Design Phase Constraints

There are a number of issues and constraints to consider when creating images for the Web. If you strategize about these issues during Design, you will be able to avoid problems during Development. The following Slide Show will illustrate three issues that are basic to using graphic images on the Web.

Members of your team in the Creative roles will have much more extensive knowledge of some of the issues and strategies around creating effective images for the Web. The three topics from the Slide Show, file formats, file sizes, and Web-safe colors, are topics that any Web professional should be familiar with.
You will be able to predict the look of your site fairly well if you stick to the 256-color palette. However, keep in mind that the same color will look slightly different on every brand of monitor, so you do not have absolute control over exact color, as you would with printed materials.

Question: What is a rough estimate of a reasonable total size for a web page?
Answer: Somewhere around 30-50 KB, including image files. This may change over time as increased numbers of users upgrade their bandwidth access, or as new developments in servers, computers, or protocols increase typical download times. Exceptions are possible when the user group is known to have access to higher bandwidths, for example, at-work users of a corporate intranet.

Where are you in the Web Site Development Process Model when you are creating images? Planning for image creation occurs during Definition and Design. The actual creation of images begins to occur with sketches in the Design phase, and the heavy-duty work of image creation happens in the Development phase. Some revisions may occur during Post-Delivery, after you've evaluated the success of your signs and metaphors, through metrics, testing, and client and customer feedback.
In the next lesson, you will learn the principles that guide the creation of effective type for the Web.