The author of this post is James King, a web designer from UK. He writes useful hints and tips on blogging, building traffic, and SEO. He plans to set up on his online business in the field of website promotion. James has bachelor of Arts in multimedia production

So you want to be a design superstar? Huh? If you want to be a design superstar you need to pay your dues and work hard to get to the top of design success. The road to being a design superstar is a long ambiguous journey where you will learn so much from: creativity; productivity; search engine optimisation; and if you’re up for it how to be finically free. The path to be a design superstar can be as intense as you wish. But design excellence goes hand in hand with: effort; discipline and determination. If you want to be a design superstar, you’ve come to the right place.

Web design competitors

One of the biggest competitors is business owners. Many business owners would rather use a piece of software that magically creates them a webpage and all of sudden business owners think the jobs done and they are over the moon with the results. The results at times are terrifying. It is important, that professional web designers are capable of providing services and results that these software packages may not offer. Continue to read this article »

Blogs are taking the Internet world by storm. Thousands of new blogs are created worldwide by those who have already discovered how powerful a tool it is in getting published and making your mark on the World Wide Web.

Blogs initially served as online journals for the young people but it gradually became an ideal platform for online entrepreneurs in promoting their products and services. The relative ease of starting and managing a blog has brought a new form of online advertising. Continue to read this article »

Working with color schemes is an art but it is also science. For many, it is not something that comes naturally. Working with color schemes is akin to learning to play a musical instrument, learning to write, or learning a second language.

The point is that, while it may seem like an impossible task to some, learning to work with color schemes is not impossible. It may take some time, it may take some practice, but it is a learned skill and you can pick it up. Continue to read this article »

The Concept

Minimalism is a style of art, which uses the least possible amount of elements to reduce the concept or idea to its simplest form. This term has now penetrated the online design community and we are seeing web sites becoming simpler, with less clutter and irrelevant elements.

Minimalism in web design refers to the core functionality of the site and its basic elements. It isn’t about designing featureless or boring pages. It is about using the least amount of fundamental elements that create a useful and elegant site.

Web designers are generally creative and artistic types. It can be easy to become infatuated with elements that look cool and display their creativity. As advancements in technology brought increased bandwidth, high-speed modems and data lines to a level of affordability for the average user, web designers began a new love affair with audio, video, and animated design elements. Along with this growing attraction came a tendency to over design. However, just because we can, doesn’t mean we should. Continue to read this article »

There are few web designers today not familiar with the popular web browser, FireFox. Mozilla created this adaptable open source program and the first version was released in late 2004. Since that time, third-party developers have created over two-thousand add-ons. As of early 2008, it is the second most popular browser worldwide, quietly nipping at Internet Explorer’s heels. So just what is it that makes this nifty software a web designer’s best friend?

Primarily it is fast, lean, and extremely powerful. In addition, the vast number of useful add-ons (generally referred to as plug-ins or extensions by other programs) is a designer’s dream. Designers can modify Firefox code to allow it to do exactly what the designer needs it to do. Oh, and did I mention it is a totally free program?

Firefox renders web pages as meant to be. Designers don’t need to use tricks and band-aids to make their pages work. This is in large part because Firefox plays nicely on the web by adhering to the standards created for web pages. The Firefox browser is also quite secure so designers can be confident that their designs are not putting personal or sensitive online information at risk, as does the “other” popular web browser. Continue to read this article »

Today’s web designers face a variety of options and choices when creating a website design. It is easy to become enamored with the latest technology or visual affects and it is easy to design a site in which users can rapidly lose interest due to over complexity. Here are some simple tips to become a better designer.

1. Keep it Simple — Yes, that old KISS principle that we have heard so often is still one of the most important aspects of design to keep in mind. The goal of any designer should be to avoid unnecessary complexity. The best sites are those that are easy to navigate, quick to load, and straightforward. Don’t crowd the screen with too much content. Design for the screen using a sense of balance.

Unless there is a reason for a particular graphic, designers should avoid fancy graphics. They just are not necessary. You should also avoid Flash elements unless necessary. This will make your design more efficient and you’ll eliminate the chance of users leaving your site before they even get to your home page. Continue to read this article »