When it comes to digital marketing, a strong online presence is no longer a luxury but a necessity.
Whether you’re a budding entrepreneur, a creative artist, or an established business, having a compelling website is the key to unlocking your online potential. And amidst the plethora of website builders available, Squarespace stands out as a beacon of simplicity, elegance, and versatility.
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Design That Wows
Squarespace’s collection of templates is a feast for the eyes. Their team of designers has crafted over 140 stunning templates that cater to a wide range of industries and styles. From minimalist modern to playful retro, there’s a template that perfectly reflects your brand and resonates with your target audience. And with Squarespace’s customization options, you can effortlessly personalize your template to make it uniquely yours.
Beyond the Basics
Squarespace doesn’t just stop at crafting beautiful websites. It’s a comprehensive platform that empowers you to build a thriving online presence. From eCommerce functionality to blog tools and integrated marketing tools, Squarespace has everything you need to take your business or creativity to the next level.
The Community Factor
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Your Path to Online Success
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If you’re anything like me, you’re probably sick and tired of all of the gurus telling you how easy it is to make extra income from a side hustle. This isn’t because those side hustles don’t work, but they don’t always provide the same successful outcome for everyone who tries them — especially introverts.
Since introverts are known to be reserved, quiet and thoughtful, the opportunity to earn some spare cash from side hustles remotely are perfect for them. Remote side hustles also provide introverts with the opportunity to make money on their own time without worry of a daily commute.
1. Freelance writing
Spending a few years freelancing to bulk up your writing portfolio of both clients and content can lead to a well-paying and flexible career.
Along with copywriting, blog writing and ghost-writing, finding a niche as a freelance writer for more technical pieces will allow you to charge clients more due to the dedication and focus they require. Sites like USA Wire will actually pay you to contribute content.
2. Graphic design
Many introverts who start dabbling in design — even if they haven’t designed before — find they have a talent for it.
Tools like Canva can help you design infographics, email templates, fonts and more. Before getting started in graphic design, consider:
What kind of services you want to offer
Your target customer market(s) and pricing
Which software(s) you will use
3. Web design
Every brand in today’s world needs a website. Though building websites as a freelancer today is more challenging due to market saturation, it remains a strong side hustle option from the flexibility, creativity and control it provides.
Introverted web designers can set themselves apart from other web designers by becoming more talented in niche areas of web design, such as:
SEO optimization
Content strategy and creation
Copywriting
Social media management
Establishing pay-per-click advertising campaigns
4. Video editing
Video editing provides introverts with the freedom to create their own schedule and negotiate pricing with clients. Tools like Magisto and Splice make the video editing process much easier than in years past, too.
Here are just a handful of markets to give you some ideas on which to target for a video editing side hustle:
Conference videos
Explainer/educational videos
Marketing/promotional videos
Recorded presentations
Recorded speaking events
5. Audio engineering
If introverts have the essential tools at their disposal, they can quickly start offering audio engineering services like mixing, producing and tracking. Here are some things you need to do:
Audio engineers also offer their produced soundtracks to other industries such as podcasters or stock audio platforms, and even earn money by streaming their music online through apps like Spotify or YouTube.
6. Social media management
Social media can be a very lucrative side hustle for introverts. The trick to making real money from managing social media as a side hustle lies in the power of networking.
As a social media manager, your time will mostly be spent managing clients’ websites and social media accounts, approving comments and reviews and ensuring web pages are published on time.
Having a virtual assistant job as a side hustle entails routinely interfacing with only one other person. It can typically be done entirely remotely, too, making it more appealing to introverts.
Virtual assistants can expect to make between $10-20 per hour (depending on your employer) for a number of tasks like:
Reading/writing/responding to emails
Scheduling appointments
Managing calendars
Posting content on websites/social media
8. Taking surveys
There are plenty of legitimate ways to get paid by answering surveys, as many companies outsource survey agencies to gain insight on consumer behaviour. Most pay between $0.50-2.00 per survey, and each one shouldn’t take more than 5-15 minutes to complete.
9. Book reviews
Reading is a common hobby for many introverts, so why not get paid to read and review some books?
Some of the best sites to use to get paid for your reviews (and even get some free books) include:
If you already have an existing blog, you can also make money by writing sponsored posts or book reviews. If you have enough clients as a freelancer, you could also earn money as a freelance book reviewer.
10. Read emails
For introverts who shy away from the conversation, getting paid to read emails can end up being a dream side hustle.
Thankfully, there are now a ton of different sites you can sign up for that pay you to read other peoples’ emails, including the following sites:
Blogging is a great way to make money that requires minimal interaction with others. Monetizing your blog may take a few months to see its potential, but the ability to create a winning blog you can monetize lies in:
Creating quality content
Producing content that can be consistently consumed and shared
Partnering with advertisers to sell digital ad space on your blog
If you stick to this process, your blog can make money off the content you want to write.
12. Affiliate marketing
If you already have a strong following on Instagram, you can promote a brand’s latest product or service. Each sale you facilitate earns you a portion of the sale.
The potential income you can make through affiliate marketing is virtually unlimited, depending on the size of your target audience and their buying trends as consumers.
13. House sitting
If you’re looking to make money each month with almost no work or social interaction, becoming a professional house sitter may be your best bet.
As a house sitter, your mission is simple: stay at the client’s residence and occupy it in their absence.
House sitting is a common need for homeowners who routinely leave town or travel. If a client’s pet needs care, you can charge even more per day or week, depending on the client.
14. Podcasting
Starting a podcast as an introvert can prove to be a very lucrative side hustle depending on the topic(s) of audio content you produce, as well as the quality and consistency of that content.
Many podcasts are recorded solo, meaning introverts don’t need to worry about outreach to potential interviewees. Instead, spend that time to learn about how you can best market your podcast, and to who.
15. Transcription
If you’re an introvert with crazy-awesome typing skills, look into online transcriptions as a side hustle.
Transcriptionists convert audible conversations or content into typed documents. Today, everything from YouTube videos to legal proceedings requires transcription.
Transcriptionist work can pay very well for those with a knack for it, and most employer’s transcription guidelines tend to follow the most basic transcription training courses, which you can easily find available for free online.
16. Dog walking
Let’s be real: As an introvert, there are times when you will simply grow tired of dealing with other people. As a dog walker, the most interaction you’ll have with other people is through the dog’s owner.
Getting started as a dog walker is made even easier with apps like Rover or Wag. Depending on where/when/who you walk for, you can make between $15-30 for less than an hour of time that you spend walking!
17. Food delivery
Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, food delivery sales have been at an all-time high. For introverts with reliable transportation, this presents a great side hustle opportunity.
Becoming a designated driver for apps like DoorDash or Instacart offers ways to make extra money, including tips. Since the bulk of the work is driving, introverts may find this an appealing way to earn $10-15+ per hour, depending on where they live and the number of deliveries completed each day.
18. Day trading
The recent rise in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Dogecoin has seen millions become more aware of the earnings day trading can bring. However, trading on the stock, futures or foreign exchange market is where most day traders make their money.
According to one trading expert, the best trading times are when markets officially open and close (around 9:30am and 4:00pm) each day. Because the first hour of each day tends to be when trade prices are most volatile, trading at these times provides the best potential for profits.
Remember: you never lose money off of stocks you don’t sell, you only lose money when you sell (rather than buy) during the dip.
Black is, arguably, the queen regnant of all colors. It emanates dominance, mystery, elegance, and reflects a wide spectrum of emotions. Depending on the context, it can be conservative or unconventional, luxurious or minimal. Its usefulness simply knows no bounds.
Thanks to its versatility, black plays an important role in all forms of art. In design, it is often used as a standalone color, mostly in logos, as it can help add a touch of power and sophistication to a brand. Think of Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Chanel, Adidas, or Nike, to name a few. However, black can also serve as a spectacular backdrop for websites. It helps put all other elements in the spotlight and accentuates the brightness and vivaciousness of surrounding colors.
Below you’ll discover 25 stunning examples that prove the potency of black as a background color. While some of them use the simple yet timeless combination of black and white, others combine a variety of colors with their black backgrounds. But they all unquestionably illustrate how dark designs can help brands and individuals differentiate themselves from the crowd and create awe-inspiring projects. The websites we’ll introduce you to are:
Synchronized Studio is a team of creatives and experts in digital art direction, branding, web design, and much more. A word that best describes this website is – powerful. There’s a loading animation that looks like a lightning bolt tearing the dark background as the numbers go from 0 to 100 indicating the loading status. The background is particularly interesting. For one, it’s not static. It resembles black silk wrinkled sheets, and the movement of your mouse causes the “sheets” to stir. The cursor leaves a lime-colored trace behind that adds a touch of color to the homepage. Inner pages are black and white, save for the projects page which is especially fun to explore because of the horizontal drag effect.
Trip in the Dark
Trip in the Dark is an astonishing project created by the Voskhod digital agency that I could wax poetic about ad infinitum. While the website loads, you first see a blinking eye placed on a black background inviting you to be patient while you await for your adventure in the dark to begin. You can then choose the way in which you wish to experience the site – with your ears, eyes, and/or by using your voice to interact with it. Once that’s settled, you’re introduced to Volodya, a not-your-typical tour guide. The background is initially white, but as he begins to narrate his experience and informs you that he’s visually impaired, the light switches off and you’re enveloped in darkness. He tells you his story using his voice as well as through a series of spectacular illustrations that lead you to a crossroads. There you can choose between exploring places or getting to know locals. If you select the former, you’ll be able to make your own map based on the real sounds of the city. You can select a maximum of 5 sounds that you should place in designated slots to then see your route through Yekaterinburg. If you go right and choose to meet locals, you’ll have the opportunity to hear several interesting stories that highlight the importance of listening to sounds, both external and the ones within ourselves.
Andrew Leguay
Andrew Leguay is a designer who specializes in branding, digital products, and lifestyle marketing. His creativity is evident in every single pixel of his commendable portfolio website. As you wait for it to load, the screen becomes more and more chaotic with each passing second. Words such as organization, strategy, branding, marketing, culture, product, framework ambush the screen and are all you can see at one point. It all clears out in an instant and then you get the chance to explore Andrew’s work. The entire website is designed using just three colors – black, white, and dark orange. The background is black, which allows the featured elements to stand out. The font choices are interesting and unusual, especially the typefaces used in headlines. And when it comes to animation effects, the glitching on scroll effect wonderfully complements the cool vibe of the entire site.
Yuto Takahashi
Yuto Takahashi is an art director and a web and graphic designer. His website is mesmerizing from the get-go. The homepage starts off with a somber background image of a woman that appears to be submerged underwater. This composition looks calming and mystical, and it stands as an alluring invitation into Yuto’s creative world. To dive into it, you must first hold down the mouse button for a few seconds. What you’ll discover are his works masterfully displayed on a black background. The color palette he used on the website is not overpowering and it subtly contrasts the dark background. While you scroll and the projects appear on the screen one after the other, you’ll notice how their surface is wavy, resembling turbulent waters. As soon as the scrolling stops, the scroll-triggered animation effect is gone and the images become still. If you click on any of the pictures, you’ll see an in-depth presentation of the featured projects.
Clement Merouani
The website of Clement Merouani, a French art director and photographer, looks like a modern online art exhibition that you can visit and admire from the comfort of your home. You can control the carousel of his colorful works with your mouse. As you scroll or drag from left to right or vice versa, you’ll notice how the edges of displayed images become protuberant. The side towards which they lean depends on the direction in which you scroll. Clement’s website is essentially minimal and well thought out. The background is dark, elegant, and it ensures his works are in the spotlight. There are no distractions, no redundant elements that might draw your attention away. All the while you stay focused solely on his art. If you click on Index at the top left corner of the screen, you’ll see all of Clement’s works displayed in the Pinterest style on a black background.
Sam Phlix
Sam Phlix’s website is minimal to the core and a perfect example of how you don’t have to go overboard with special effects to make an eye-catching online presentation of your work. There’s a black backdrop, big white letters, and monochromatic imagery. Oh, and a carousel, the “wild child” of this site. If you bring the pointer on the wheel and hold the mouse button, the carousel will start to spin, simultaneously inverting the website’s colors – the background becomes white and the letters turn to black.
A Day Out
A Day Out’s works are displayed in large, irregularly-shaped, multi-colored blocks dotted all over the dark background. The masterminds behind this studio have cleverly used colors and the shapes of displayed elements so that you can’t help but feel the strong pull to explore their portfolio. Even as you click on a project of your choice to learn more about it, the black background will still be there with large imagery added on top of it to show you every single aspect of the selected project. Back on the homepage, the studio’s name is written in large typography and is visible at all times. As you scroll, the letters start to move, going from one side of the screen to the next, often swapping places. The fonts these guys used are very simple, colored in white, and placed in stark contrast with the darkness behind them.
Spatzek Studio
Spatzek Studio’s website looks powerful and bold from the first scroll to the last. The riveting visuals and witty textual content form the perfect amalgam that illustrates the studio’s creative genius and their skillset. They say they don’t want to over-complicate things but rather care about emotions and creating projects for humans. It goes without saying that their homepage looks spectacular, but the about page is probably unlike anything you’ve seen before. There are yes / no questions to which you must answer before getting to read the studio’s bio. The text alone is fun to read, but thanks to the hilarious videos they’ve added to the description, things become all the more fun for the visitor. There’s a lot going on no matter what part of the website you go to. Lots of motion, large fonts, video content, etc. but everything looks harmonious because of the neutral black background.
Digital Marketing Conference
The Digital Marketing Conference is organized every year by the famous Russian creative agency Possible. The website they’ve made for the 2019 edition is nothing short of majestic. You feel like you’re suspended in the air, exploring the continuously rotating dark universe of the conference by dragging the mouse cursor in every which direction while eerie sounds play in the background. All you see is black and white, with traces of red here and there. Above you are the starry skies with the DMC 2019 logo shining bright in the middle of it. If you keep looking up, the logo fades away, the stars spin harder and lose their form, and you feel like you’re sucked into some kind of digital vortex. Before you get dizzy, it all clears out after a few seconds, and the sky goes back to being starry again. Interactive links are placed at eye level and they carry info about the event, its program, speakers, etc. If you look down, you’ll see a map of Moscow with a clearly marked conference hall. The creativity of this 360° project doesn’t cease to amaze from one pixel to the next, and you can experience it even in VR.
Design Canada
Design Canada is a documentary film that introduces us to the finest Canadian graphic designs. The website was created by the phenomenal Locomotive agency. They’ve designed it in quite a simple yet compelling way, relying mostly on the colors of the Canadian flag – red and white. The background is black, which helped accentuate the iconic logos and other design examples. Animation effects, transitions, and micro-interactions are engaging, and they help make the browsing experience smooth, enjoyable, and entertaining.
Throwbacks Music
The majestic Throwbacks Music takes us back in time and gives us an entertaining, interactive 3D music experience. The black background is omnipresent on the entire website. We can listen to the great old songs that are popular to this day and learn more about musicians who created them. The library of featured artists is displayed in the form of a carousel, and as you move from one artist to the next, you feel as if spinning a record. The pictures of artists are black and white until you stop “spinning”, which is when they gain color. When you find a musician you like, you can hear a preview of whichever of their songs is included in Throwbacks Music’s music catalog. To listen to the song in its entirety, all you need to do is press and hold the spacebar. That action will take you to the page where, besides hearing the song, you can read more about the selected artist. Before you scroll away to the next musician, you can have some more fun and play virtual guitar strings by moving your mouse over them.
Mav Farm
Mav Farm’s website is definitely something else. While it loads, you can see the name of the app written in futuristic-looking blue and purple letters across the screen. Once the content’s ready, an eyeball pops up at the bottom of the page luring you in and inviting you to click on it to enter the website. And then, you step into a surreal universe where WebGL scroll navigation rules everything. There are lots of colors, futuristic elements, complementing typography and terrific animation effects that look breathtaking on a black background while truthfully portraying the description of the company, which is – A new network and an alternate reality.
The website of the Italian agency Eclipse SRL is minimal and very fun to explore. Its ambient is very dark, matching the brand’s name. The homepage background is black and its monotony is occasionally disrupted by the passing dark moon. You’re encouraged to hold the mouse button and “draw” on this virtual blackboard. As you drag the mouse pointer across the page in whatever direction you please, you’ll leave a white trace made up of words in different sizes behind. If you click on the crescent moon at the top right corner of the screen, you’ll see a page filled with images depicting different lunar stages. On hover, some of them turn into Super Mario, Michael Jackson, or the iconic Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moonalbum cover art. This is also where you can read more information about the agency and explore their projects.
Akufen
The first thing you see as the Akufen’s website loads are floating 3D cubes that levitate towards the middle of the screen. They form a large unit at the center that follows the movement of your mouse. Everything’s in black and dark grey hues, save for white typefaces. Exploring their portfolio feels very smooth thanks to the infinite scroll effect. The projects line up one after the other while the background remains dotted with dark cubes. The 404 page is charming and in stark contrast with the rest of the website. Its background is black, but there are occasional colorful, full-screen glitches interrupting the black and white synthesis.
Mysta Electric
Mysta Electric is a phenomenal tattoo artist that creates “dark graphic tattoos with beautiful melancholy” and his website perfectly matches that vibe. It’s entirely monochromatic, oozing coolness from one pixel to the next. The first thing you see is Mysta’s head in the background. Wherever you may move your cursor, the head will follow the movement. As you start to scroll, large typefaces take up the screen telling you Mysta’s story. If you hover over some words, you’ll see pictures of Mysta at work and with some of his clients. There’s also an extensive image gallery containing some of his awe-inspiring and idiosyncratic tattoos, as well as a black and white video that gives us a glimpse into the artist’s creative process.
Maxilla
Maxilla is a visual studio and a digital agency coming from Japan. Besides an interesting name and a cool logo, they also have a website that serves as an example of the striking things you can achieve with a black canvas and a lot of imagination. They start off with a bang – the first thing you see is a majestic radial menu featuring their portfolio. The names of projects are written in large, all-caps, white types, but on hover, your cursor turns into a big, black spot that sucks the white out of letters and leaves them outlined in the dark. Inner pages also reflect the agency’s creative approach to design, in particular, their about page. There’s an illustration of the white deer’s head at the center that follows every movement of your mouse. Next comes some short text informing you about what the agency does, and then – bam! You see a picture of a huge plush deer caught in the headlights, placed in the middle of the street. A few scrolls later, as if nothing happened, the deer is gone and Maxilla’s contact details appear.
Longshot Features
Longshot Features is a production company with a terrific horizontal-scrolling website that introduces us to their wonderous world of film. It’s filled with remarkable animated art of the pointillism master Mattis Dovier. When you click on any of the featured cinematic illustrations, you’ll reveal the story of the studio, the films they’ve made, etc. The stunning pixel art and the whole website are made relying on the black and white hues, proving once more the undisputed creative power of this timeless color pairing.
Cultish
Cultish is a South African creative studio with a beautiful website that fuses seemingly unmatchable elements. The first thing you see is Penitent Saint Peter, a Jusepe De Ribera’s painting from the 17th century. As you move your mouse over it, the parts of the image where the cursor is placed twirl leftwards, giving this classic composition a modern twist. Again, there aren’t that many colors on the homepage – the background is black and the letters are white or blue. But somehow the website doesn’t ever look dull. Aside from the large painting taking up the upper part of the page, you’ll also discover images of the studio’s projects while moving your mouse through the darkness. Inner pages are predominantly monochromatic as well, adorned with sporadic splashes of blue.
Juraj Molnár
Juraj Molnár’s website proves, once again, that black is possibly the best choice for portfolio websites, and that less is certainly more. The transitions from one section of the site to the next are smooth and subdued, with the progress bar displayed at the left-hand side of the screen. This is a mainly typographic site with a mix of bold and outlined letters. When you hover over the names of Juraj’s projects, a few images show up on the screen, inviting you to explore in greater depth the selected work. I especially liked the animated outlined illustration of a beating heart. It’s placed right next to the list of awards Juraj has won so far, indicating that he probably holds all those accolades close to his heart.
Gucci Marmont
The creativity of the people behind Gucci is inspiring, and not just on the runway. The websites their team has created for their big campaigns are all picturesque and mesmerizing. The one they made for the Gucci Marmont collection is no different. The website shows the Marmont bags as parts of still life paintings reminiscing the Renaissance era. The paintings are hung on a wall, and as you study them, you almost forget that the purses are the charming intruders that don’t naturally belong to any of these artworks. Given the colorfulness of the images, the choice of the black background is ideal.
Intro to Coding for Designers
Intro to Coding for Designers is a beginner’s class that teaches designers the fundamentals of coding. The color choice for this website is not surprising. The black background along with white, orange, blue, and green elements are all typical of coding in Javascript, CSS, and HTML, which are the programming languages this course teaches you about. This website is quite simple, but it’s amusing to explore. There’s a playful feel to it, as the authors have added a bunch of geometric shapes that run away from your mouse pointer as soon as you hover over them.
Kontrapunkt
Kontrapunkt is one of the leading Scandinavian design agencies and they’ve created a stunning online exhibition celebrating the Kontrapunkt typeface. They’ve singled out eight projects in which this font is used, demonstrating its versatility. The agency has opted for the predominantly dark color palette on the homepage, with lots of black and grey elements that are contrasted with white and yellow textual content. The typeface overview is informative and comes with lots of beautiful cursor animations. You can explore each project further by clicking on it. The exciting project pages shine more light on the typeface and demonstrate how it looks in action.
Masters 1987
Masters 1987 is an event production company from Los Angeles whose client list includes Oscar, Netflix, HBO, among many others. The use of a black background allowed them to promote their services in a striking way by opting for vivid imagery, all-caps typefaces, and snazzy interactions that ensure a cool browsing experience. The cursor looks especially charming. It’s like a comet that turns into a spotlight when you move it across letters. When placed on images, it puts them in commotion. The pictured objects zoom in and out, the photograph surface seemingly becomes undulating, and the color of the area where the mouse pointer is inverts.
Wiseslang
Wiseslang is a platform that gathers creatives from various fields. Their website looks subtle and impressive at the same time. The darkness throughout is filled with floating white dots or particles that assemble into all kinds of shapes. To navigate the website, you should use the arrows placed on the left and right sides of the screen. You can learn more about Wiseslang and the projects they’ve worked on, and regardless of the section you decide to explore, the playful white particles stay on the screen all the time.
Skyline Films
Skyline Films come with a website that all cinephiles will appreciate. The movies are displayed on what looks like an infinite cinematic canvas that you can explore by holding & dragging your mouse in any direction you wish. When you stumble upon a movie you like and stop moving the cursor around, a trailer for that specific feature will start to play. And if you click on the movie’s name, you’ll discover more information about it, its storyline, etc. The featured movies are all bursting with color, so the choice of a black background is not surprising in the slightest.
Final Words
Black is an exceptional, visually appealing backdrop color that gives a sense of depth to any project and highlights featured contrasting items. It helps brands tell their story in an attractive and unusual way that sets them apart from competitors and makes them more memorable.
As the websites from our roundup depict, black looks best when paired with lighter hues. When you use brightly-colored typography on a dark background, you don’t have to worry about readability, which is a common issue in dark design. And to create arresting projects, you don’t need to go wild with special effects. As you could see, sometimes all it takes are two colors, a couple of cool animation effects, and simple graphic content to make a memorable and astounding website.
Did you know that 89% of people shop with a competitor after a poor user experience? If your website isn’t up to par, you risk losing leads to your competition.
Luckily, we’ve created a handy checklist that you can use to make sure your website has everything you need to attract new leads and keep them engaged on your site pages.
Keep reading to get our website best practices checklist and be sure to subscribe to Revenue Weekly to get actionable insights on how to market your website better!
Establish your target audience
Before you dive into the nitty-gritty of your website, you need to ensure that you know exactly who you’re targeting. To create a website that best serves your audience, you should analyze your typical site visitor to collect information like:
Demographics
Buying habits
Income and occupation
Pain points
Hobbies/interests
And more
When you have in-depth information about your audience, you can develop your site to better meet their needs.
Once you know the specific characteristics of your target audience, you can start answering important questions like:
What does my audience want from my site?
What site components are fundamental for providing my audience with a better experience?
What information is more important to my audience, and how can I get it to them?
This tactic is one of the most important web design best practices for building an effective website. When you can answer these questions, you can start building a site that has your audience in mind.
Establish your style guide
As you develop a plan for your site’s design, you must create a style guide. A style guide ensures that your website keeps a consistent brand image and is cohesive across the board.
When you create a style guide, you establish information like:
Website color scheme (3 or 4 colors)
Font style
Image style
And more
Essentially, your style guide should give details on how pages on your site should look. Not only does it help you establish your brand identity, but it also ensures that no matter who works on your site, they have a guide for how to design different elements on the page.
Create an insightful navigation
Next on our list of best practices for web design is to create organized and functional navigation. Your navigation bar is a critical component of your site.
If users can’t find information fast, they’re likely to leave your site. And after that bad experience, 88% of people are less likely to come back to your site.
When you create your navigation, it’s pivotal that you use the right headings to separate your information effectively.
So, let’s say that you own a clothing store. Instead of having a generic “Clothing” tab to include all your products, you may break it down into tabs like “Men,” “Women,” and “Kids.” Tilly’s navigation bar is a prime example of how you can break down your navigation.
This navigation is simple and easy to follow. Users can find the product category that’s relevant to them and see subcategories of different types of products that fall under the main category.
Create an effective layout for each page type
Page layout is a critical component of your website. You want to ensure that you’re setting up pages in a way that provides a fantastic user experience for your audience.
Your page layouts may differ depending upon the page, but you’ll want to have a general layout for similar page types. It will help you ensure consistency and keep your site cohesive.
So, for example, if you visit Macy’s women’s clothing page, there is a grid of photos that showcases some of their product categories.
If you navigate to the same page for men’s clothing, you get a similar setup — a photo grid showcasing their product categories.
A similar format helps create a consistent image for these product pages across the board. It also helps users know what to expect as they browse around your site, which makes them feel more comfortable.
Establishing your page layouts is one of the most important web design best practices because it helps you build a consistent and familiar site for your audience that encourages them to continue browsing.
Compress images on your site
Next on our website best practice checklist involves images on your site.
Images are a valuable part of your site. They help create points of interest on your page and break up the text, and you want them to be high-quality images too. Grainy or low-res images make people think your site is less trustworthy.
Integrating all these high-quality images can cause your site’s load time to suffer. If your site doesn’t load quickly, you’ll lose leads. Users expect your website to load within two seconds, so if it doesn’t, you risk losing leads.
The best thing you can do is compress your image file sizes. You can use a tool like Kraken to compress image file sizes without compromising the quality.
Bonus item to check off: In addition to your photos, make sure your videos aren’t bogging your site down, too. Host your videos on third-party platforms, like YouTube or Wistia, and embed the code on your site. It will keep heavy video files from slowing down your site.
Utilize white space
One of the most important web design best practices is that you need to use whitespace. When you’re building your website, you don’t want to overload it with text and visuals. Crowded pages will leave your audience feeling confused and overwhelmed and may even cause them to leave your website altogether.
To keep your site clean and easy to browse, don’t be afraid to use white space. In this example, from Target, you can see how they use white space on their pages to keep users engaged with the important information in the middle.
White space will help you keep your audience focused when visiting your pages and allow them to browse through your site with ease.
Design call to action (CTA) buttons that pop off the page
People will browse through your site to learn more about your products or services and if they like what they see, they’ll want to learn how to take the next steps. Without a call to action (CTA) button, your audience won’t know how to proceed in the buyer journey.
You must create CTA buttons that pop off the page, so your audience doesn’t miss them.
In this example from Igloo, you can see that the blue CTA button stands out on the page, as well as the yellow button to pay with PayPal. Both buttons catch the shopper’s attention and make it easy for them to see how to add the product to their cart or to pay with PayPal.
CTA buttons are extremely valuable for helping you guide your audience to the next step. Whether you want them to sign up for an email list, buy a product, or contact your business, CTAs can help you get people to take that step.
Make sure your website is mobile-responsive
Having a mobile-responsive website is one of the most critical best practices for web design. With over 50% of Internet traffic coming from mobile, you must offer a site that works on handheld devices.
Creating a mobile-friendly website will help you boost user engagement and earn more conversions for your business. In fact, 67% of users are more likely to buy from a mobile-friendly company. So, if you haven’t optimized your site for mobile, you’re missing a prime opportunity to earn conversions.
The best way to make your site look great on mobile is to integrate responsive design. Responsive design enables your site to adapt to whatever device a user uses. Whether it’s a smartphone or tablet, your website will adjust to fit the device’s screen.
As a result, you’ll provide a better experience for your audience and keep them engaged on your site.
Optimize your website for search engine optimization (SEO)
The last item on our website best practices checklist is to optimize your website for search engines. You’ll want to invest in search engine optimization (SEO) to help your site rank in search results.
SEO is the process of optimizing your website to rank in relevant search results. It involves strategies like:
If you’re going to put the time and effort into building your beautifully designed site, you want to ensure that it’s optimized to rank in search engines so you can drive valuable traffic to your site.
Put these best practices for web design into action
Now that you’ve seen our website best practices checklist, you’re ready to start optimizing your website for conversions. But if you find you need to make a lot of changes and it feels overwhelming, you don’t need to do it alone.
Our team at WebFX is here and ready to help. We have over a decade of experience in creating websites that engage and delight users. We have a team of award-winning designers and we’ve designed more than 1,100 client websites. Not to mention, web design can help you improve sales — and we can get you started.
Keep your web site simple, streamlined, and easy to use
A lot of work goes into creating a well-functioning website that will turn visitors into customers. You need to choose a reliable and fast web hosting service, design the look of the product pages, and fill the site with useful, informative content.
One thing that’s crucial is site useability. Modern internet users expect to instantly understand how your website works when they first arrive. If your site’s confusing, they’ll be quite happy to head to your competitor’s instead.
A well-designed site subconsciously leads site visitors exactly where you want them to go, all the way from the initial landing page to the checkout. It makes every step simple and intuitive, all while subtly selling your value proposition.
Every online business is different, but there are some tricks you can employ to improve your site design that work on just about every website.
Learning from print media
Traditional print media may seem like a dinosaur compared to digital media, but how people interact with websites mirrors how they read physical newspapers and magazines. The home page of a website is like the front page of a newspaper. There’s usually a logo, several main headlines and stories, and sections pointing to other pages where the reader can find more information on the topics they are most interested in.
It’s fine to have a site brimming with pages full of useful, exciting content, but you shouldn’t try to cram as much information into the home page as a newspaper does on its front page. The home page should be simple, uncluttered, and make it clear how the website can be navigated. Sub-pages shouldn’t deviate from the basic navigational structure introduced on the home page.
Consider differentiating each type of content by giving it a different color. For example, set shopping cart elements as one color and informational elements as another. Maintain that color scheme throughout the whole website so the visitor will always know how to get to the content they need.
Below, we outline 10 design choices that always improve a website and 10 that should always be avoided.
Design dos
1. Be age aware
If you have an older readership, avoid small fonts. Serif fonts are also more difficult to read, so don’t use them.
2. Use the logo
Visitors expect to be able to return to the home page from every page on your website. Typically, this should be via your company logo, situated at the top left of each page.
3. Use a footer
Include a footer on every page that links to important information such as opening hours or how to contact your company.
4. Remember mobile users
Your website should work on mobile phones just as well as it works on desktop computers. Sometimes, you will need to modify how your site looks and functions on mobile devices to accommodate smaller screens. If your website is image-heavy, consider that lower-resolution images will load faster and use less bandwidth while also reducing your web hosting service fees.
5. Speed is critical
A slow site will cause visitors to become frustrated quickly, so make sure you are using a fast web hosting service with a good track record. Pay particular attention to the homepage when optimizing the speed of your website as it is your most-visited page.
6. Consider the disabled
A significant proportion of web surfers are disabled, so take steps to ensure your website can be browsed by them. Web design guidelines created by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) outline how to ensure everyone can understand, navigate, and interact with your website.
7. Count those clicks
Using web analytics tools, you can see which of your pages on your site are the most popular. Count how many clicks it takes to get from your site’s homepage to these pages and consider rearranging your site’s structure to make it easier to get to these pages.
8. Show color control
It is common to create a color scheme for your website by pairing colors from your company logo with complementary and contrasting colors. Once you’ve chosen a color scheme, investigate if it is readable by someone with a visual impairment or color blindness.
9. Use bigger pictures
Big, bright images draw a visitor’s attention and sell your products to them. Still, larger images will impact load times and increase the bandwidth costs charged by your web hosting service. Optimize larger images for the web by using image compression, making them faster to load without reducing the quality too much.
10. Big buttons
Call to Action (CTA) buttons encourage visitors to perform those important actions you want them to make, such as adding a product to their shopping cart. Ensure these buttons are big, bright, and obvious on every page.
Design don’ts
1. Stay away from some web technologies
Web technologies like Flash and Java that don’t work on all systems should generally be avoided as they reduce your website’s potential audience.
2. Don’t use sidebars
Because banner ads in sidebars have become the norm, people have learned to tune them out automatically when reading a website. Therefore, avoid using sidebars for your important content.
3. Keep fonts under control
Keep the number of different fonts you use on your website to a minimum. As a rule, two to three fonts are more than enough.
4. Limit scrolling
You should include the most important information on your site ‘above the fold,’ meaning readers shouldn’t need to scroll down to get to the main focus of each page.
5. Never underline text
You should avoid underlining text, as users will confuse it with a clickable hyperlink.
6. Avoid lengthy forms
Every field you add to a form requires effort from a visitor. Many people will simply click away when faced with a lengthy form. Keep forms short and only ask for the information you really need from the visitor to get them to the next stage in the buying process.
7. Don’t be rude
Avoid pop-ups that bombard the visitor as soon as they hit your homepage for the first time. They’re annoying and ineffective.
8. Don’t be long-winded
As a rule, online text should have fewer than 20 words per line, because long lines are hard to read. Paragraphs should normally not be longer than 50 words in length.
9. Never overload a page
While it’s tempting to include a lot of content showing why your products and services are the best, remember that less is more. Use white space to increase readability and move some of the information on busy pages to sub-pages.
10. Avoid auto-run objects
Avoid automatically playing sounds or video when visitors first arrive on a page. Leave it to the visitor to decide if they want to play these elements.
Final thoughts
Familiarity with your own website can make finding problems with its design difficult. Therefore, it’s important to get someone who is unfamiliar with your site to test every part of it and give you valuable feedback.
If you don’t know where to start with a new website design, jot down 10 websites you visit often and what you like about their design. Also, write down anything you think could be improved upon. This will give you a shortlist of things to aim for in your new site design.
Accept that most website designs are imperfect at first and need to be tweaked. Finally, don’t be afraid to break the mold. The trick is to have a memorable design that differentiates you from the competition without being confusing or annoying.
We’ve come a long way since the early days of the internet, in regard to different web design trends. Yesterday’s dos are today’s don’ts and nobody knows for sure what the future will bring.
But what we know for certain are web design turn-offs and things virtually no one likes to see on the internet of today. This is a highly competitive place, and you don’t want to risk anything by having an off-putting design of your website. What you want is to provide users with delightful surfing experience. It’s the only way you can hope to retain each hard-won customer and eventually make your company profitable.
That’s why, in this article, we’re going to give you 5 things you simply need to avoid if you don’t want users to leave your website in frustration.
It Takes Ages for the Website to Load
This was maybe ok in the 1990s when we were all using dial-up connections to surf the web, but in today’s day and age, it’s almost a sacrilege to have a slow website. No user likes to see when the page takes ages to load. In fact, today’s users are much more likely to try somewhere else, if a search result they click on sits on a blank page loading for three seconds or more.
There’s also a report by BBC from 2018 which illustrates nicely just how important it is to load your pages fast: every additional second that people have to wait for the page to load will cost you around 10% of your users. To further emphasize just how huge this is in internet terms, this would mean that by the time the first 10 seconds are up, you’d lose all your website traffic.
If you think this is an exaggeration on BBC’s part, Google also did their fair share of research with similar results. More than half of mobile users will be gone if a site takes more than three seconds to load, and if it takes six seconds you can bid farewell to all of them.
Too Many Popups Will Kill Off Your Traffic
How many times have you visited a webpage and it felt almost impossible to get to the actual content you were looking for because of all those annoying popups? We know the answer to this question is ’too many’, so it’s every webmaster’s job not to let this happen.
Losing users and customers because of the popups makes you think if they actually defeat their own purpose. On the one hand, some designers and advertises swear that popups lead to improved conversion rates. On the other hand, the statistics also show that 70% of people find them annoying.
If you want to be absolutely sure that your web page makes the best out of both of these researches, consult reliable professionals from Orion Creative, for instance. That way you’ll be certain that you’re actually utilizing popups and not overly irritating anyone. If the popups are done badly, they don’t respond to the user’s needs, or there’s just too many of them at once – you’re bound to lose traffic. At the same time, if done properly, you can actually gain profit.
Not Catering for Mobile Users
It may be strange to see that there are still many mobile-unfriendly websites out there, but it’s a sad reality that we’re all unfortunately witnessing.
The fact that it’s still not uncommon to see sites where items are misaligned, overlapping, formatted strangely, and so on is almost disheartening. Not only does this mean that you’re not following the latest trends that say that more than 50% of all internet traffic happens on mobile phones, but you’re also neglecting the fact that a low-quality mobile site will almost definitely affect your SEO performance negatively.
Going All-In On Animation
Sure, everyone likes to see a professionally-designed and trendy website, and there are few things that scream this louder than smooth transitions, transforms, and appearances, or well-deployed animation. All these things can be pretty vital and make a huge difference in comparison to the otherwise static and sterile layout.
But what you want to avoid at all costs is too much animation. Just like with popups, you need to use them sparingly. In any other way, they’re a distraction that simply no one wants or will tolerate – rest assured that the users and customers will jump ship if they get heavily distracted by your aesthetic presentation.
Autoplay Media
This was always a big no-no, and one of those irritating web design faux pas things that you have to avoid at all costs.
We’re not saying that there aren’t ways to do this tastefully, but it’s much more frequent than you’ll see (and hear) something which irritates and annoys you so hard that you’ll want to click that ’close’ button as fast as you can.
A word to the wise: don’t incorporate autoplay media to your pages unless you’re absolutely positive that it won’t interfere with the user’s ability to concentrate on the content she or he came for in the first place.
Wrapping Up
Essentially, all these 5 examples we’ve discussed in this article stem from bad UX design and lack of research. If you want to have a website that helps you attract more users and also retain the old ones at the same time, you’ll definitely try to do your best to avoid these 5 problems and issues. Ideally, you want to anticipate the user’s needs and treat both their time and attention with utmost respect.
By Nick Brown
“Nick is a blogger and a marketing expert currently engaged in projects for Media Gurus, an Australian business, and marketing resource. He is an aspiring street artist and does Audio/Video editing as a hobby.”
Are you making the most of Adobe Stock? Here are some extra ways it could save you time.
When you need a stock image for your graphic or web design, Adobe Stock is the place to turn. Integrated seamlessly into the Creative Cloud, it provides you with access to millions of high quality photographs and illustrations, not to mention templates, vectors, video footage and more.
But even if you’re already using Adobe Stock on a regular basis, you may well be missing a trick or two, that could save you a serious amount of time and energy.
Read on as we highlight some of the less-obvious uses for Adobe Stock that you may not have considered. And if they inspire you, then why not take out a one-month free trial to Adobe Stock?
01. Visual inspiration
Adobe Stock is a stride ahead Google Images when it comes to visual inspiration
(Image credit: Adobe Stock)
Right at the start of a project, when you’re still thinking loosely about concepts and ideas, it’s natural to go looking for inspiration. And for most people, Google Images is often the default.
But think about it: the images you’ll find there are going to vary hugely in quality, while on Adobe Stock there are millions of consistently high quality, professionally created photos, illustrations and videos to inspire you and give you fresh visual ideas. So you’re far better off using the sophisticated search filters provided by Adobe Stock, and seeking out visual inspiration there instead!
02. Website mockups and wireframes
The main aim of a digital mockup or wireframe is to get the functionality right, and make sure that the site or app can fulfil the needs of the user in a fast and efficient manner.
For this reason, they’re often created as “bare bones” designs, with zero imagery, and that approach can be appropriate when you’re just working on things in-house. But once you get to getting sign-off from stakeholders and clients, it can be worth using some of the high quality stock photography or illustrations available on Adobe Stock to make it look a little nicer and more approachable.
Because however much you ask people to “see past” the lack of visuals, it’s often a psychological hurdle that non-designers find difficult to navigate.
And the best news is, if you don’t want to spend any money, you don’t have to. You can use watermarked versions of any Adobe Stock image in your designs, and you only have to pay once you’ve got sign-off. If you don’t use them, you don’t pay: simple!
Adobe Stock saves you time by letting you search for pics of a certain shape (in this case, square)
(Image credit: Adobe Stock)
From Facebook and Twitter to Instagram and Snapchat, there’s so much noise on social media these days that attracting people’s attention with a brand campaign is a tough ask.
But one thing’s for sure: the brain processes pictures far more quickly than words, and so powerful and eye-catching images are key to attracting those eyeballs.
A small investment in the high quality photography and illustrations that Adobe Stock can provide, then, will pay off handsomely when it comes to clicks and likes.
And not only are you free to crop the images you license to whatever shape and size you need, but you can even save yourself time by, for example, searching for only square, horizontal, vertical or panoramic images.
04. Moodboards
The moodboard is a time-honoured tool in conveying the mood and spirit of a proposed campaign, and getting approval from clients and stakeholders before you head too far down the wrong path.
To create one, many people often just scrape images from Google, because while this is technically copyright infringement, in practical terms they’re unlikely to ever get sued for it.
However, legal issues aside, it’s worth considering using images from Adobe Stock instead. After all, they’re available in high resolution, so will look much better blown up at size. Plus the millions of high quality images available, in combination with sophisticated search filters, means that you’ll be much more likely to find the right images to bring your moodboard to life.
The email newsletter seen a massive resurgence in recent years. Perhaps as a reaction to the amount of noise on social media, people seem to like like the idea of a regular, curated and above all, short summary of what they need to know about a certain subject.
In some cases, they’re even willing to pay for this service, and some people now make their living entirely based on producing a must-read email newsletter.
Whether your newsletter is paid-for or free, though, success isn’t guaranteed, though. You have to produce one kick-ass newsletter if you’re going to succeed in this busy marketplace.
And so here again is an arena where the right images can play a key role. Liven up your email newsletter with some high quality imagery from Adobe Stock, and – as long as the content is equally high quality – your sign-ups and open rates should soon start to climb.
06. Your blog
If you’re writing a personal blog or the official blog for your design studio, imagery is again a great way to lure people in.
Most of the time you’ll probably want to use killer images from your latest design work, but that may not always be possible. The client may not have given permission, for example. Or perhaps there aren’t great visuals from the work to show (if your work was in the field of strategy, or web development, for example).
In such cases, don’t just leave a blank, or post an uninspiring image. Think outside the box, and search Adobe Stock for images that represent the theme of the story instead. For example, if you’ve has been invited to sit on a government panel to discuss how the creative industry should respond to Brexit, you might want to use the image above to highlight your news.
07. A/B testing
Want variations on this pic? Click here, then scroll down to ‘More from this series’
(Image credit: Adobe Stock)
A/B testing is about serving up two versions of a web page, Facebook ad, etc, to your audience and seeing which one leads to the most conversions. Given the importance of imagery, it’s often useful to test different lead images, to see which one leads to the best results.
The good thing about Adobe Stock is that there are often images from the same photoshoot, which means you can choose between small variations on the same image. This makes Adobe Stock ideal for when you really want to nail down the perfect image to help your website conversion rate.
08. Your personal videos
Most video professionals will know about Adobe Stock’s motion design templates, which allow you to add cool effects, titles, transitions and more to your projects with very little effort. But they’re so simple to use that anyone can use them for their own personal videos too. Especially as many of them are free!
To see how easy it is to use Adobe Stock’s motion design templates without any training, check out our tutorial on how to add wow to your holiday videos.
Planning a wedding? Adobe Stock can help here, too! It has an amazing range of top quality templates for your wedding designs that are fully customisable within Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.
Finally, Christmas is approaching, you’re a designer so why not design your own bespoke Christmas cards? It’s a great way to delight a client or potential client, and make sure they remember you. Or alternatively, you might just want to put a smile on the face of a friend or family member.
Create cutting-edge sites with these must-have looks and techniques.
Working in web design means that you’re constantly having to keep track of all the latest developments. New technologies and techniques are cropping up all the time, and if you want to deliver the sites that your customers demand then you need to at least be aware of up-and-coming web design tools.
Beyond the technical, though, there’s also the visual angle to consider. Tastes are always evolving, and what looked good a couple of years ago is likely to look less appealing today. If you want your website layout to look fresh and stand out from the crowd, it pays to be up to speed with the latest trends. So read on for eight of this year’s hottest looks, some of them technical, some of them more aesthetic, and most of them essential.
Safari Riot’s site is big on typography and bigger on doing amazing, attention-grabbing stuff with it
Web design has always been a bit of a poor relation of graphic design, and part of the problem is that while a graphic designer has more or less complete freedom to create across the page, web designers were for a long time shackled by primitive layout options and the most basic typography.
This is, thankfully, changing; CSS Grid and Flexbox give designers the opportunity to create more print-like pages, and vastly improved typography tools have meant that big, bold, and experimental typographic layouts are very much the in thing right now, making full use of oversized retro fonts in all the styles and weights, and complete with assorted effects and deformations to add extra character.
02. Progressive Web Apps
The Starbucks PWA won’t set your world on fire, but it’ll just work, whatever
They’re not a one-size-fits-all solution, but if you’re building a site that’s predominantly targeting mobile users who don’t always have the bandwidth they want, a Progressive Web App is an elegant way of doing it. PWAs are progressive and responsive, so they should work on any platform and look good too, and they deliver an app-like experience that, crucially, isn’t dependent on having an internet connection, using service workers to allow offline use. And while you wouldn’t want to use a PWA for your next full-blown desktop site, they’re ideal for creating fast and lightweight ecommerce sites when high engagement is a must.
03. Illustration
Cytora’s guide to AI underwriting uses illustration to make a complex subject understandable
It’s hard to visit a new startup’s site these days that doesn’t have a smattering of flat and funky cartoon figures illustrating its business and providing some much-needed character for visitors to identify with. They’re everywhere and they don’t seem to be going anywhere for now, but while we’re sure this particular style of illustration will fall out of favour sooner or later, illustration itself as a staple element of web design is one that seems set to stick around; it’s just the style that’s likely to evolve. If you’re keen to incorporate modern-looking illustration into your site, be sure to read our guide to 2019’s illustration trends to know about.
04. Animation and video
The Stonewall Forever site mixes video and 3D animation to fabulous effect
While it’s not always wise to build sites that deliver a performance hit while guzzling bandwidth, if you want to make an impact then it’s a lot easier these days to go full-on with all the attention-grabbing visual flair you feel you need. It’s not that long since embedded full-screen video was simply unthinkable; now it’s visible on an ever-increasing number of sites, and a great way to deliver instant visual interest while getting a brand story across. And for a less heavyweight visual punch, JavaScript or CSS animation used well not only looks good on the page, but can also be used to breathe life into navigation and enhance the user experience.
05. Pastel palettes
We’re not sure what Liebe Quark is, but its colour scheme is to die for
Because web design trends are so much more closely linked to more general visual trends these days, it’s not surprising that many of the must-have looks for web sites tend to mirror the sort of design decisions you can already see in print pages and advertising. An outmoded palette is the perfect way to turn people off, and if you want a site to look bang up-to-date then you need to reflect current colour trends.
Right now gentle pastel tones are a strong look – see Pantone’s 2019 colour of the year, ‘Living Coral’, for example – but what can really help bring them out is adding one or two really vibrant shades in the same way that print designers use spot colours.
06. Custom cursors
Romain Avalle’s portfolio site does some impressive things with your mouse input
With modern websites being home to so much visual interest these days, the humble mouse cursor can sometimes feel a bit lost, which would go some way to explaining the increasing number of sites that try to do something exciting with the pointer.
Merely changing the mouse cursor into something else has been possible for a very long time, but the return of custom cursors sees much more elaborate techniques coming into play, such as reactive cursors that change in response to site elements, and secondary pointers that follow the cursor around, but sweeping across the screen in a much more organic manner. They’re very much the fashion right now, but we suspect this trend will run out of steam before too long.
07. Colour gradients
Just look at Abella Andrade’s gradients; whatever they’re selling, it looks delicious
Beautiful colour gradients have long been available to graphic designers, but until recently they’ve been difficult to bring to web designs as they have to be rendered as bitmaps that don’t always scale well. Now, though, CSS gradients mean that it’s easy to enliven a page with an eye-catching gradient, whether it’s simply to provide a gently colourful backdrop, or as an overlay providing an attractive way of fading in photography from one side. CSS gradients are just as versatile as the ones you’ll find in Illustrator or Photoshop CC, and combined with CSS blend modes there are almost unlimited ways to use them imaginatively.
08. Micro-interactions
A better Montreux Jazz Festival experience through micro-interactions
Sometimes the devil is in the details, and spending time on adding delightful extra touches can add a much-needed dose of personality to a site. A little animated feedback can be a great way to keep users engaged and entertained, but there’s more to micro-interactions than simple visual feedback.
They can be used to make navigation clearer, to reassure visitors while they’re waiting for something to load, or to draw attention to useful features such as the inevitable hamburger menu. And used imaginatively, they can help your audience find the information they need without any unwanted noise; for example, check out this site for the Montreux Jazz Festival, which will put together a custom list of the acts you’ll want to see, based on a handful of decisive swipes. Nice.
I’ve been writing my whole life. But, I didn’t start blogging until my twenties.
Back then I called it “online journaling” because blogging and WordPress weren’t a thing yet.
I’ve journaled since I was young, so when I became interested in the internet in the 1990s, I tried to figure out a way to put my personal observations online. As I said, there was no WordPress, so I had to get creative.
This is my journey!
(I tried to use the Internet Archive to find screenshots of my old websites, but it didn’t go that far back. Let’s just say that all my websites were awesome and well before their time. You’ll have to take my word for it!)
BigHeadBoy.com
In the early 1990s, I taught myself how to use Photoshop and HTML and started building simple websites. As you can imagine, my first sites were horrendous! I think I remember clashing colors, loud tiled backgrounds, and animated GIFs of gophers dancing across the page.
After some time, my Photoshop skills got better, and I started creating interesting designs. But because of the nature of bandwidth at that time, images on web pages had to be very small. I figured out a way to create a graphical interface that had a small file size but was very appealing. I wish I had a screenshot.
It was an image of me with the head enlarged and some fancy clickable buttons. I would add new journal entries a few times a week, but each page had to be coded, so it took some time. I got well versed at cutting and pasting.
Eventually, HTML got better and better, and I added some very neat animated rollover buttons (again, I wish I had made screenshots). My first job as a web designer came because somebody saw my website and was impressed with my skills.
Not only did I love designing and coding the web pages, but I enjoyed writing online. Back then, the only comments I received were through email, because there wasn’t any way to add comments to a website yet. People reacted positively, and it’s one of the reasons I continued to design and write online.
I eventually got too unwell to continue updating the website. BigHeadBoy.com stayed with me for some time, and later when I started my own web design firm, BigHeadBoy Design, we used the domain for the company website.
When you clicked on this dude’s big head it loaded the website! (image owned by Jason Weiland)
During one of the years I was hospitalized quite a bit, I failed to renew the domain and lost it. Someone else snapped it up, but they never developed it.
JasonWeiland.com
There was a time I owned the .com for my name and used it as a portfolio/online journal. I was experimenting with design, and I used typefaces in interesting ways. I changed this website about once a month as I learned new things like JavaScript and CSS.
As far as the writing, I didn’t do anything groundbreaking because I was using the site as a portfolio, so I had to be very careful what I wrote about.
Again, I got sick and lost the domain.
SchizoIncognito.com
During the next few years, much was going on in my life with my marriage and my mental health. For some reason, I felt I should protect myself, so I started blogging anonymously. I’d never felt the need to hide before, but I needed to say some things that I didn’t want my family knowing.
I wrote with brutal openness. Some people were turned off because I was writing about my experiences with psychosis and self-harm. But, I had quite a few fans who followed religiously, even though I don’t think my writing was particularly good.
One of the banners I used for the site. (image owned by Jason Weiland)
I got some publicity one day, and I felt like the people writing it were trying much too hard to find out who I was in real life, so I shuttered the blog and never reopened it.
JasonWeiland.net
More recently, I wrote about the changes in my life after my last suicide attempt. I wrote a lot about my mental health, diet, and the businesses I tried and failed to start.
This blog changed quite a bit, as I used it as a way to get freelance clients at times.
It’s no longer active, but I may open it again soon.
ChangingMineChangingYours.com
A few months ago, I got the idea to start a blog chronicling the life and times of my family and I. I had thought to talk about the two girls we were going to foster, but they ended up going back to their mother. I’ve been paying attention to it more now that my wife is pregnant again, and I plan to start writing three times a week.
I guess when I started writing almost every day on Medium, this blog took a back seat. But that will change.
The site itself is not even complete. I don’t even have a mailing list set up, and so far I’ve only posted twice (and an about page). If you want to take a look, please let me know what you think so far.
That is Not All
I’ve had many, many more blogs, but these were either the most interesting, or the ones that changed my life somehow.
Blogging and journaling have been part of my life for as long as I can remember, so I’m sure I will keep doing them for as long as I can. Finding Medium has changed the game a bit for me, but I still think there is a place for standalone blogs on the internet. I know I will probably always have at least one going.
Blogging is great fun, and I feel if I ever decide to stick to it long enough, one day I will be successful with it.
Get more from imagery in your design work with our essential advice, covering graphic design, web design, apps and more…
Images are an integral part of the design process, and when it comes to selecting them and using them in a project, it’s important to make the right choices: one of them speaks 1,000 words, after all.
So whether you’re art directing an on-location photoshoot for a glamorous ad campaign, or searching a stock image library for the perfect visual asset for an email newsletter, you should still apply a discerning eye and not settle.
While there’s no one-size-fits-all approach, there are a few key dos and don’ts for using images in your design projects – and some hard and fast rules for using them for different purposes, from catching attention to making the hard sell.
Read on for our essential guide to using images more effectively in your design work. We will continue to add to this collection with more tips and advice each month…
01. How to use images in graphic design
5 ways to create better brand imagery
Five brands that have mastered the art of creating powerful brand imagery, and what you can learn from them. Featuring First Direct, Aizone, London Symphony Orchestra, Apprenticeships and D&AD.
Use images more effectively in editorial design Improve your editorial design work with these expert tips, which include: letting the content lead the design, using photography more creatively, telling stories with illustration, not being afraid to go big, and cropping images in a dynamic way.
5 reasons to use photography in your designs
Why you should choose photography for your next design project: you’re looking for realism, you’re showing something specific, you want wow factor, you need a visual metaphor, or you have the budget to do it properly.
5 reasons to use illustration in your designs
Why you should choose illustration for your next design project: you want to express something abstract, the subject is too ambitious to photograph, you want to tell a story, you have some data to visualise, or a particular style is required.
02. How to use images in digital design
Use imagery more effectively in app design
Select the perfect visual assets for more engaging, user-friendly apps. Advice includes optimising for HD screens, making savvy use of animation, paring back to basics, keeping all UI elements consistent and designing with touch in mind.
How to create a killer social media campaign
Five pro tips to use images more effectively in branded social posts, including: tailoring images to different platforms, having a clear goal in mind, considering why people will share it, picking images that tell a story, and designing for short attention spans.
Use images more effectively in digital ad campaigns
Pick the perfect assets to create engaging online ads. Advice includes knowing your ad formats, picking a single message, choosing one killer image, cropping images more dynamically, and emphasising the call to action.
Use images more effectively in web design
Pick the perfect visual assets for any frontend design task: source the perfect hero image, consider different crop sizes and ratios, curate assets for an online shop, choose images for UI elements and icons, and find editorial images for pages.
03. How to source the best images
4 tasks that stock imagery makes easier
Make your stock assets work harder, and your life easier, on common tasks such as sourcing supplementary photography for a brochure, adding depth and texture to your artwork, and developing UI elements for a digital design.
5 stock image uses you may not have thought of
Pro designers do use stock libraries – and in clever ways, too. These include social media campaigns; moodboards and presentations; mockups, wireframes and prototypes; email newsletters; and just for general inspiration.
Find unusual images for your design projects
Stuck for a visual idea? Here are some places that can help, including stock image libraries, The British Library, SpaceX, Jay Mantri, Realistic Shots, Life of Pix and PicJumbo.
