Usage of Images in Web Designing
Images express more than words or content. Images used in Web Designing vary according to the type of website designed. In a website dominated by text or content, images act as refreshers to the eyes of the visitors. While in a site on Interior Designing, they enact the idea that good interiors can add to the elegance and beauty of a home or office. In short, the images used in web designing should be in sync with the look, feel, content and purpose of the site. When used in the right proportion, images would surely give a balance to the website and enhance its entire outlook. Hence usage of images in web designing is not an easy task and there are a few important points to be considered to ensure the quality of the design and the website as a whole. The first and the foremost point to be considered is the quality of the image.
Do not compromise with the quality of an image when published online. Web images can be created easily than print images. While concentrating on the quality, designers should also have an eye on the size of the image. The size of the image increases according to its resolution. Apt use of image editing tools can provide quality image of optimized size. Another negative effect of increase in image size is increase in the website’s download time. Visitors may be distracted and may even be fed up with the time taken for the image to download. So, images are most pleasing element in web designing at the same time, they can create a negative impression in case of improper usage.
Appropriate use of images would enhance the click rates from users for designing a website with content supported by images. As said earlier, depending on the type of the website, the percentage of image to the content might vary. Sites designed for providing geographical and travel information like weather reports and travel maps are indeed in need of images to support their information. Also, a medical site designed to distinguish the pre and post surgery status of a patient would require images to be included to visualize the difference. Hence, clear and acceptable image size in no way can be a negative aspect for web designing.
Images, being potent communicative tools, may sometimes misguide the visitors when not properly used. According to the designer’s creativity, images interpret the message published on the website. For instance, an image of children playing depicts the happiness of the children in a kindergarten or at a day care center. So, such an image will be a good choice when used for designing websites for nursery schools and day care centres. The same image in no way is useful in identifying a child among the group. In this case, the image is of misguiding rather than being informative.
Web designers should have track of all the images used in the website. If any problem arises, it would be easy to edit from the image catalogue. Also, the catalogue can be used as a source for alt-text when they are used in multiple locations. This alt-text provides relevant information about the image for the visitors. For good appearance and elegant look of the website, designers have to design the site with images of uniform size throughout the website. Designers at XEL Web Design concentrate on all the key points and at the same time also analyse the requirements of the client and plan for the website and bring out best web designs with balanced image and text.
