TEXT Graphics

Okay, onto a few more components I think about when I need to create a new graphic for my website or advertisement.

There are two things you'll notice above, a logo and some cool text graphics. A logo is a personal choice and can be outsourced, but also created yourself. Additionally, the same can be said about the text. But, this particular text isn't just a cool font I found and downloaded. The word "Recommended" is actually an image I created on a free website and downloaded: http://cooltext.com/

You can create multiple words using their free generator and just download them. I spend a few minutes creating several and filed them within another subfolder - words like: Recommended, Social Media, Web Traffic, SEO, things that I knew I would be writing blog posts for and creating Header graphics for - not too mention social media marketing to drive traffic to the new blog posts subsequent to creation. So, while I call this component "Text Graphics" as you can see, they are really images.

NOTE: There are typically TWO types of images I work with. The first is known as the PNG type which is high quality, typically has a transparent background, but is large is file size. The other is known as JPG which is lesser quality, BUT loads much faster on a web page because the file size it much smaller.

Soooo, that being said. The backgrounds I use are typically JPG and the other components "Layered" on top are PNG because they have transparent backgrounds that will allow your base image to show through.

Here's an example of a PNG image with a transparent background:

The grey - white checkerboard background is indicative of a transparent background. Keep this in mind as you move forward through this training.

Logo

Again, as I mentioned - you can outsource a logo or use one of the many free sites to create one. But, when it's finished, always ask for OR download the PNG format. Because it has a transparent background, it is so very versatile and can be used with several base (background) images. This will become more clear shortly.

Here is an example - my Pure Residuals logo:

Yes, this one is huge. It's the original. You want it HUGE, because as you lower the size, it will maintain quality. IF you need to increase size, most image editors have to actually "create" the pixel space that wasn't there before, and the image becomes "dithered" or blurry. Enlarging images is messy. So, always obtain the largest size and then create smaller ones from it.

Symbols - Or other vector type graphics

Additionally, many of us like to use various types of symbols and graphics to DRAW ATTENTION to calls to action or lead the website visitor to an action. Some examples are:

Example 1:

Example 2:

Okay, NOW..... the stuff you've been waiting for.... Putting it all together!