Sunday, February 27, 2011

Vintage Icons As A Part Of Vintage Design

Vintage icons is one of the most noticeable and easy-to-apply graphical elements you may use in your web site to make it look archaic. With a help of vintage web icons it is easy to create the vintage atmosphere at your webpage Also use vintage typography, less-saturated colors and retro textures. Antique air is going to charm and brings unconscious smiles to the faces of your website visitors.

Retro came from the70s and 80s. Speaking about retro advertising art it appeared in 1950. Computer technologies help to put a new face on this type of art using its characters in webpage design and printing. These faces outlined in the vintage web icons are more often retro cars, pin-up girls, soldiers and politicians of the former times.Definitely among the most frequently used retro cars are Fiat 500, the 1970 Dodge Challenger, the 1969 Chevrolet Samara, the 1964 Ford Mustang etc. Vintage icons may contain hints to retro cars concepts for attracting more attention to your web page layout. They are perfect for the web sites concerning auto sales, transporting services, tour sites etc.A pin-up model is another popular character used in vintage icons design and other web site graphics styling. It usually depicts exaggerated, idealized images of how the really beautiful and sexy woman should look like. If you're an owner of the web site regarding health and beauty areas or the model agencies - keep in mind that you can use pin-up images that are great for vintage web icon.

In case you have a online business that is connected with military and security guard you may successfully use images of soldiers and officers with outdated appearance to attract much more interest and win the visitors trust.

There is no limit in usage of specific characters. Apply your creativity and use them as you wish. This will make people surprise and thus memorize your web-site.

Patterns and Typography for vintage icons

Highly recommended Vintage patterns in vintage icons design:

  • patterns containing vintage papers;
  • with vintage frames;
  • with outmoded florals;
  • paper and bagging, gold-cloth as the texture fabric;
  • wooden or bronze textures for vintage icons.

For creating vintage icons titles, content headings and texts you can use such authentic fonts as Matchbook, Bazar Medium, Embossed, Hill House,-Fontleroy Brown, Fusty Saddle, Just Old Fashion, Goudy Bookletter 1911, Rocket Script, Parisian, Star Avenue etc. You are free to find and purchase the fonts to match your design on the net.

Try to get a such vintage-inspired layout that looks fashionable and appropriate, but no old-fashioned. The goal is to create the cozy and noble, antique feel with a help of Vintage icons as well as images and styled blocks for the webpage layout. Surely your visitors will come back to your webpage with a thankful smile over and over again.

But try not to make your vintage design look too stuffy, you must be aware that professional design is formal-looking and the major emphasis should be made on the goods, services or content material your internet site presents.

Simple Icons And Minimalistic Internet Site Design

Simple icons are designed to join forces of minimalism and modern trend. Awesome and lightweight Simple icons are aimed to increase web site user interaction.

Minimalistic web page design

Let's find out what minimalistic webpage design indicates. Definitely the first features are simplicity and light-weight elements. Simple icons include all this. It eliminates complex wordings, figures, textures and patterns. Often less even implies more. It depends on areas and extent. Web site design is just such area.

Minimalistic design is rather an unexpected trend nowadays. High modern day technologies often lead to the loss of simplicity. Nowadays the modern trend is to combine minimalistic website design with CSS3 and HTML5. Internet site which uses simple design often has off-color effects and also actively use CSS and Ajax.

The most significant features of the present day simple web design:

  • grid based design;
  • simple icons;
  • light shading and reserved color transition;
  • light texture of patterns and backgrounds (often transparent like);
  • more empty or white space;
  • simple shapes and figures, clear lines;
  • less amount of various bright colors;
  • readable and clear typography;

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Tips To Create Line Icons

The objects with the outlined contours is the one other kind of Line web icons. Such design elements are called contour drawings. There are items without some strict outlines which can be rather some hint than actual contour of line icons. They're called gesture drawings. Skilled designers often use such type of drawings because they're able to repeat the outlines of the object right after seeing it. It's not a complete piece of art but rather a sketch which usually demands 20-30 seconds to be drawn.

One additional way is adding some halftones and shades to the object. You can do it with the help of short lines and crosshatching. Their frequency and pencil pressure can be different. This variety creates more three-dimensional look to the object. It helps to create amazing Line web icons, logos and buttons.Furthermore lets get info about open lines. It is such kind of the lines where the dots not combining the singular elements. The lines can be also parallel, gesture-like, contour and so on. Contour drawing includes superb simplicity and refinement of line design. You may be want to know what is bezier curves in computer graphics? It is such type of the curves which are necessary for creating complex line shapes. These curves are handy small features important for producing the vector shapes like line icons, unusual buttons etc.Today computer technologies reached such a level when it becomes possible to reproduce the identical designs or even build new shapes that based on some older ones. The wonderful thing - it can be done without extra efforts and time. Another advantage is that it is possible to go back to the previous adjustments with a help of the history panel. As a result you don't have to design Line web icons from scratch if you have made some mistakes.

Friday, February 25, 2011

The Truth About Realistic Icons

Realism traces back to the 1850s when this movement unfolded in French art. It is really carried over the centuries and penetrated right into all types of art and design. Speaking about realism in internet site design we can say that it's represented here by Realistic icons.

Short discourse on history of realistic icons.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Simple Icons Features

Simple icons are among the principal features of minimalistic design. Do not forget that simple icons along with other design elements should be used moderately. Simple icons are meant to be used where they're unquestionably necessary and eliminated where it's possible. Optional simple web icons are to be refrained from repetition or eluded. They may serve several functions.

Simple web icons design includes limited amount of color, reserved shades, clear elements, soft lighting. Simple icons are created out of elegant and simple elements which do not distract webpage visitors from the main navigation and webpage idea.

Rules for simple icons design:

  • minimal usage of duplication
  • less amount of graphical elements
  • maximum intuitive clarity
  • clear typography in simple web icons
  • less icons

Minimalistic design with simple web icons

Additionally to simple icons themselves light-weight background textures and patterns are necessary for the design and content perception. The eyes should focus on the internet site content or some important blocks but not on the background pattern or image itself. So the background should be of a light simple shade making it secondary compared with the foreground items like simple web icons.

Clear typography is another notable feature of the lightweight and clear design. Simple icons names (if there are any) should be precise, meaningful and equivalent to their function. Also use understandable and enough large font for headings on simple web icons. Clear hierarchy should be followed as well.

Also for developing a great clean simple icons design you may use enough white or empty space. Extra spaces keep elements more readable. Due to this fact it is more convenient to work with them. Some extra space between simple web icons will do your design no harm at all.

Speaking about the minimalistic trend in general it's not totally minimal. In spite of its great amount of white space there are still some simple icons, light textures, neat styles and bold fonts. Minimal is not exactly the same as simple. From the very begining minimal meant plain typographic eliminating images and styling. Today there's a great amount of various webpages over the Internet. That's why modern design demands something more than black text on white background. Add more zest to your internet site layout with a help of some unusual coloring, catchy simple icons, half-transparent and lightweight textures and patterns. Also reduce design elements to the most essential items.

Simple is often used as a synonym of smart. While creating the modern website design you should bear in mind the eternal truth stating that genius lies in simplicity. Simple icons look great and professional especially for a clean business style design.

Primary Advantages Of Realistic Icons.

Realistic icons are very important elements of the ultra-modern pieces of software, applications and add-ons.

As far as you know sites require special methods for representation and promotion. One of the most powerful way is of course including realistic icons into the web page design. Without doubt icons will help users of your web site to get a quick initial impression of your web business as well as products that you offer. If you need to make icons noticeable - place them on the website's home page.

You may hire the skilled designer to create some unique set of icons meeting your site personal requirements and products. But remember that such way of designing of realistic icons is quite expensive and takes a great deal of time. The custom order result still remains indefinite Even professional web site designers fall short of the mark known as non-uniqueness. Sometimes some of web-designers simply take icons that were created earlier and vary colors and shades, use some other effects and then sell realistic icons as exclusive items.

Another way of getting nice web icons is finding authoritative icons resources. You can certainly find a great amount of numerous Realistic web icons stocks and providers on the net. The excellent benefit of this kind of of getting web icons is that you see what you pay for. The price may be lower than in case with custom orders. Besides, you save much valuable time. Thus for finding nice and inexpensive realistic icons stocks are much more preferable.

Realistic Icons Helpful Tips

If you make a decision to make a realistic icon first of all you need to build the basic pictograms. It should look simple and motivated enough to make one icon significantly differ from another. Also it should look vivid enough if being shown at worse resolution. The icon should be recognizable at first sight. How to test your icons? If it is possible to discern the icon within less than a second - it is well done.<\p>

After you find the formula of the basic silhouette and it is stable you possibly can make realistic icons more eye-catching with a help of decorative elements. Really don't overload icons with the details and color tints. Design should look integral and reserved. You can also make the edges anti-aliased. So don't forget the simple rule - the decoration shouldn't take away from the icons essence and functions.

The icons are often stored in vector format which makes it pretty simple to edit. It enables you to resize, rotate, adjust the edges and edit outlines. You can also change the color scheme and add more details and so on. So you needn't be an experienced designer or an artist to use them.

If you need to design the interface layout of the new software or IT services - Realistic web icons may be very useful in this task. Developing top quality, eye-catching and good-looking realistic icons is not an easy task. Generally you need to edit the high-resolution pictures in order to get truly realistic images.

2d Icons And Models

2D web icons along with other objects are famous for their flexibility. This is achieved by the peculiarity of rendering them at various resolutions suitable for various output devices.

2D Icons may include the next items:

  • raster pictures (digital graphics);
  • styled text as a typeset for 2D Icons;
  • vector models (geometric graphics).

These items can be managed by 2D transformations such as rotation, scaling or angular position etc. Meshing basic models you may get more advanced ones.

2D web icons usually are not similar to the real three-dimensional objects but because of the layers technique they are able to create the illusion of all 3D characteristics like shadow, reflection or highlighting. The layers really should keep the definite hierarchy and order carefully.

2.5D Icons

The layered 2Dicons are also generally known as 2.5D models. This technology allows web designers to work with any layer with no need of touching the others. The best of the well known graphics editors prefer this kind of 2D object development.

2.5D is a synonym to pseudo 3D. This means "two-and-a-half-dimensional" graphics. Models which were developed with a help of with 2.5D technology appear to be tridimensional while in fact they are not. The featured projection depicts both front and side views.

This technology used for designing 2D web icons is frequently achieved by the special lighting effect. 3D illusion can be reached as a result of virtual light source to the left or to the right side and above the users monitor.