Christine Menard
Web Design 1
Prof. Carrico
Color, Image, Graphics on the web
After reading through all of these websites I definitely have a better understanding of how the screen settings can make or break any color, image or graphic you may want to view or use. On the Color Displays website it was really great to see how 8-bit or 256 color displays are determined. Since I am a visual learner, the diagrams were a big help. I never realized what they really meant. In the site Web design for designers, they went much deeper into this information. Starting with 8-bit displays and working up to millions of colors, Joe Gillespie explains thoroughly how to design for each setting. It is impossible to know how everyone will be viewing your website, but I think it would be safe to say not many people are viewing using 8-bit settings anymore. I do think it would be smart to stick to web-safe colors when designing for the web. My favorite part of this site was when he explains taking color combinations from nature…..like our swatch exercise. I never thought of using this method before and will now continue to use it forever.
Talking more about color brings me to Interactive Color. This website is a great resource if you do not have time to manually pull swathes from nature. I am curious to know how good the program is and if it is worth the money. Otherwise the internet tool is a fun and easy was to find color combinations based on one main color. But my favorite website of this whole assignment was Color in Motion. My goodness…… I love it! I had so much fun watching and playing, really getting an understanding of what impact different colors can have. Not only was it a great informational resource for each individual color, but interactive, entertaining and so much fun!
Where I learnt the most was on the last two websites, Graphic File Formats and Images on the screen. Through learning about different file formats, I have come to the conclusion as a photographer jpgs are probably the best match for my photography. The designer in me still questions how to approach vector graphics I have created in Illustrator. GIFs may be the better option for this since they load faster and especially if I want to use transparent backgrounds…. which I want to do on my site. I also prefer interlacing vs. the conventional GIF. It really bothers me to see graphics load one line of pixels at time. I do know from experience and from emphasis on the site the importance to save original files and all versions. Images on the screen made a statement about the monitor and print differences not having that great of quality differences. I have mixed feelings about this. I find working in the print industry this is the case most of the time when working with large high-res files. However, when working with graphics made for the screen or web, customers can’t understand why they don’t print as good as they look on screen.
I found all of these sites useful and some a great resource to continue using in the future.