Category: Design

When it comes to web designing, one has to always remember that appearances matter a lot. People like to see something that is pleasing, well put together and clean to look at. This implies one has to use the right color combination, design and typography. As with everything else, some people choose to use elegant and classic designs, while others use trendy designs. We need to understand the differences between trendy and classic before deciding on anything. Something that is trendy is fleeting and lasts only for a while. It can create a buzz and can attract a lot of attention but will be forgotten in the sands of time. A design that is classic but elegant remains relevant for a long time and will be attractive too. It might not create a buzz in the circle but it will certainly not drive away anyone. Choosing between trendy and classic So, when it comes to web design, how do we decide if we must remain trendy or classic? The answer seems to be embedded in what you really want out of your website. If you are looking at a short term goal that will create a buzz, you might want to choose a trendy design. However, if you want to build trust and prove to the world that you are a stable business, you might want a classic and elegant design. In this article, let us take a look at when to choose trendy and classic designs while developing websites. We have listed a few scenarios and we shall discuss them briefly: Your business website and blog A business website has to be serious and must build trust among visitors. People should be able to take a look at your website and not be surprised or shocked by anything that they see. The website should conform to corporate standards and ensure that people associate your website with reliability & trust. Similarly, a blog has to be simple and trustworthy too. In such a scenario, a classic and elegant design wins over trendy web design styles. Landing pages for products and services Product launches and service related landing pages tend to be temporary. They also should gain a high number of visitors so that they take action. Landing pages need to be designed in such a manner that people are compelled to take action. People, usually, take action when they are urged to and when something compels them to take action. A landing page can, thus, be trendy and ephemeral. It helps when a landing page is attractive, flashy yet simple. It might go out of fashion in a few months but your landing page need to be changed often. Thus, you can take the risk of designing trendy landing pages. Specific audiences Certain audiences prefer certain kinds of design styles. A hipster will not like a classic corporate blog as that might seem very uncreative. For a hipster, something that is creative and artistic might appeal more. Creative and artistic web designing need not be trendy. They can be classic too. If you have art and creativity in your mind, tend to use a retro design inspired by major artists like Andy Warhol or Picasso. That will not only attract hipsters but also help you build respect and trust among older generations. Business websites do not have to be conformist in order to be classic. Classic can be creative and artistic, if it employs high brow topics. Duration of the page’s existence A page that has lasted for a long time needs to be left that way without making major changes. That can alienate previous users. Older websites which look outdated can always be revamped and rejuvenated but not at the cost of alienating users. Certain older websites are expected to look in a way and that can only happen when you hold on to previous design themes. Instead of making radical changes, try to stick to what you previously had and improve the look for a contemporary audience. Speaking to a professional web design agency might help you to understand the importance of rejuvenating old and outdated websites. No matter what you choose to do, make sure that you do not shock your web visitors. A website needs to always gain trust and look trustworthy. For that to happen, your website needs to be more classy than trendy.

A number of times we come across websites that are designed really well. The logos are in place, the flash or HTML 5 usage is excellent, it loads fast and everything looks really pretty. However, there is one big fault. There are a number of grammatical errors, punctuation blunders and content quality is miserable. Even if content is good, it might not be up to the mark. Certainly, such websites will not do well in the business. What we designers must know about content quality Web designers know that content quality is very crucial to a website’s success. Apart from knowing this importance, what else do they need to know? They should know that content quality is not simply the domain of content marketing teams but also of the designers themselves. Web designers often do not realize how important their contribution to content really is. With deep and profound knowledge about all design and technology aspects, they can really spot errors and blunders in content related to web content. If you are a web designer and are wondering why you must worry about content quality, here are some of the major reasons: • Content might not be the king but it surely is important There is this platitude that content is king and everyone gets annoyed when that is said. While it is an annoying banality that is uttered by everyone in order to seem educated, the truth remains that good content is very important. If content is not up to the mark, you and your websites will not be taken seriously. If you are designing a website for a client and you are not sure about who is going to write the content once you design it, you need to ask to speak to the content team. Once you know that they are good enough, you can go ahead with your designing tasks. • Bad content drives the focus away from your design When content is bad, people focus on the mistakes and blunders. They get busy criticizing the content more than appreciating your design skills. After all, people visit websites to read the content, most often. If the content is bad, it simply drives the attention away from your well-designed website. Thus, content is very important when it comes to making sure that you are well-respected and appreciated for your design skills. Have a word with the content team and ask them to show examples of their writing so that you know where they stand. If content writers are not knowledgeable or if their knowledge is limited, you might do well by suggesting they hire other writers. • Factual errors can cause embarrassment Sometimes, content can be written excellently. There will not be any grammatical errors, no punctuation blunders and the choice of words might be excellent; the writing style maybe as lucid and clear as possible. Still, it might fail. The content writers simply may not understand what technology they are writing about. If you think you know what they are writing about, ask for a subject matter expert’s review. An SME might not be great at writing but he or she will certainly know how to spot actual errors; and that is a quality that we all need for our websites to succeed. • Poor content is not taken seriously The final argument to be made in this case is that poor content is just not taken seriously. People might not even stop to look and admire at your design skills if the content is bad. Good content stands on its own but good design unfortunately cannot stand on its own when it comes to websites. Thus, in a way, web designers are hugely dependent on good web content in order to ensure that their websites succeed. If the content is not good enough, the design will not be taken seriously and ultimately, your design business might be at risk of being ignored on account of being associated with bad content. If you are still wondering how you could possibly ensure that your website is taken seriously, begin with reading the content samples provided by your content marketing teams. Suggest changes and provide feedback related to technical information. Once you have a working relationship with a team, you can always go ahead and begin to design your cherished website.

Logo designers often encounter a creative block when they are not able to think of anything novel. They might wonder how they can boost their creativity or if they are creative at all. Many logo designers often wonder why they have to be creative in a field that is inherently technical. If you are a logo designer, you need to understand that the second half of your job title contains the word ‘designer’, which is an alternate form of ‘creator’. Designers design and create things. A logo designer creates logos. Thus, a logo designer inherently depends on his or her creativity to earn money and sustain a lifestyle. In this article, let us take a look at how logo designers (or just about anyone else) can become creative and create things at a better pace. We shall also discuss how to overcome creative blocks with the help of certain creativity boosting strategies that have been tried and tested by psychologists. These psychological tips will not only help you to boost creativity at logo designing but also in other spheres of life. Make a pact to be creative This might sound a bit childish but the fact is when we convince ourselves to do something, we usually do it. It is a psychological way of tricking ourselves into doing something. Many shrewd people often say “fake it till you make it” but there is an element of truth in it. When you fake that you are creative, you end up being creative. “To fake” is a rather crude way of putting what we want to say across, but instead, we can say that one should convince oneself to be creative and make a pact to be creative. One must not doubt one’s own creativity and one must devote time to develop these abilities. Setting goals, meeting deadlines and writing a chart, which helps you to remain creative, are all very important. Learn to be curious There is nothing more important than being curious. When we are curious, we tend to attempt new things; and we cannot attempt to create new things until we try to emulate others’ creativity in a novel manner. Curiosity did not kill the cat but it taught the kitty how to be the master of the household while pretending to be a pet. Curiosity also has the ability to encourage people to learn new things and attempt to do things that they never have in the past. With that in mind, curiosity is one of the primary stepping stones to creativity. Develop expertise in your niche There is nothing more important than developing your own niche in an area that you have discovered to be your best. When you are an expert at something, you will usually know everything about the topic, which encourages you to think out of the box instead of beating around the bush or trying to look for answers where others have already found. Novel and innovative solutions are what creativity is all about & they can come about only when you have an expertise over your own field. Try and become an expert in certain kinds of logos, prints, typography or even technology. That shall help you to become creative as well. Be a risk taker Creativity is all about taking risks as much as it is about being curious. When you are curious, you will arrive at possibilities. In order to choose those possibilities despite risks, you need to be a risk taker. A good professional always takes risks and tries to be innovative. Innovation does not come without risks. When we try and become complacent or choose tried and tested methods, we risk becoming redundant. Redundancy is the opposite of creativity. Many great designers have often succumbed to redundancy because they felt they should not be taking risks to disappoint or shock their audience. The idea is to be aware of the risks and plan for the consequences, instead of not taking any risks at all. Do not fear failure One of the biggest hurdles to success and creativity is the fear of failure. No one is immune to the fear of failure but the most successful try and overcome their fears. Fears of failure, fears of being rejected, being redundant and of not being creative can all affect your creativity. If you fear that your logo is not going to be creative enough, it actually will not be creative. Do not fear negative outcomes when there are more possibilities of being appreciated for what you do. Thus, overcoming fears of failure can actually encourage an outburst of creativity that would help you to create logos that will be met with appreciation. Engage in brainstorming There is nothing more important than brainstorming. One can do this alone or with a bunch of colleagues. Make a list of logo idea, no matter how crazy they seem to be initially. Give yourself the freedom of being creative at least during a brainstorming session. This helps you to make sure that you are able to list down all the possible designs that might come to your mind. Eventually, you will be able to narrow down your options and create something that is good and effective for professional use. Always make sure that you suspend judging your brainstorming ideas and make sure that you are not self-critical. These negative habits kill your creativity and you will not create anything at the end of the day. Seek inspiration from many sources Being inspired by others work or what others have created is not the same as copying. Every artist in this world is inspired by another artist. Artists thrive on inspiration. If you are running short of ideas, take a look at various logos that others have created or just try to make sure that you read up on theories of design. These exercises can help you to become more creative and resourceful. Creativity does not come easily and when you are not able

When the punk movement happened in the 1970s, people mistook it to be just another youth movement that was trying to rebel against existing norms. Others confused it with a working class subculture that promoted violence and radical thinking. People were of course mistaken. The history of punk movement The punk movement was a reaction to existing artistic sensibilities, which included an elitist attitude among the design and art community. Punk identified with the common and the working class & tried to rebel against the oppressive elitism of upper classes. Artistically, it was postmodernism in disguise. Just like postmodernism, punk was a reaction against modernism, staidness and propriety. While punk music was just one aspect of the punk movement, a larger part of the punk movement consisted of graphic designing. Typography, in particular, came to be influenced by punk ideas. For instance, the DIY nature of many bands’ album covers, including that of the Sex Pistols, was an initial reflection of what the punk movement was doing to graphic design. Today, punk revival is happening in a slow yet steady manner. Most graphic designers agree that a lot of emphasis is given to ‘corporate’ typography, being perfect, being trustworthy and other platitudes. What the punk revival is going to do to graphic design is something that most people do not understand. In this article, let us try and see how you yourself can be a part of the punk revival movement in graphic design. Kitsch Kitsch was deliberately and professionally produced bad art. This provided a sense of satire and cynical pleasure by taking a stand against professional art. Likewise, you might want to create ‘kitsch’ yourself, when you try to create graphics. Of course, this has to be discussed with your client and if the client is a creative-type, they will probably want to experiment with kitsch. Kitsch, for the sake of art, is good but actual kitsch isn’t. Retro design In the perfectionist world that we live today, graphic design techniques that were in vogue a few years ago go out of fashion within no time. Why not challenge the norms by reviving retro Internet fonts and designs? Create graphic works that reflect the initial days of the Internet; probably from the 1990s. It brings back a sense of nostalgia while trying to rebel existing norms. It might sound funny but retro can be very rebellious. Not everyone expects to see something from the 1990s, especially, when we are moving and hurtling towards future at a breakneck speed. Shocking design In today’s hyper-connected world, it is becoming increasingly difficult for graphic designers to shock their viewers. A little brainstorming and a loosening up of your own professional inhibitions might help you to create something shocking. Shock yourself before you try to shock someone else. However, shocking does not mean offending people. Do not ever try to offend anyone with your professional work. That just doesn’t work. Collage Combine various forms of graphics to create something unique. Take parts of designs from previous projects that were not sold and try to make a collage of your professional failures. The end result can actually be something very successful. Collages are very artistic and can convey meanings that we didn’t even intend to, in the beginning. Imbibing collage in graphic designing can have a very surprising result when the project is complete. It is never a bad idea to be experimental, if the client is willing to be experimental as well. If you are a graphic designer who is looking for various options to be different and trying to carve out a niche for yourself, you might want to read a lot about the history of punk movement. It is a very surprising movement with a lot of inspiration for those who are seriously into creating art, be it graphic design or music or painting. If your clients are the creative type and are looking for ways to be different themselves, have a word with them and enquire if they are willing to engage in some punk revival techniques. Chances are it might even help your client to become successful because of the attention your graphic design is going to give them.

Most companies, by now, have realized the value of video streaming as an important medium. It is not only easier and more effective to reach a certain target audience but it is also a quicker way to communicate what you want to. All that a person needs to do is hire a company that makes great real or animation videos and then stream them on websites. These videos might bring you more results than publishing only blogs. Importance of video streaming on websites Many research studies have shown that when a blog post contains a video that can be streamed, it attracts more audience. This has been proven true in many countries including the U.S., Canada, Europe and Latin America. The only places where streaming isn’t seen as an attractive medium is where people prefer to download videos. This is true in countries like India and China, where people have access to pirated videos. What we need to understand is that when people are used to downloading videos for viewing later, they simply do not understand the advantages of watching something in real time, with the help of streaming services. With that in mind, there are several scenarios that play out in our minds. In 2014, we expect a number of changes to occur within the streaming industry. Here are a few basic changes that we expect shall take place. Current scenario for big name video streaming companies Big companies like Netflix, Google and Hulu will need to figure out new ways to make money and also improve user experience. Distributors have been extra cautious when it comes to streaming because companies like Netflix have almost reached a saturation point. It is also quite clear that they are not making as much money as they would like to. This has resulted in a situation where Netflix and others have begun to look for alternative sources of money, which includes advertisements. Currently, Netflix charges $8 per month for all-you-can-use subscriptions, which is really good for the consumers, but bad for the company. If Netflix and its competitors begin to use advertisements, web designers will also likely have to build websites in a different way to take into account certain codes that come along. The probability of 4K videos and how to conquer a brave new world Apart from understanding different ways of monetizing and bringing revenue to videos that are being streamed, companies and web designers must also need to focus on emerging technologies. One of them is the 4K streaming video, which is being discussed everywhere right now. While Smart TVs and 3DTVs have begun to make inroads, industry pundits have already begun to talk about 4K. 4K literally means 4,000 pixels. A 4K Ultra HD has about 3,840 pixels and 2,160 lines where as a 4K film has 4,096 and 2,160 pixels and lines. For streaming 4K on YouTube, one needs 4,096 x 3,072 or 12.6 megapixels with an aspect ratio of 4.3. Vimeo follows similar specifications and we are still not clear about Netflix, which is supposed to bring 4K later sometime in 2014 as well. One might wonder why we need so many pixels when human eyes can’t make out the difference. To be clear, the human eye can make out minute differences and a 4K video will certainly be better than what is being used right now. At last year’s CES, one could witness 4K screens and as many would agree, it is one of the best that people ever had witnessed. The brightness and image quality are impressive indeed. However, when it comes to streaming 4K videos online, one might need to be a little wary as they consume a lot of data. Right now, there are no screens that are compatible with this technology. Thus, there is a lot of time for web designers to figure out how best to stream videos of this magnitude. Apple’s Retina Display can withstand up to 2K and the MacBook Pro can take about 3K but there simply are no devices in the market that can handle 4K videos. Thus, web designers have enough time to learn how to stream 4K videos in the next few months, before screens that can take 4K videos become commonplace. Right now, one cannot even expect full HD streaming without interruptions. Thus, expecting 4K videos to be available on mobile websites on our smartphones is a very futuristic idea. Though futuristic, it is not unrealistic. We are certainly going to get there in sometime and that is one of the reasons why web designers have to start working on streaming these videos effectively right now. Building a contemporary streaming website In the second part of the article, we would like to take you through building a contemporary website that features video streaming. First of all, it is very important to create a user-friendly interface. Streaming video is not easy and is quite complex. For this reason alone, a designer will need to be well aware of resolution sizes, volume levels, display quality and a host of other things. One of the best examples of video streaming websites is Vimeo. The videos appear large and are built into an interface that is user-friendly and no non-sense. What you really need to bear in mind is that your website has to support Flash or HTML 5. Flash is not supported by iOS devices. For this reason alone, we recommend using HTML 5 as much as possible. A video streaming page should always have social share buttons so that the video can be shared across social networking websites. The side bar and other controls have to be easy as well and not too difficult to navigate or maneuver through. The website should be easy on the eyes without using a number of features or things that could, otherwise, distract the user. Most importantly, the website should load fast and must not take a lot of time to buffer. Your bandwidth needs to be high

We all know why and how responsive web design is important & why we must be asking our clients to go for a responsive design instead of sticking to legacy designs that have been around for a while. However, there are still a large number of clients who do not want to upgrade their existing websites or they do not understand the importance of mobile devices and fluidity of screens. While they might have genuine reasons to feel skeptical about changing their existing websites, you have a genuine reason to convince them; and that is not to bag yet another project to design responsive websites. In business, those who succeed in the long term tend to be altruistic in nature, helping their clients as much as they can. If altruism was somehow connected to web design projects, we strongly suggest web designers recommend and try to convince their clients to go for responsive web design. In this article, we shall discuss why you must convince a client to go for responsive web design and how you must go ahead about recommending a responsive web design. 5 Reasons why you must convince your client to go for responsive web design • Responsive Web Design is the present and will continue to be the future Let us face it. We have been toting our iPhones and iPads for a long time. No one really uses features anymore and it is true of most developed countries. This means, more and more people are accessing the Internet using smartphones, tablets & certain hybrid devices that are a cross between laptops and tablets. iOS and Android devices along with Windows devices have continued to hold a grip on people’s buying options & thus, most people tend to have varying screen sizes. There will never be standard screen sizes and people will continue to buy different devices according to their own needs. Responsive web design ensures that a website looks great, no matter how big or small the device’s screen size is. Certainly, responsive web design is future-proof. • Responsive web design can easily be updated Your client might not be ready for responsive web design but he also might not realize that old websites are slower, do not get indexed properly and suffer downtime often because of bad coding. When pages do not load fast enough, the websites suffer in the short and long term. When your client realizes this, he will want to get his site updated to something contemporary like responsive web page. Instead of letting them have old websites which eventually have to be updated after suffering losses, it is better to help the client understand the importance of responsive web design. • Responsive web design is not all about mobile devices People have a wrong idea that responsive web design is important only because people have begun to access the Internet using their mobile phones or tablets. Instead, responsive web design is important because a website looks great on any screen whether it is mobile or conventional. For this reason alone, it is important to help the client understand the importance of responsive web design. Whether a person uses a 21 inches iMac or a regular laptop of 14 inches, whatever the pixel size maybe, a website shall look great, if responsive design techniques are employed. • Responsive web design is social-ready Most responsive web design techniques ensure that content is shared easily on social media websites. Social media is extremely crucial in driving new prospects to your clients. If you wish for your clients’ success, you will need to help them understand the importance of social media and sharing content on social media. For this reason alone, one will need to go ahead and ask them to get responsive web design. It does not take a lot of effort to build a responsive website but when a website is not responsive, it will cause a lot of business damage to your clients. • Responsive web design solves problems It is very easy to see why people have begun to adopt responsive web design. It solves a number of technical, interface related and financial problems for both users and clients. Responsive web design is future-proof and is thus, technically sound. It ensures that no matter what sort of devices come into the market in near future, the website will be ready to be displayed in the best possible manner. On the other hand, not using responsive web design techniques can cause a lot of problems. This includes not being able to view websites easily on all platforms, not being able to load the pages fast, not being able to share pages on social media and a host of other problems. All these problems should convince you, as a web designer that your client needs the best that you can offer, which is to design a responsive website. Now that you have understood why it is important to convince your client about responsive web design, let us take a look at how best you can do it, without sounding like someone who is desperately selling something that comes with frills. The problem with selling and convincing people about better technology is that we risk sounding like desperate salesmen. On the flipside, being the people who will forge ahead with newer technologies, we have a duty to ensure that Internet and its users have access to the best websites that will be designed in the near and long term. 5 ways to convince clients about responsive web design • ‘View full site’ is an old-fashioned way to build websites When you need to present your case to your client, tell them that ‘View full site’ was something that we used to do many years ago. It is no longer used and is an old-fashioned way to build websites. Responsive websites automatically realize what the screen size is and present content in a way that is best viewed on that screen size. Your

As more and more businesses begin to warm up to the idea of designing country-specific websites, cultural context becomes important too. Though most medium and large companies have begun to open offices across the world, they still tend to have a single website or if they build a location-specific website, it tends to be sans cultural content. Placing a website in the context of a country’s culture can make it look more appealing, charming and even welcoming. In this article, let us take a look at different geographical regions that need culture-specific websites. We shall also run through the major language that can work well even if that is not the official language of a particular country. North America When it comes to building websites for a North American audience, you could probably take as much freedom as you want. It is a matured audience that is well versed with the latest in web technologies. You do not probably have to worry much about placing your website in a cultural context unless you are specifically selling something that is cultural. For instance, if you are a restaurant specializing in Middle Eastern cuisine, you could probably design a website that reflects Middle Eastern aesthetics. Apart from examples like that, in Canada and the U.S., you do not really have to worry much about ‘culture’ when it comes to designing. A French or Spanish version of your website might do well, if your audience is mostly located in Quebec, in Canada or in Hispanic-dominated areas of the U.S. like Florida. While Mexico is part of North America, we shall consider it to be part of ‘Latin America’, a term that includes Mexico, Central America and South America. Latin America When it comes to Latin America, you could be sure of one thing. Most countries are Catholic, speak Spanish and have a very colorful culture. Building a website that reflects the geographical diversities of this region will work well; so shall a website that features Latin American culture, even if it means going country-specific. Exceptions are Brazil and the Caribbean islands. In Brazil, the official language is Portuguese and a Brazilian-focused website should feature Portuguese content & not Spanish. We cannot stress this enough to our clients who have often communicated to Brazilians in Spanish with often disastrous consequence. Likewise, many Caribbean islands like Jamaica, Trinidad and others speak English, albeit a different version. Your regular North American website could do well in these countries. Latin Americans value family values and Catholic ethos. To be aware of these sentiments can help you avoid making cultural blunders. Europe Europe has to be the most diverse and complex of all the geographical regions. Each country in Europe tends to speak a different language; and each country has rather startling cultural differences, which make it mandatory for you to engage in heavy groundwork before building a culture-specific website. It is not enough to build a website in French, English and Spanish. You probably will have to consider Russian, Serbian, Italian, Romanian and a host of other European languages as well. This makes building websites for European audience a very complex yet exciting task. Africa Africa is as diverse as a continent can get. However, it is not as difficult to build a website for African countries as it is for Europe. The major languages that are spoken in Africa include English, French, Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish and Swahili. English and French can take you a long way & if you build a website in Arabic as well, it will help you further as most North African countries have Arabic as one of their official languages. We recommend building websites in French and English, where the possibility exists. Countries like Angola, Mozambique, Sao Tome and others can be addressed with Portuguese. A majority of African countries either have Islam or Christianity as their official language. These socially conservative countries might not be open to content that are radical. When it comes to shocking your audience here, take it easy. Middle East Obviously, the most conservative of all audience, Middle Eastern countries tend to speak Arabic. Building a website in Arabic and English should take care of all your Middle Eastern audience except Israel & Iran, where Hebrew and Persian are spoken. Corporate websites tend to be conservative and thus, one might not have to worry too much about getting into trouble in these socially conservative countries. However, if you offer content that is considered ‘offensive’ in these countries, you might have to change your approach a little bit. South Asia Much of South Asia was colonized by the British. This means, most people who have access to the Internet can understand English. Building websites in English and featuring local models or content will help you attract your target audience. This is true of India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan and even Maldives. These countries are socially conservative just like many North African and Middle Eastern countries. You will not hurt your business as long as you understand that people in socially conservative countries tend to get offended easily sometimes for the wrong reasons. As long as you publish content that does not stray too far from your business and remains family-friendly, you are sure to find success. South East Asia Countries like Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia are affluent & have a well developed business culture. You can take a few risks with content as long as you do not offend people in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, which have Islamic laws. However, Thailand is one of the most liberal countries in the region and often attracts a lot of tourists. Thus, you can get away being yourself in a place like Thailand than in Indonesia. Other countries in the region which share similar cultures are Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, which are all similar to Thailand & are quite liberal. The Philippines is a catholic country that has a culture similar to those in Latin America. Spanish is easily understood as

A number of people often wonder if websites need to be designed in a cookie-cutter manner, without much room for creativity. The answer is clearly ‘no’. However, a lot fop people still continue to develop and create websites that are ordinary, boring and even plain redundant. When websites lack creativity and when there isn’t a lot of novelty in a website’s approach, it becomes very boring. If the website is intended to provide creative, artistic or stylistic value, it better be ‘avant-garde’. The term avant-garde is usually used in the field of art and design & thus, should not be too far from web designing. Web designing is all about creativity, design and to a large extent, art. When people realize this basic structure of web design as a subject, they will begin to see it more as an art than science. In this article, let us take a look at how website can be avant-garde and why it is important. Before that, we need to understand the history of the avant-garde movement and the way it has continued to influence in a number of areas. History of avant-garde movement “Avant-garde” is a French word that literally means front guard. It is usually used to denote a sense of experimental, novel or alternative, especially, in terms of art and culture. The avant-garde movement tries to push the boundaries of what is the norm. The movement officially took place at the Salon des Refuses de Paris on May 17, 1867. Avant-garde is thought to be elitist but it really isn’t. It might promote radical social reforms and comes with a manifesto of its own. It has often been described as art of the sake of art. In web design, we can say that avant-garde websites are those that are designed for the sake of websites themselves! Here are some tips and tricks to be avant-garde when you build websites: Push the boundaries of web design theory When designing websites, do not succumb to the traditions and conventions. Instead, try to push the boundary and try to shock your own sensibilities. You might not want to take this as the final website but it can always become a way to stimulate creativity. Pushing the boundaries of design ideas also helps you to be more creative and different from others. Chances are, your client will appreciate you for your creativity and for being avant-garde as well. Do not be an elitist While being avant-garde is cool, it is not the same as being an elitist. Do not attempt to create websites that confuse visitors and leave them feeling that they have encountered a website that is ‘beyond them’. Instead, try to think from the perspective of the visitor and how you can give them a novel experience of using a website. Promote web design reforms Do not succumb to written codes and rules of web design theory. Instead, breathe a fresh breath of life in to the profession of web design by creating something new. Promote reforms within the profession and always try to look for ways that can help web designing profession to change. Do not follow but try to change the norms and lead other web designers into following you. Create websites for the sake of websites Avant-garde has often been described as art for the sake of art. Likewise, create websites not to please your customer but for the sake of web designing profession. Make it your passion and create websites that will be used as models by others. Ensure that you are not succumbing to norms and styles that others have perpetuated. Think out of the box and try to lead others. Avant-garde has often been described as the last refuge of the intellectual. Likewise, if you would like to create websites that will be respected for a long time, read up the theory of avant-garde and try to lead the way instead of following. Most importantly, do not try to be an elitist or create websites that make you look pretentious. That is not the idea of being avant-garde. Instead, try to be creative, think in novel ways and create something that will be appreciated by your peers and clients.

Building websites is not only a science but also an art. It requires professional technical training and a lot of design instruction weaved into the curriculum. Inherently, a person should have the aptitude to build websites and a sense of colors in order to choose the right combination. A web designer must also be aware of a changing world and an ever changing Internet. While a web designer needs to be good at all these and more, he or she might forget that sleeping adequately is more important when we look at the long term effects. Web designers work by the computer for long hours and require a lot of rest. However, most web designers do not sleep enough as they have to meet deadlines, suffer from eye strain which causes sleep disorders and tend to work at night, thus disturbing the circadian rhythm. A minimum of 7-8 hours of sleep is required in order to remain healthy, creative and happy. In this article, let us take a look at what happens when a person has not been sleeping well for a long time and how lack of sleep affects the quality of websites that are designed. Lack of sleep reduces creativity A person is creative only when he or she has slept well. A good night’s sleep ensures that people wake up fresh, rejuvenated and with a clear mind. When a person is exhausted, he or she just cannot be creative. That means websites are not designed well. Sleeping enough and taking long periods of rest helps people to wake up refreshed and they will be in a better position to work efficiently and creatively. Lack of sleep causes health problems Not sleeping enough reduces one’s immunity and can cause metabolic disorders as well. In the long term, a person might develop cardiovascular issues leading to expensive procedures and sometime life threatening situations. When a person’s health is not in the optimum condition, he or she might take frequent leaves from work and miss important deadlines. If you are not healthy enough, you probably will not meet those deadlines anyway. Lack of sleep induces irritability When a person has not slept well, they tend to be irritable and get easily annoyed. This result in interpersonal problems at work and a person who has not slept well will not appear pleasant and happy to clients either. Lack of sleep can lead to animosity indirectly and thus, work might get affected. Web designers work in teams and when there is no healthy relationship with people that we work with, our work tends to suffer as well. Irritability is one of the main reasons why conflicts occur at workplace. Lack of sleep causes depression Depression is one of the most common (after common cold) and the most serious of all ailments. Depression can be triggered when a person does not get good sleep over a long and continued period of time. This means people will not be able to attend to important things and might instead spend time in negative cognitions. People who are depressed might require serious psychological and psychiatric help and a lengthy period away from work. Sleeping well and getting enough rest can prevent depression. Lack of sleep kills motivation Any creative task requires one to be motivated. Motivation is very important for getting work done. If one lacks motivation, creativity fails too and so shall the quality of work. If a web designer should feel motivated enough to work, he or she should sleep well. Not sleeping well can cause serious motivational issues to people and their work will suffer. Sleep has been known to be one of the most important factors in keeping people active, cheerful and motivated. Though most web and Internet professionals do not realize, sleeping well is crucial to their professional development. There is nothing more important than getting enough rest and staying healthy. At the end of the day, our health is even more important than our own professions; and if staying healthy is important to remaining active in our professions, we have a professional duty to be healthy; and that implies, we have a professional duty to get that well-needed sleep at night.