Are your site’s images carrying the right message?
As a web designer, a lot of responsibilities lie on your shoulders. The present article stresses on the fact that a web designer should also delve into a lot of other web related skills to improve his/herself. Well I’ve always stressed on this point in any case. The reason is simple: make a site’s web design work for it, helping it converting visitors into customers. One of the usually overlooked aspects is “images”.
The usage.
Custom has it that the web designer chooses some attractive images that go in the line of the client’s message or the client simply gives a CD with a number of stock images or images it has collected. Many a time the client’s desired images are not the best ones but the worse can be the fact that they don’t carry the message that benefits the client himself. It is the web designer’s job to get as close to ‘image marketing’ and explain things. A pretty face can push visitors away as clearly illustrated in this article.
Choose.
After explaining the concepts and alternatives to the client, choose the images for it as per your wireframe. But here again do not fall in the same trap as the client. You might want a “CV” image but make sure that it carries the right message. Below is a part screenshot of a big Mauritian company’s website offering career opportunities and showing a resumé:
Where it goes wrong.
You’d tell me that its ok, they’ve put a “resumé” image illustrating the main idea of the page. There still is a problem around here. Yes, the resumé as it is, in this image is crumpled. You might be offering career opportunities but you are also supposed to respect your future and current employees. The crumpled resumé is currently sending the wrong message while in the same page it is stated:
[The group's] regional presence and culture of excellence can help you build an exciting and gratifying career.
You might be on the job market but you sure want to be respected for your skills. The same applies to business partners. For some, the value you give to your workforce is your value.
Your job as a web designer.
As a matter of fact this stresses on the essential information that, your implication in a web site is not only to get the best gradient colours and pixel popping but showing your added value by understanding each page’s content and concept before choosing the best image to illustrate it. This also adds value to the site you sell as you are able to maximize conversions.
well you are right not only the right image but also the right medium to complement the message intended for the targeted audience (from a communication perspective
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Twitter: sachindb
Internet users are harsh these days. You have to fight on every level to keep up with their expectations that you will never meet except maybe Google and Facebook. This is why web designers have to work more on such small details for the message, as well as the audience as you rightly put it.
well maybe the audience are more receptive nowadays and due to competition etc and esp the way the corporate world going from all perspective, everything is being done on a pro-active rather re-active approach, as you rightly say, going beyond their expectation and that demand lot of skills and competency at all levels…btw the pretty face article very good, would have thought about this…thanks for sharing…cheers
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