FEATURED PROJECT:
"Evolution of a Website Header "

The first thing someone typically sees upon arriving at a website is the header, sometimes called the banner. This is the first impression they get of the site, so it should accurately reflect and reinforce the image an organization wishes to project. Since they will receive continual exposure to the header for as long as they stay at a site, it is very important that a good deal of careful thought goes into its design. Follow the design steps I took to fashion a header for one of my top clients, Elite Patios:

1. First, the background is filled in with the shade of blue that matches the rest of the company's literature.


2. This looked too flat; a gradient gives it more interest.


3. The gradient helped, but still didn't achieve the level of texture it needed. Some diagonal shading did the trick.


4. The company logo gets inserted on the highly visible left side.


5. The logo is balanced nicely by a photo of one of the products the company produces.


6. Next, a silver bar is added under the blue field. This is where the navigation buttons will go.


7. Finally some semi-transparent blue-shaded images are added to the background. This is the finishing touch for a simple, yet visually interesting header graphic. Take a look at the completed web site here: http://elitepatios.com