Ready to Wear
by Heather Champ
There is an ever growing number of resources online for users who are interested in enlivening Web documents without having to endure the hassle of fiddling with an application like Photoshop or Illustrator. More and more designers are creating online resources that they are willing to share with the Web community. There are a wide variety of backgrounds, buttons, animations, bullets, bars, and icons that are free for the taking. They can be found in archives (like Yahoo: Computers and Internet:Internet:World Wide Web:Page Design and Layout:Graphics) that are clearly marked as being for public use.Many might frown on using clip art or online graphics in fear that a site may not appear to be as professional as one developed with graphics not specifically created for that purpose. What should you keep in mind while you are choosing different elements to populate your pages?
- Style: Choose elements that have a similar look and feel. Many designers create different elements with different styles. If you use a number of elements with different styles, a document will have a greater chance of appearing too "clip-art" like. Bars, icons, and buttons with the same design style will give a greater, cohesive look to your site.
- Color: Reduced your color palette. In addition to style, color choice can be crucial. Instead of covering the spectrum a careful choice of two or three colors will further enhance the notion of deliberate and careful design.
- Animation: Use elements, including GIF animations, sparingly. Many sites become cluttered with a plethora of bullets icons and bars. My rule of thumb, although rather trite, is "less is more." Print designers are well aware that white space, that is, the empty space around type and images, enables the eye to roam freely. While the real estate of a document is a prime commodity, using every pixel may, in the end, display your content at its best.
The Politics of Online Resources
While designers are creating a great resource for users, it is possible for this generosity to be abused, whether knowingly or unknowlingly.
- If you are going to use an element from one of these sites, download the GIF to your server. Do not link to the element on another's site. In essence, you'd be stealing bandwidth from others, putting a drain on their resources, which can be costly if they are limited to a specific monthly transference. One designer has posted a plea addressing this issue.
- Respect the request of the designer. If he or she asks for a link or recognition, and you use something from the designer's site, you should honor that request. If you feel uncomfortable in fulfilling the requests, then don't use the GIF.
It's important to remember to respect the difference between graphical elements that are online for public use and those that an individual creates for his or her own use. To my chagrin I have, at times, run across a site that is using either materials that I have created or those that I know to have been developed by other designers in the Web community.
Unfortunately, just because it's very easy to copy images from the Web doesn't make it right; it's copyright infringement. It's only through respecting the nature of this online economy that collaboration between designers and users will flourish.
