Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Web Glass Icons

Glass web icons can be viewed as an independent icon style though it is logical to assume that glass style is just one of the types of the shiny, glossy design.

Other types of the glossy web icons design that can be marked out:

  • glass icons;
  • metal icons;
  • glass-metal icons;
  • transparent icons.

Transparent and half-transparent glossy icons can be aqua, crystal, plastic etc.

Also, there are partly glass and partly stained icons meaning the objects contain some glassy or stained elements.

Glass web icons as well as other kinds of icons are usually depicted with reflecting. It is one of the standard features of the "Web 2.0" icons. You may find various tutorials on the net instructing to make vertical reflection effect for web icons.

It is the effect when icons are like images placed on a shiny, reflecting surface or tower above the water surface.

The crisp and pure look of glass icons makes navigating through the internet pages attractive and playful. If you wish to create such neat web icons it is simple to find hundreds of tutorials on the Internet.

Tricks for fast and simple creation of glass web icons.

Adobe Photoshop is the most popular software program for creating web icons. Photoshop is becoming more and more flexible and multitasking software for design. Originally it was rather an image editor and nowadays it enables to produce almost all visual effects used for the graphic design. A huge amount of the great web icons designs were created with a help of this software program. The ability to combine pixel painting with vector tool for creating glass icons, buttons, characters etc. is the most important feature of the latest Photoshop versions.<\p>

The easiest way to design Glass icons is to make the "glass" layer overlap the image. With a help of the "eraser" tool you will be able to build an empty diagonal line through the image. You are supposed to proceed using eraser for making adjustments to the glass layer until the moment when the glass effect repeats the contour of the icon. It should kind of the glass haze in the opposite sides. After this procedure complete the further adjustments should be applied.

Professional site designers should use this effect carefully and bear in mind that glass-fever may look ridiculous . Remember glass icons should be combined with taste so that the website style could remain professional and reserved.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Who's the winner - 2D icons or 3D icons?

Basic differences between 2D and 3D web icons design

Speaking about 3d Icons we should point out that the light source plays a very important role for creating authentic three-dimensional images. No doubt the using several light sources in website design today is more effective but take into account that they should follow fundamental laws of physics and be truthful. So if you would like to make 3D icons look softer and more realistic - use several lights.

Both 2D and 3D icons represent the volume found in the three-dimensional world but use various ways of creating this illusion. 2D Icons can definitely represent volume to less extent than 3D Icons. Usually the images are flat and present just one perspective. Detailed highlights and imperceptible soft shadows are missing as a rule. The shades usage is restricted as well.

3D web icons have got all these functions instead. Nevertheless don't forget that 3D is nothing but mathematical replication of the data that unfortunately limits its usage. In some cases you can easily replace 3D Icons by 2D ones or by the videos with the sounds - but all this depends on situation. The sounds give some extra dimensionality to the videos that actually use 2D images.3D dimension can be achieved due to the software used for 3D modeling. Just remember that, 3D icons need to be depicted in correlation with the other objects and the environment they are placed into.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

DreamWeaver Web Templates - Could They Be Useful?

You can easily use themes to create web pages that have a common structure and appearance. Dreamweaver Themes are also important in order to make sure that all of the pages in a site share certain characteristics. You can change information easily on the group of pages by editing the web template and then reapplying it to those pages. While elements unique to each page (such as text or graphics) stay unchanged, common theme elements (such as menu bars and links) are updated on all of the pages that use the theme. For example, if you change the telephone number in the Footer of the template - Dreamweaver will instantly amend the footers for you automatically. The fantastic tool to save your time!

Today over the Internet you can easily find a fantastic number of Dreamweaver Web Themes to any taste. But first of all you need to decide what kind of theme you want to have: free Dreamweaver Template or premium one. In case you really desire to save your pennies - Free Dreamweaver template can be a very good choice. But if you would like to have exclusive design and extra quality - you should look for premium Dreamweaver Templates. Anyway you have a unique opportunity to redesign your web page in no time.

So Dreamweaver website themes can help to save your valuable time and money. Templates are a great way to maintain consistency across a webpage. Don't worry if you have some problems - 24 hour support teams always glad to help. Sep by step web design online course and tutorials also can be very useful. Make a present to your web page - redesign it using a new Dreamweaver theme and attract more visitors right now! Use this unique chance to be on the crest of the wave of Internet world.