Emphasis in Design – Part 2 – Photography

Shawn Escott - August 21, 2008

When it comes to emphasis using photography, the same concept holds true from my last post regarding Emphasis in design: Part 1- Content. We want to have a main focal image and subordinate, enhancing images to strengthen our theme. We can accomplish this by utilizing subject, size and placement on the page.

In this blog post I’ll be referring to a landing page example MoreVisibility created for our Design and Usability Webinar. The challenge was to create a design for a fictitious beach town which could be used for an in-depth look at Search Engine Optimization design.

For our main image we chose a tropical photograph depicting the ocean, a clear blue sky, and a palm tree island. This image immediately evokes a calm and relaxing feeling and certainly strengthens our message of a tropical getaway.

The smaller thumbnail images in the left top corner support and enhance the viewer’s perception of a tropical getaway: Kids playing, a woman relaxing, a beautiful sunset, a vacation home, tropical palm trees, and a relaxing game of golf.

Questions to ask yourself when searching for photography.
What feelings do I want my users to experience when they see my images? For example: warm, fun, sunny, privacy, relaxing, cool breezes, etc.
How much emphasis should I give an image?
What will be the sizes, formats and placements for my images? The way you crop a photograph can make or break your design.
Will the colors in the photograph harmonize with my design?
Always keep in mind the cohesive feel of your design.

Lastly, don’t forget your “alt”tags

Check back soon for part 3:
Emphasis in Design: Graphics Elements

Contact us today to learn more about having your website designed by MoreVisibility.