Website header is arguably the most vital part of a website, as it is the section that receives maximum attention of the visitors. As is obvious, it has to look good and impressive. But if you have ever been into this creative field, you know it very well how difficult it is to make a website header stand out. Sometimes, you just run out of ideas and sometimes, you will struggle frantically to get some inspirations. Here in this article, we are going to feature some unique and trendy website headers that will hopefully spark ideas for your next website design project:

Giancarlo-Fajardo.com: – This website features a large header that goes perfectly with its overall theme. It looks exciting and has enough ingredients in it to make you feel inspired.

Pixel Cool: – This is another example of colorful website header design. Every pixel of this header looks great and the designer has done a thundering good job by placing bright colors against a dark background cleverly and astutely.

Howhost.com: – It is the brilliant blending of bright and dark colors that adds flavor to this website. It is interesting to note that here prominence is not given on the logo, rather it is the header that steals the show.

Sietedefebrero.com: – This is an example of clean and simple website header. It looks great with simple and sober color combination.

Hugsformonsters.com: – This header looks stunning and the designer has tried something different. It is large but at the same time, it looks nice and pleasing to the eye. Its artistic appeal is something that few of us can ignore.

Latest Header Design Trends

Big is Better: – Small header has already become passé as designers are finding it comfortable to work with large header, as it gives them the opportunity to experiment.

Different: – Designers are trying to break new ground to churn out something interesting. They are fusing different techniques, color combinations etc and the results are satisfying so far.

Fonts: – Designers are using fancy fonts to seize the attention of the viewers. Headers are coming with extra large and wacky fonts to deliver message of an organization precisely to its targeted audience.

Small is beautiful. Is not it? But the problem is that it takes some efforts to make it large. The same rule is applicable to small business website design. Be it small or large, every business needs to have a unique online presence. Offline presence of your business can be small, but you can easily expand your online presence without incurring huge setup cost. First, you need to make sure that your website looks professional and impressive. It is totally futile to spearhead an online marketing campaign if your website looks ordinary. It will be a complete waste of money and effort. Here in this article, we are going to share some common small business web design tips that can help you edge past your competitors:

Dictate Who You Are: – This is the most vital thing that you should not give a miss. As your business does not have an impressive offline presence, you should tell straight who you are. Describe your business objectives, missions, services etc in clear words. It will help you to transmit your message to your targeted audience easily.

Unique Logo: – Logo of your organization should be placed at the top left corner of your website to grab maximum attention of the viewers. Moreover, you need to make sure that the logo is capable of reflecting the brand image of your organization. It has to be unique and it should be powerful enough to get your message across.

Make Your Website Searchable: – Your home page should contain a search option because online visitors do not have the patience to browse through all your pages. You can integrate breadcrumb in your website to make it easier for the surfers to find information.

Do Not Make It Look Weird: – Do not make your website an eyesore. Avoid the use of bright color combination, complex navigation, fancy fonts etc if you wish to expand your business. Just keep it simple.

Maintain A Balance: – Do not cram your website with unnecessary images. Try to use punch lines rather than rubbing on a particular point over and over again. You should juxtapose images and text carefully.

Make It Light: – If your website takes painfully long time to get loaded, you are definitely losing a significant number of visitors. Moreover, your website might fall from the favor of search engines. Now, if you wish to make your website visible, you need to keep it as clean as possible. Create external files for JavaScript and CSS, as it will help you to reduce the loading time of your website.

Creative person as you are, you know how hard it is to take constructive criticism in your stride. However, criticism is not rare in the creative field, more particularly in the field of website design and development. Sometimes, it is your boss and sometimes it is another finicky or hard-to-please client, who literally drives you to brink of insanity. Now losing your temper is not a solution. You need to face the truth that you have to accept criticism, no matter how vile it may appear, as long as you are into a creative field. Frustration is bound to surge if you fail to take criticism gracefully. Now, there is not shortcut way to get you out of this messy situation. Here we are going to share some commons tips that might help you to keep your tantrums under control no matter what:

Define The Purpose of the Criticism
First, try to find out whether the criticism is constructive or not. Constructive criticism does help a person to pinpoint his shortcoming and thus helps him polish his skills. So, you should not shy away from constructive criticism. However, if the criticism is not constructive, you should better ignore it

Analyze It
If the criticism is constructive, think about it carefully to determine which suggestions you can adopt and which you cannot. Take your time before you bump on a conclusion.

Define the Corrective Action
Once the purpose of the criticism is determined, you need to act decisively on it. Try to correct your stance and hone your skills whenever required so that you would not have to face it all over again.

Learn from the Critique
When you have done with the suggestions, you should try to think what you have learnt during the corrective session.

Here are some other tips that you can give a try

• Do not forget the fact that people who criticize you, believe in your ability to overcome them otherwise, they would not have wasted their valuable time.
• Do not deny your faults flatly because it will never do good to you.
• If you critic is wrong, do not attack him hammer and tongs. Try to make him see your reasons.
• Do not feel offended.

No body likes to be criticized. But as it is quite common in the creative field, you need to learn how to live with it. We hope that with these tips, you will be able to transform the negative vibes into something positive that will eventually help you to reach the peak of your career.

Since your website represents the brand image of your organization in the virtual world, you need to make it look as perfect as possible. You should not cram it with technical jargon, unwanted graphics, styles etc, as they can have detrimental impacts on user experience. Now, if you are serious about enhancing users experience and looking for a way to boost your website’s performance, you should not give these tips a miss:

Use Google Libraries API: – If your website is using JavaScript framework, it will run the risk of consuming a fair bit of bandwidth, which could have negative impacts on your website’s online reputation and visibility. Now, if you do not wish to shell out extra money for this purpose, you should give Google Libraries API a try. It is fast, free and extremely simple.

Use HTTP Compression: – Server side Compression is arguably one of the most effective ways to boost a website’s performance. Whenever a client requests for a webpage, the page is compressed before it is sent back to the client. The browser then unzips the compressed information before rendering the website. Compression can help you a lot to make your website load faster, but you need not have to compress everything. You can specify the files that you want to compress by adding some codes in the htaccess file. Here are some extra tips:

• Clean Code: – Try to weed out junk codes from your website’s source file, as it will help you to boost the visibility of your website. Here are some cool tips to assist you in this complicated job:
• Eliminate unnecessary Div tags: If you feel that some of the div tags are unnecessary, just remove them.
• Create External Files for Javascript and CSS: – Try to create separate files for Javascript and CSS codes, as it will make your code easy to read. Moreover, it will help you locate and eliminate problems later on.
• Use CSS Shorthand: It is a handy option to save bandwidth. However, you need to get the hang on of it first before being able to give it a try.

Image optimization: – By reducing the sizes of the images, you can beef up your website’s online visibility to some extent. If you are a regular Photoshop user, you should always choose “Save For Web” option while saving images. However, you need to make sure that you are not making any kind of compromise on the quality.

CSS Sprite: – Total number of image requests can be reduced significantly by using CSS Sprites. You can combine two or more background images into one for this purpose. Alternatively, you can use the CSS background-image and background-position properties to display images in your website.

CSS is the most powerful and arguably the most vital component of modern website design. It adds flexibility to a website, improves content accessibility, reduces unwanted repetitions and complexities and thus helps the website to load faster. But in spite of so many advantages, writing CSS codes from the scratch is really a tiresome and time-consuming task that can freak out a CSS coder. Now, here we are going to share some useful CSS tools that can help you to save your time and effort to a great extent.

CSS Frame Generator: – Based on the provided HTML elements, CSS Frame Generator generates an empty CSS frame. You just have to copy and paste the XHTML content that will create CSS frame. You can add style to it later-on.

CSS Grid Builder: – A CSS-based web layout can easily be created with this powerful CSS tool – CSS Grid Builder. This tool uses YUI Grids CSS framework that offers support to almost 1000 different types of layouts.

CSS Typeset: – With this impressive tool, you will be able to test different font-style. Just select the font type that you would like to feature on your website and then copy and paste that code into your style sheet quickly.

CSS Optimizer: – If you are obsessed with the loading time of your website, you should not miss out this powerful CSS tool. With it, you can successfully reduce file size by eliminating white space characters out of the CSS file.

CSS Redundancy Checker: – This CSS tool is good at finding out redundant CSS styles, which you should remove for making your website load faster. Size of the CSS file can be reduced significantly if you can manage to eliminate redundant CSS styles.

TypeTester: – Though features of this tool are more or less similar to that of the CSS Typeset, it gives you an opportunity to compare and contrast three different font-styles simultaneously.

YAML Builder: – This is another popular and powerful layout generation tool that works on YAML framework to create grid layouts.

Spiffy Corners: – This is a nice little CSS tool that lets you create rounded corner box without any images. Just a few clicks and you will be able to add nice looking rounded corner box to your web page.

W3C CSS Validator: – If you want to stick to the standards of web development, you should not ignore this important CSS tool. It is good at locating errors within your style sheet.

Use of large photograph or a larger than life image can bring out the desired outcome in the field of website design, as it helps a website look truly different depending on the quality of the image. Since web designers are always striving to scale new heights by doing something different, strenuous efforts are being made into different directions more particularly in the above-mentioned domain for making significant improvement as far as the look and feel of a website is concerned.

Here in this article, we are going to share some websites that have successfully incorporated large background images:

Signal 7 (signal7.de): – Here in this website, the designer has used a unique image that makes it look truly different. Its image corresponds seamlessly with the theme of the design and thus adds a new dimension in it.

AlexArt (alexarts.ru/en/index.html): – This is a perfect specimen of what an image can do to a website. It has changed the very interface of the design and added a dramatic effect in it. A perfect piece of visual art that you can hardly ignore.

Upstruct (upstruct.com): – This website tries to curry flavor with the visitors by adding a large image of a person possibly the designer himself (however, we are not sure about it). Do not forget to check out its About Us section, it is crafted with so much passion that will make you think about it even after leaving the page.

Food Inc. Movie (foodincmovie.com): – With a big cow in the background, Food Inc has definitely managed to steal the attention of the viewers. The idea is definitely wacky but it does work.

Vivo Group (vivogroup.com.au): – This website has used different images and almost all of them are large enough to seize the attention of the viewers. Use of vivid color combination makes it look perfect and fascinating.

Campanino Golf Club (campaninogolfclub.it): – Tee of in style. Probably this was the motto of the designer as the lush green background is placed prominently in the website.

Since website design is an ever-evolving field, chances are that you might have missed out some common tips that would have otherwise proved extremely effective to ease up your workload. Though hundred of articles are there, featuring wide variety of website design tips, tricks etc, not all of them are of great quality and majority of them are the products of mindless repetition. Here in this article, we have tried to compile a list of some common website design tips that might help you to cruise through the initial stages of website design and development:

1. Before making your website live, you need to make sure that your website is running fine with or without WWW. You can always make 301 redirection to resolve this issue.
2. Reserve a subdomain for your website mobile version so that you would not have to face any uncompromising situation later.
3. Try not to use dashes in the domain names. However, if the preferred domain has always been registered, you are open to use hypen in the domain name.
4. Perfection is a happy blur in the design industry. Try to comprehend the simple fact that you cannot have a pixel perfect design. After all nobody is perfect in the mundane world.
5. Try to keep the required information in the sign up page of your website to a minimum since people will not care a fig to get registered if you badger their lives with so many questions.
6. Try to reduce size of the files as far as possible as file size has a direct impact on the page responsive time.
7. While designing mobile version of your website, you need to keep it as simple as possible. Do not use flash since iDevices do not offer any support for flash based sites.
8. Try to use CSS and place the codes in a separate CSS file. Do not use inline CSS since it will add to the complexity of your website.
9. Gather as much information about color combination as possible. Master the art of using colors and contrasts to give your website a brand new look.
10. Use only web safer colors as it will help you to make your website readable. Just having a good design is not enough; you need to ensure visibility of the texts at any cost.
11. Try to shun unwanted complexities while organizing the navigation structure of your website.

Grid is mainly employed to keep the chaos at bay while designing and developing a website. By using grid, you can make a website look truly interesting, elegant and mind-blowing. Grid is basically a style in which a website is divided into different grids i.e. vertical and horizontal lines so that you can position different design elements efficiently and effortlessly. At the initial stage, grid was mainly employed in the print industry but now an increasing number of website designers are adopting this happening trend to maintain a certain standard in their website design projects.

Benefits of Using Grids
Integration of grid structure in a design can ensure a better look. As you will have less trouble placing content, images and other graphical elements in the design, you are less likely to goof up the thing and therefore a desirable outcome can be ensured. Moreover, users are less likely to face troubles while navigating your website.

Start From The Scratch
Grid system allows to prepare a plan after going through all its mathematical aspects. However, the entire thing is al about mathematical calculations, and therefore, you may find it boring at times. But if you can exercise a little bit of patience and effort, you can experience something significantly different at the end.

Here in this article, we have handpicked some of the best grid based website design layouts that you will definitely like to have a look before venturing in this territory:

Bisgrafic: This website comprises text and only text and the pure white background creates a unique contrast that is hard to overlook. Blocks of texts are positioned precisely and they give it an interesting and awe-inspiring appeal.

Studiomister: – This is another website that resembles Bisgrafic but the big difference is that here texts and images are juxtaposed. The alignment is impressive and a proper structure is maintained thoroughly throughout the entire website.

Superawesome: – Though it is also based on white background, you can hardly ignore the riot of colors that have been profusely used throughout the website. Quality of images are good and the pink border gives it girlish look and feel.

The grid system: – This website is the best example of how the grid should be utilized in our day-to-day life. Check out its utterly simplistic layout.

The morning news: – It has a bit of everything. Try to analyze how the designer has used the grid structure without making it look too obvious.

A website stands between you and your potential clients and if any clients find your service interesting, they will get in touch with your either by giving you a call directly or by shooting a mail. Featuring an impressive portfolio is certainly a good move in the direction of converting a viewer into customer, but if you want to cut ice a bit more with your clients, you can make some changes in your website’s request a quote form. As people send queries via “request a quote” form of your website, it is your solemn responsibility to make it look as interesting and visually appealing as possible. Here, we are going to share some tips that can prove highly effective to make your website stands out from the rest of the crowd. Lets check them out:

Be Specific
Do not go round and round while coming to the point. Try to avoid unwanted jargon and be straightforward. Do not make the clients feel bored and do not ask any questions just for the sake of asking questions. Now if you have nothing to ask, just leave the form. It is as simple as that.

Time Line
You can keep this point in your “Request A Quote Form”. Let them specify how much time they can afford to give you for a particular project.

Upload A Document
By letting your clients to upload a document, you can help them to specify their requirements precisely. If any client is forwarding the project of someone else, he can send the entire document in the existing file format. This will save his precise time and might minimize the chances of miscommunications.

Contact Information
Try to feature basic contact details in the “Request A Quote Form” which can prove immensely effective if the form fails to perform.

Budget
It is up to you to decide whether or not to talks about budget so early. It can have positive or negative impacts.

Give Value To User Experience
It is important to give value to user experience while you are into a website design project and the same holds true to designing a “Request A Quote Form”. You can keep it simple if you wish or you can show off little bit of your creativity without distracting the attention of the viewers.

Do Not Make It Too Long
This is one of the common mistakes committed by majority of website designers. Try to sum up all the possible queries within a single page. You will get enough time to ask questions once a visitor is converted.

Maintain Consistency
Do not feature some outlandish elements in the request a quote form since it runs the risk of being appeared weird. Try to keep it related to your website’s theme and we hope it will work.

Google is now having an all-pervasive presence in both virtual and physical worlds. It is in your office, in your home, in the roads (Google Street View) and by making a foray into the Television industry, it has sneaked into your bedroom. Now, do not hate it for doing so because Google is redefining the very concept of Home entertainment as well as website design, and users are getting a thundering opportunity to surf between TV and web content and that even at real time.

Opportunity and Challenges
The synchronization of TV content and web content has definitely heralded a new era in but it has at the same time opened us Pandora ’s Box, since designers are going to face a barrage of troubles to make a website looks impressive even when it is being viewed in TV. Though it is relatively a new area of work, you need to arm your website with adequate ammo so it can face the challenges of the coming generation with equal ease.

Area of Focus
Since TV viewers sit far from the TV screen, you might find it hard to make your website readable at that distance. Navigation is another segment where troubles are expected to surge since just putting links on the right side panel would not work here at all. Here are some other issues that you need to focus:

• Blank space between different elements has to large enough so that viewers can figure out the difference between them without making any strenuous effort. This typically known as white space or padding and you need to be a little particular while using white space your website for TV.
• Use large fonts and graphics so that viewers can recognize them even when they are viewing it from long distance.
• Since wide screen monitor comes with a large and usable horizontal space, it is always better to feature navigation in the side, as it will help you place important elements horizontally.

Layout
Layout is another important area where you need to give utmost attention. Since TV screen contains a limited number of pixels, you need to be a bit cautious while using images in your website.

Make It Easy On the Eyes
Try to shun lightweight text or narrow text. Instead, keep your faith on simple sans serif font and apply anti-aliasing in order to increase readability. It is good to make a choice between Droid Serif and Droid Sans font families, since both of them are supported by Google TV.

• Font embedding techniques can be adopted for further customizing users’ experience.
• Try to sum up a line within 5 to 7 words. Do not make it longer than 12 words.
• Break long text into small chunks.
• Use light text on dark background.
• Paragraphs should not exceed 90 words.

Color Guidelines
Compared to computer screen, TV screen have higher saturation and contrast level and therefore, you need to maintain some guidelines to make your website look impressive and unique:

• Do not use bright colors since they can cause strain on eyes and can get distorted at times.
• Be sure to test your website in different TV modes such as Games, Vivid, Standard, Theater etc.
• Try to use pure white sparingly. Instead, you can use 240/240/240 (RGB) or #F1F1F1.
• Test your website on lower quality displays.

Limit scrolling
It is a fact that Google TV does not scroll down seamlessly and smoothly and therefore, try not to feature large content in your website.

Know The Safe Area
Every TV has a safe area i.e. an area that is surrounded by a small amount of screen space. If you place anything beyond this safe area, it will not be displayed. Therefore, try to keep 10% margin at each of these resolutions:

• 1920×1080 resolution, recommended width is 1728×972
• 1280×720 resolution, recommended width is 1152×648

Keep navigation Simple
Since people watch TV to relax, you should stop playing with the navigation system. Make it dead simple.