3, 2, 1 .... Vivid Photo Lift Off!!!

The "Guide to Coaching Basketball" website is a pre- dominately textual experience, especially on the front page. But there is one saving grace that provides a lesson in effective image selection - a single vivid image of a basketball. With the leather texture, coupled with a realistic shadow under the ball (possibly added afterward), the ball provides an amazing amount of lift for such a plain website.

While I think much more could be done to improve this site, the lesson remains that choosing a single image well can make a world of difference and indeed, an otherwise dull experience can have a spark of colour and a third dimension. A good lesson learned.

Funtastic Movie-like Graphic Design Effects

clipped from photojojo.com

This is the stuff that adds spruce and excitement to web pages - the odd image makeover based on step by step tutorials found ever so commonly on the web. These days it doesn't take too many steps to add character to a picture and these photo effects that match movie styling with Illustrator and Photoshop techniques are no exception.

My thinking is that when you combine original images with these techniques you create millions of variations that break the generic look the web sometimes takes. As an added bonus, the Photojojo site is both full of great graphic design advice and designed itself creatively with a fresh twist on header backgrounds born from a tea-towel pattern.

Great design teaching about great design - gotta love these web gems!