversial – or downright wacky).

Michael Michalco, author of “How to Encourage Collaboration on Your Team” (HOWDesign.com, January, 2008), makes an unbeatable case for collaboration, pointing out that it has produced great achievements in physics, film-making and art. On the other hand, lack of collaboration has produced stifled ideas, fear, mistrust, failure and “nothing of significance.” The whole is always greater than the sum of its parts. Why would we not collaborate?

Maybe, in our ignorance, we just don’t understand the benefits. Instead we work our individual talents to the limit, perhaps going far and thinking that to be enough. It may be enough, but it’s not our very best. Our very best seems to come only from a collaborative effort.

Is ego to blame? We want our freedom and we want to be as good as everyone else. We seek glory, wanting to shine as individuals and be admired for our talents. We want our contributions to be recognized and remembered as ours and ours alone. But do we lose these things by encouraging collaboration?

We do not lose freedom or equality in collaboration. Collaboration is hampered by inequality, causing those who feel inferior to hold back while encouraging those who feel superior to dominate. Because collaboration promotes thinking “outside the box” and requires complete honesty, it can generate controversial, even threatening ideas. To keep the dialogue flowing, judgment (and the fear of it) must be suspended.

Encouraging collaboration can multiply individual glory, admiration and achievement exponentially; Michelangelo, Walt Disney and Einstein were all collaborators. We do not lose individuality or recognition for our talents by collaborating; instead we share. Collaboration requires participants to be true to themselves, express their own ideas and share their unique perspectives.

Consider competition, which is thought to stimulate excellence. Imagine a pie-baking contest, the goal of which is to produce the best possible pies Three master pie-bakers compete. Baker one produces an excellent meringue fruit pie with the very best crust. Baker two produces a fine lemon pie with the very best meringue. Baker three creates a meringue creme pie with the very best filling. The judges love meringue so baker two wins. But is his pie really the best? What if the bakers collaborate? The result would be three different pies, EACH having the finest crust, best meringue and tastiest filling – the best possible pies. Competition might produce three good pies but encouraging collaboration would produce three of the very finest.

Encouraging collaboration can only produce better results. Many creative people claim their ideas do not originate within themselves but come from “the cosmos” and seek expression through them. Perhaps this is an example of collaboration with God. viagra and alcol

Choosing the right college is a crucial decision as future career opportunities may depend on the quality and type of education received. Today’s job market is competitive in all professions, and reputable and successful companies and businesses are looking to hire top notch employees. Because the education received will only be a good as the college attended, it is essential to research which colleges will provide the best education possible. There are many Graphic Design Colleges across the country from which to choose, but there are several factors that will need to be considered before submitting an application. When evaluating and comparing colleges some things to look for include: the location of the school, class size, faculty, and the availability of career assistance programs. In addition, make sure the desired degree, whether associates, bachelors, or masters, is offered at the college and determine the length of time required to earn the degree as well as estimated tuition costs. By completing a comprehensive assessment of available schools, it can be determined as to which school will best meet the student’s needs and desired career goals.

Graphic Design Colleges can be found in almost every state, and some offer both traditional and online classes. One of the main considerations for a student is the location of the school. Since schools are scattered all over the United States, whether or not the location of the school meets the student’s personal preference will be a factor in the decision making process. Students will also want to evaluate housing costs and availability as well as the area’s job market. Class sizes will vary based on the student body population, and this should also be considered when choosing a school. Some students flourish in large classes and require little extra attention from professors and teachers. Other students find large classes overwhelming and prefer the extra, more personal attention smaller classes offer. Touring the campus and meeting the faculty offers the student an excellent opportunity to experience the school first hand. Students may discuss career goals with potential professors and ask the professors questions in order to determine if the program and curriculum will meet their needs. In addition, many colleges offer career assistance programs, and these programs can help a student prepare his or her resume and learn essential interview skills.

Because college is in an investment in the future, it is of vital importance that the student obtains as much information about prospective colleges as possible. Of course, one of the most important considerations as to which Graphic Design College to choose is going to be the programs offered. Researching available programs and determining the courses of study will help the student determine which school will be the best fit for them. Another important consideration will be tuition costs. The student will need to determine the cost of tuition, books, and any related fees. Financial aid may be available, and if so, the student will want to be sure that the application for financial aid is submitted. Following these steps will provide the student with the information necessary to determine at which college they will begin their future.