3 Image Selection Mistakes
By: Diana
Date: Jan 24, 2008
Category: design, graphics
The most important thing to remember about selecting web graphics is that each and every image conveys meaning. Logos, backgrounds, photos, Flash files, and illustrations all communicate a message, along with the text and site organization. The more unified that message, the more effective the site. Here are three common mistakes people make when selecting graphics for their websites.
Mistake one is "dressing up" your site, adding images because they look "pretty" or "cool". Unless "I am pretty" or "We are cool" is the main message you want to convey this is a waste of valuable pixels. Instead, when selecting graphics, consider exactly what you want your users to know about you. What is your core value? What makes you unique, special, a site owner worth visiting? If you are cool because your solutions or products or services are cutting-edge, select images that convey cutting-edge, including the colors you select.
Mistake two is not demanding that each image you put on your site does a job. Images are like headlines, they attract your users' attention and lead them to action whenever necessary. They communicate necessary information. A graphic is "dressing up" if it has no purpose. There is almost always a better use of the space being taken up by slacking images.
Mistake three is "noise for nothing." Loud or animated images frustrate users and can convey the message "annoying" because they attract the user's attention - like a child tugging at his parent's sleeve. Your user is there to do something. Ensure with your images that your user knows exactly where to click to do it without distraction. And draw her attention to the things you most want done without the web equivalent of "look at me look at me".