One of the best ways of enhancing the vehicles interior and protecting the steering wheel is by buying steering wheel covers. They vary in their prices and quality but obtaining one that is pocket friendly is possible. There are three most common styles of the greatest steering wheel covers; the europerf perforated the original one color and the euro tone two color steering wheel covers. The original one color wheel skins are considered to be the most luxurious of the steering wheel covers in the world. They are handcrafted in the City of California and are available in fifteen different colors and in a standardized size cut to fit all types of vehicles. 

Eurotone steering wheels incorporate colors to the steering wheels either wholly or on the sides only. The color can be chosen depending on the client; to match the interior of the car. The EuroPerf Perforated leather steering wheel covers are available in either the one color tone or the two color tone. They give numerous options in color, texture and style. To buy a good affordable steering wheel, do a thorough research on the price ranges of the steering wheel covers. The cheapest can be two dollars and the most expensive of them can cost about thirty five dollars. The price usually helps in gauging the quality of the product although it is not always the case. After that, the diameter of the wheel should be measured making sure that the circumference that is around the grip is taken into account and this information given to the sales representative. If this is not possible for whatever reason, then one can give the model and year of the car. 

This is because most manufactures have charts supplying the proper dimensions of the steering wheel covers. Pick on the ideal material for the cover of the steering wheel. There is a wide range of heel covers including terrycloth, leather, sheepskin, cloth, wool and vinyl. It is important to be able to differentiate quality leather from the fake one if you are opting for leather covers. Have an idea of the installation process and how well you want the cover to fit on the wheel. In most cases, it should have a snug fit. Most of the covers either stretch or slip on the steering wheel rim while others are made to be sewn on the wheel. The needles together with the lacing cords are offered in the leather covers that have already been punched with holes making it possible to get the snug fit by a simple stitch. 

At this point you can pick on the color of the cover. Most people prefer the neutral black color for their steering wheel covers but there are other available colors from the manufacturers to suit the different types of car interiors. There are different grip thicknesses, ensure that you get the most ideal size for you such as the ultra-grip, power grip and sure grip. Obtain steering wheel covers from auto boutique shops, upholstery shops, and new car dealerships, on the internet or mail order catalogs and accessorize your car today.

Want to know more about presentation folder printing? Then this write-up is for you. Find some tips to make your presentation folder a smashing success. Try them out and see how it can work wonders for your presentation.

Believe it or not, it is always wise to have your presentation folder printing done by a professional printer. To make your advertising efforts achieve the results that you’re dying for, your presentation folder should be done in style and the right technique. It must be smart, attention-grabbing and remarkable to make your message get through your target audience. Without all these in mind, your efforts will translate to zilch.

As I’ve said, choose a professional printer that will do the job for you. Once you have chosen the professional printer that may seem best to you, coordinate properly and continuously with them so you can have the output that you want. A professional printer usually possesses high-technology equipment, processes, machinery that will help you make your presentation folder printing a success. With proper collaboration and communication, they can help you set up your presentation.

So how do you collaborate and communicate with your printer? Here are some things to keep in mind. Apparently, all the details of your presentation folder including the colors should be transmitted from the computer to the machine that will print them. The transmission should not create any problems on the color or the rest of the material. The communication between the computer and the printer should generally be ideal and hassle-free. In the same way that you and your printer must have the proper coordination as well to achieve the results that you’re seeking for.

Did you know that a professional printer uses a calibrated monitor wherein colors of your folder will be clearly shown? It actually uses a particular type of color wheel for the right code combination so any slip-up will be avoided. Your presentation folder may be impressive and worth all the attention but the colors on your monitor and those on the monitor of the printer should be consistently coded to come up with the correct results.

A presentation folder can range from very simple or very elaborate. If, for instance, your folder contains many pages, make sure to secure or put them together by binding. You can always use a binder, for instance a three-ring binder, to have a “presentable” presentation folder. You only need to choose the size of the binder that best suits your presentation folder and you’re ready to go.

Try looking into the software that you can use as well. Choose one that you can use in cropping pictures and any other images. Try also incorporating colorful borders into your presentation folder with the use of the right software. Remember that your software should allow you to properly position your photos or images in your presentation. If you need a chart to be in your presentation, find a software that can allow the text to wrap around the chart. This will definitely make your presentation smart and truly professional.

Nonetheless, the colors that you choose are still the most important feature of your presentation folder printing. Find colors that are complementary to each other; colors that will bring attention and spunk to your presentation. Now this will make your presentation folder printing a hit.

Web design uses all the same elements as print design. You need to explore the space and layout, handle fonts and colors, and put it all together in a format that puts your message across. These resources will help you learn Web design whether you are already a professional Web developer or just getting started in the Web arena.

1. Elements of Good Design

2. Fonts and Typography

3. How to Use Color

4. Graphics and Images

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5. Web Layout Basics

6. Tackling Web Navigation

7. Accessibility and Usability

8. Web Design Software

Elements of Good Design

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Good Web design is the same as good design. If you understand the elements that make up good design, you’ll have a Web page that works well. These elements of good design apply whether you are writing a Web page, a business card, or a t-shirt and once you understand them you’ll have the skills to be a great designer.

* Elements of Design

* Principles of Design

* Web Design Glossary

* 10 Tips to a Great Web Page

* The Web is Not Print

* How to Drive Away Your Readers

* More Web Design Basics

Fonts and Typography

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Fonts are the way your text looks on a Web page. And most Web pages have large amounts of text. When you’re thinking of design, you need to think about how the text looks on a micro-level (the font glyphs, what font family, etc.) as well as the macro-level (positioning blocks of text and adjusting the size and shape of the text). These resources explain how to work with fonts on Web pages.

* What is a Font?

* Web Typography

* What Font Size Should I Use?

* Font Weight

* Continue Learning About Fonts

How to Use Color

colored pinwheel

Color is everywhere. It’s how we dress up our world and how we see things. Color has meaning beyond just “red” or “blue” and color is an important design element. These color resources teach how to use color effectively in Web design.

* Colorizing the Web

* Color Symbolism

* Color Wheel and Color Theory

* Color Harmony

* Creating a Web Color Scheme

* Web Color Synchronization

* Color Charts

* Is the Browser Safe Color Palette Really Required?

* Color Glossary

* Additional Color Resources

Graphics and Images

Graphics are the fun part of most Web pages. As the saying goes “a picture is worth 1,000 words” and that’s also true in Web design. Learn how to get the most out of your Web images with the following links.

* How to Add Images

* Taking Great Photos for Web Sites

* When to Use JPG or GIF Formats

* Make Your Images Small

* How to Protect Your Digital Images

* Graphics Glossary

* How to Build an Image Map

* How to Choose Graphics Software

* More Help with Graphics and Images

Web Layout Basics

When people think of Web design often what they mean is the layout. Layout is the organization of elements on a Web page. First you need to start with basic design principles. Once you understand them, you can move through how to place elements on your Web page. These links and resources will take you through the steps to learn good Web layout design.

* How to Decide Where Your Elements Should go in the Layout

* Once You’ve Decided the Placement, Learn the Basics of How to Lay Out Web Pages

* Definition of White Space

* What’s the Difference Between Padding and Margins?

* Fixed Width Layouts Versus Liquid Layouts

* Use Real Text for Testing Page Layouts

* Web Design Gallery – Layout Ideas

* Layout Glossary

* More About Web Layout

Tackling Web Navigation

Index

Navigation is how your customers get around from one page to another on a Web site. Navigation provides movement and gives your customers the chance to find other elements of your site. You need to make sure that the structure of your Web site (the information architecture) makes sense so that your customers aren’t forced to simply use search.

* Designing Effective Web Navigation

* Navigating Web Sites

* Organization will Help Your Navigation

* Link Rot: Are You a Culprit?

* Web Pages Should Go Away

* Adding Search to Your Web Site

* What is Information Architecture?

* Additional Web Navigation Resources

Accessibility and Usability

Accessible

Accessibility and usability are often seen as a detriment to Web design, but a good designer focuses on making their site useful to as many people as possible. The links below take you through the basics of making an accessible site without compromising the design.

* What is Accessibility?

* What is Usability?

* What do the Accessibility Guidelines Mean to Me?

* How to Write Accessible Web Pages

* Creating Color Blind Friendly Web Pages

* Validating for Accessibility

* Advanced Topics in Accessibility and Usability

Web Design Software

Most Web designers prefer to work in WYSIWYG or “What You See Is What You Get” editors because they provide a visual interface to the design. But finding the best Web design software is more than just WYSIWYG or not. Plus there are other tools you will need to build Web pages beyond just the Web editor.

* Find the Right Web Design Software for You

* Before You Buy a Web Design Editor

* Myths and Facts About Modern WYSIWYG Editors

* WYSIWYG Isn’t Really

* The Best WYSIWYG Editors for Windows

* The Best WYSIWYG Editors for Macintosh

* The Best Web Design Suites for Windows

* The Best Web Design Suites for Macintosh

* Dreamweaver Resources

* Other Web Design Software Needs

The $79 iWork ’08 appears to be a good deal for anyone needing an affordable office suite for the Mac. Apple has finally added a spreadsheet application. At first glance, Numbers is an elegant no-brainer for anyone migrating from Microsoft Excel. In the past, many Mac aficionados bought Microsoft Excel because iWork lacked a spreadsheet application. However, with the addition of Numbers and the release of Microsoft’s Office for Mac 2008 delayed until January, Mac users may stick to Apple’s less expensive option. We’re also happy that Mac hasn’t changed its file formats as Microsoft did with Office 2007.

We like the sparse interfaces throughout the iWork package. Its features aren’t as deep or rich as in Microsoft Office 2007, but iWork also hasn’t changed radically from its last incarnation, unlike Office. iWork also covers much more than just the basic productivity tasks offered by online tools like Google Docs & Spreadsheets or the Zoho suite, so it should be adequate for the vast majority of home and small-business users.

System requirements, thankfully, are gentle to users of older Macs. You’ll need an Intel, PowerPC G5 or G4 machine with a 500MHz or better processor in addition to 512MB of RAM minimum, running OS X10.4.10.

Pages

Apple tore a page out of Microsoft Office’s book by creating a Contextual Format Bar that displays different features according to your task at hand. Select text, and the bar shows font options. Click on a picture, and the bar displays image-editing features. Unlike the contextual formatting Ribbon interface within Microsoft Word 2007, however, Pages offers no live previews of font and image changes as you hover over them.

Pages ’08 also adds Change Tracking, similar to the Track Changes feature adopted many years ago by Microsoft Word. We’re glad that Pages gets this treatment for displaying document revisions rather than the often confusing revision and commenting history offered by the online Google Docs.

Pages includes the usual must-have features for writers such as footnotes, bookmarks, and tables of content, in addition to integration with charts and functions from the new Numbers app. In addition, Pages now detects when you type a list and formats bulleted points automatically. We just hope that this won’t drive us batty (as it does sometimes in Microsoft Word).

There are plenty of page templates for letters, resumes, reports, and the like to get started if a blank slate poses too much pressure. Page Layout mode lets you create relatively complex designs without software such as Adobe InDesign, great if you’re throwing together reports for work. It lets you layer images on top of images too. The Instant Alpha feature, also found in Keynote, lets you cut out backgrounds in images without dealing with alpha channels, a la Photoshop. And we prefer Pages’ color wheel, crayons, and spectrum to Word’s color options.

Keynote

Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 may be richer, but Apple Keynote ’08 adds some smart features that PowerPoint lacks. It’s also a breeze to figure out from the get-go. Action Builds let you create basic point-A-to-B motion animation, without needing to deal with motion tweens as in complex apps such as Adobe Flash. Smart Builds enable animation, such as rotating photographs, using images you can grab from the iLife media browser. And new voiceover recordings enable you, say, to narrate podcasts with pictures. There are new between-slide transitions and slide show themes too.

Numbers

Our early look at the new Numbers reveals ease of use novelties that competitive tools don’t provide. Microsoft Excel 2007 still appears to be more robust, particularly for number crunchers such as scientists, accountants, or engineers. Yet the majority of users who rely upon spreadsheets as one-size-fits-all tools for household and light office work should be pleased to have a new option for Macs.

Numbers comes with plenty of templates, including travel planners, business expenses, and school science lab reports. Of course, it can also save and export Excel-readable files. This application pleases the eye and can make attractive spreadsheets. We dragged around text boxes, images, and tables using alignment guides without a hitch. You can add 3D bar, pie, and other charts and even integrate maps into a spreadsheet.

The controls for working with tables were extremely user-friendly in our early tests. Slider bars allow you to adjust the numeric values within cells, handy if you’re looking to add a range of values. Resizing columns and rows appears to be less of a hassle than with Excel. You can drag data from a file of contacts or into a Numbers table that will automatically partition information into the appropriate columns. And sorting a table smartly leaves the headers alone. Formulas appear to be the same as those in Microsoft Excel, but Numbers also has easy-to-find natural language shortcuts for common calculations, such as sums and averages.

The Interactive Print View offers more controls than in Microsoft Excel, which easily leads to unwieldy spreadsheet printouts. Numbers shows where a stray column might take up an unnecessary extra page. You can eliminate the overlap with a slider bar that instantly scales the tables, charts, and images on a page.

  Knitting in its simplest form is often described as the looping of a string around two sticks.  When faced with multi-color patterning, intricate stitches or detailed graphs, this seemingly easy craft becomes a more complex activity that can benefit from an innovative tool or two.  Right from the start when the ideas for a new knitting project abound, there are aids to guide you in choices of yarn and color. Color wheels and color selectors, using proven principles of color theory, can steer you through establishing a pleasing color combination of two or many colors. Even though you may pick the perfect geranium pink to match that perfect leaf green, you still must find commercially available yarns of compatible weights in those very colors.  Many yarn retailers offer, at a reasonable cost, sample cards of available yarns in their full color range. Much like selecting paint chips at the hardware store, you are able to see at a glance what colors are available in a particular yarn and how they interact with other colors of that yarn type.

The screwdrivers and wrenches of knitting, the needles, though basic in shape, appear in a variety of materials. Wood and plastic offer comfort to tired hands, while metal needles promise speed.  A luxury class of needles fashioned from ebony or rosewood are advertised as hewn from the remains of prized woods used in the manufacture of musical instruments.  These needles should make your stitches sing. There is also the “heritage“ needle collection of which mine is labelled, due to many being borrowed from my mother’s knitting basket and never returned. A “classic” collection will likely contain a hodgepodge of needles gathered over the years as in mine, which range from a chipped orange metal No. 4′s to green plastic No. 8′s. It’s an odd grouping of materials and colors but favorites are easily recognizable when a certain knitting job comes to mind.

Now any good craft project whether made from wood or wool is only worth its weight when measurements are accurate and consistent. To knitters, the correct gauge must be achieved or every measurement throughout the project will become skewed. With numerous devices available to help accurately measure those all-important numbers of stitches and rows, there is absolutely no excuse for having the wrong gauge. A square gauge frame will force you to line up your knitting with the stitches at right angles to the rows, leaving you to count the numbers between the borders of the frame. Transparent stitch templates will tell you nothing but the truth as you try to match the drawing of the desired stitch gauge to the stitches of your knitted sample. A good tape measure, plastic or cloth, retractable or not, is essential to measure those lengths and widths once you start knitting. 

To see those stitches clearly, use a magnifier lamp clamped to your favorite chair or stood behind the sofa. Try a pair of magnifying flip-up lenses to increase your staying power when working with intricate stitches and dark colors. Don’t forget to prop up that book or pattern on a bookstand to keep your charts and graphs front and center. A line magnifier placed over the chart on a magnetic board will eliminate a lot of twisting and turning in your seat as you lean to squint at those lines. Once you have found your place there are gadgets to keep it.  Stitch markers and row counters mark the spot and giant safety pins put stitches on hold.  

A collection of tools needs a toolbox. Needles should be organized in needle cases, one for the straights and another for circulars, small boxes or bags for the bits and pieces such as stitch markers and measuring devices, and a great big bag or basket to keep it all handy and neat.

Giving a warm, natural color of blood rushing to your cheeks – this is what blush does. Blush gives depth and contour to your cheeks and accentuates your inner glow. Unfortunately, blush comes in a wide variety of hues, shades and tones that can get you confused on which shade is just right for your skin. A guide for beginners and experts alike, read on to get the full story on one of the cosmetic industry’s best effects.
<br />1. Choosing the appropriate shade of blush for your skin tone

This is similar to picking the right shade for your foundation, concealer or eye shadow. It is hard to pick out the right one – doing this would require comprehension of color theory. But, you don’t need to worry. Blushers today are very flexible, which will blend onto your skin tone easily. Getting off at the wrong track, however, will make your face drained or looking like a clown.

2. What to consider

There are two simple things to take into consideration – skin and the context.

Skin tone

- Know whether your skin is a warm or cool tone.

- If you have a yellow undertone, you will settle in better with cool colors like mauve, rose and pinkish plum.

- Orange, copper, almond or peach is appropriate for olive-skinned while blue skin tones (very dark-skinned) can opt for dark red or auburn.

- Those with a neutral look can have any color while those with pink tones can get away without a blush at all.

Skin intensity

- The darker the skin, the stronger the color of the blush. So it follows that the lighter the skin, the lighter the blush.

- The intensity of the blusher will make or break your look. Having a blusher that is too weak for your skin will not even be seen.

- Fair-skinned women may use a shade from a pale pinkish red to beige – you can also apply powder blush on top to have that transluscent effect.

- Medium tones call for warm pinks, brown-based pinks or soft beige. For the olive-skinned, brown-red, soft berry, honey beige or plum pink is recommended.

- Those with a darker skin color can use deep bronze, soft mahogany or cocoa.

Context

- Consider the color of your hair and eyes. Dark or black hair tends to make the skin look paler, so a stronger blush than the recommended shade might be needed.

- Neutral shades like a bronzer should complement blonde hair and tanned skin.

- Peach is a safer color for red heads or those with loud hair colors, since it competes with your blush.

- Daytime or nighttime? Soft, natural colors like warm pinks, beige, peach, and mauve is more appropriate for evening affairs. A bronzer can also be a substitute to blushers if you want a sun-kissed look.

3. Sure-fire blush selection, made easy!

Do physical activity for about two to three minutes until your cheeks become pink. If you’re still having a hard time knowing what the right shade is best for you, ask someone from the make-up counter. Since they have charts and color wheels, it is best that you ask them for advice on color.

4. Applying the Blush

If you’re thinking on buying a blush, remember that you won’t find out the real shade until you try it out. Apply on the inside of your forearm to find out the color. If it doesn’t stand out, then you have chosen the right color.

Experimenting with the right shade and color would require a face in full make-up. This will let you know if your blush is balanced with your make-up. Make sure that your blush will match the color of your lipstick. Applying a little blush to the tip of your nose and chin will balance your look.

To ensure that your blush will blend with your make-up, apply blusher first or else it will compete with your eyeshadow and lip color. If you find out that you have too much blush, don’t fret. Just get a dry and clean sponge to soften the colors. Remember, this will all be in vain if you don’t know how to apply blush properly.

Do you find yourself day dreaming about ways to redecorate your home professionally, but also wish you could come up with a cost effective way to do it? Do you picture yourself putting floral and striped patterns together giving your room a worldly and sophisticated feel which is distinctly all you? Don’t you think it would be wonderful to go and find the professional interior design ideas online right at your fingertips and on your own time schedule?

Clicking the mouse to find advice for absolutely anything online is common nowadays. As far as interior design is concerned, it is no different. There is a up and coming market for this topic online. You can easily look at dozens of websites that are loaded with pictures to admire, ideas to try yourself, and inspiring tips to utilize. Keep in mind, not each site is controlled by a professional decorator and some of the design tips and advice may not translate to the space you are looking to transform. This can leave you with the gut feeling that the area you want to make over will never look as good as you have dreamed.

Finding Interior Design Advice

It is time to face up to the fact that the world of interior design can be difficult to navigate through. If you are short on the money needed and can not decide on which ideas are best for you, you can end up with a room that looks very hodge-podge. This is why you should take the time to gather as many home decor ideas and interior design advice as you possibly can. Fortunately, it does not have to cost you and arm and a leg to get the advice you want. You do not even have to flip through the phone book or make any appointments with a professional either. You can now sit back and get all the interior design advice online that is tailor suited to your budget needs and style you love.

For example, you may want to design a space that is high impact but have no idea how to get this result. Have you thought about accessories? You can add that extra punch with the right combination and style of accessories even though this can pose a challenge for even professionals in the decorating world. Be sure to follow the interior design advice online however to avoid ending up with a cluttered look.

Are you one who dreams of an inviting space which is filled with warmth but afraid of going overboard or ending up shrouded in darkness color-wise? Do you like bright and airy styles for a room but want to avoid that cold sterile feeling? Searching for tips and interior design advice online will help you find your way and get the light and airy space or the warm inviting space you desire and will relish spending time in.

Do you have a spare bedroom that merely serves as a drop off spot for all the other furniture you can’t find room for? You should keep in mind that you can refurnish all of that old stuff and amazingly transfer it into unique and new looking furniture to liven up old spaces. One technique is to paint or whitewash the old wood on this furniture and easily fit it into a cottage-like space in your home. Recreating this spare bedroom using interior design ideas online will make your guest undoubtedly want to extend their stay!

The home you make for yourself should be exactly how you have always envisioned it to be. The way in which you decorate can be transformed and can be finally affordable if you take advantage of the interior design advice online. You will finally be able to actually live in the home you have always dreamed of.

Have you ever wondered why colors look different in your home? Simple.

Lighting in the paint store is not the same as in your home. Your windows bring in light and your light bulbs are different. Even against other colors; color can change. Take a paint sample home and see the difference.

Lighting effects colors in the way that they absorb; or reflect light. Some colors will appear warmer in natural light, brighter in florescent light and toned down in incandescent lighting.

Light colors reflect; while dark colors absorb the lighting. Of course, everyone has a different opinion on whether light or dark colors make a room look smaller or larger. What’s your thought? Think about this. If you look at a black ceiling can you really tell where it ends?

Keep this in mind when planning the lighting in your home. Yeah; another thing to think about.

* Incandescent (bulbs) – This light enhances yellow and orange. While it dulls blue and violets. Red takes on an orange tint.

* Florescent (tube) – Invigorates green, blue and violet hues; but it washes out red, yellow and orange shades.

* Natural (outside or man-made lights) – This is the best, but not always practical light for the home. Reds warm and yellows tone down; while blues brighten and greens darken.

Lighting is not the only thing affecting colors. Ever wonder why colors look different when placed next to each other? It has to do with light wavelengths, but that is more scientific so, we will stay clear of that and make it easier to understand.

In plain language, colors can change radically when they are viewed next to another color. Try it at home to see the effect. Or try it with some paint swatches by putting them together.

Red next to blue – Red takes on a yellowish tint.
Red next to green – Red appears brighter and stronger.
Red next to yellow – Red seems bluer.
Red next to black – Red appears duller.
Red next to white – Red seems brighter and lighter.

Also, opposite (on the color chart/wheel) colors attract such as:

Red is redder when it’s with green.
Yellow is sharper when it’s with purple.
Blues becomes bluer when it’s with orange.

Keep this in mind if you have two or more colors that will be next to
each other. Always put the two colors together and view in the lighting
that you have in your home – during the day and at night.

Here is a list of the warm and cool colors:

* Warm Colors – Red, red-orange, orange, yellow-orange and yellow-greens.

* Cool Colors – Green, blue-green, blue, blue-purple and red-purples.

Always remember…view the color samples at home in the room they will be used. You will be surprised. View during the day and evening. Leave the swatches on the walls for a few days or longer if you are not sure. Oh, yes…use removable tape (blue or purple) if you are leaving them on for some time. You don’t want to mar the wall when removing the tape.

Then, before buying gallons of paint; purchase a quart or if they sell the small paint samples and paint a 6′ x 6′ square are and feather out the edges so you don’t have a hard line. Why? Because those small swatches don’t give a wide viewing area and to be absolutely sure you love the color before spending lots of money on gallons of paint.

I think we would all agree that e-Learning courses benefit from graphics, even if the topic you are presenting is dry. Nobody likes to read large amounts of text on-screen. Using graphics to break up text gives the eye something to rest on before continuing to read. Below are some tips for using graphics in e-Learning development, so without any further adieu, let’s get started.

1. Graphic Size

Sure, you may want to make your course more inviting by adding graphics, but don’t go overboard! Depending on your audience, you may have users with slow connections or older hardware. You’ll want to deliver your course content to them as quickly as possible, and adding hi-resolution graphics will only slow things down.

- Be sure to optimize all of your graphics so that they load quickly.

- Use Photoshop™ or Fireworks™ to squeeze down the size of your images.

- Be sure that you are using the right formats for your images.

- Try not to crowd pages with multiple graphics.

- Avoid images that strongly contrast with their surroundings.

If you are using a continuous-tone photograph, be sure to save the file as a JPEG (Joint Photography Experts Group). JPEG compression can bring a weighty image down in size. The downside to JPEGs is that the compression scheme that is built into the file format (what makes the file size smaller) is lossy, meaning that the more compression you apply, the more image quality you sacrifice. There’s a fine balance between file size and quality, so make image files as small as possible, while still looking crisp.

Any flat graphics, charts, and graphs with solid colors should be saved as GIF (Graphic Interchange Format) files. The algorithm in the GIF file format looks for common occurrences of color, and groups those colors together into a palette. The palette can contain 256 colors or less. GIF compression is also lossless, so GIF conversion doesn’t introduce artifacts and aberrations, like the JPEG scheme can.

GIF files have two additional tricks up their sleeves: they can have transparency and can be animated. The transparency adapter in the GIF file format is only 1-bit transparency, meaning that only 1 color of the whole palette can be transparent. Usually, that color is white, but you can make any color the transparent color. The GIF 89a format allows multiple frames in a single file for animation. You can get really creative with GIF animations now, with the new animation panel in Photoshop CS3. This, however, doesn’t mean you should have spinning logos and flashing graphics everywhere. But an animated series of steps can be very useful, when used in conjunction with explanatory text.

Although a page can benefit from a few graphics, adding too many images of varying sizes, qualities, and colors can really cause problems for readers. The size and complexity of the graphics is also an important factor, when considering the number of images to use per page. A sophisticated wiring diagram, with all of its legends and explanations, will probably tax a reader’s eye for quite some time, whereas a picture of an ocean would have a different effect.

Also, your course may have a shell or structure with its own colors and shapes. Choosing images that strongly contrast with those colors and shapes may not be a good idea. You may be thinking that if the image stands out, it will attract more attention. That may be true, but it might not be the kind of attention you really want. If at all possible, homogenize your color scheme across all graphics. There may be acceptable variations of color between screen locations, such as highlights, arrows, gradients, and other effects that can help to draw attention to specific areas of a screen image or product shot.

2. Visual Hierarchy

A visual hierarchy sets the order of importance on a page. You can achieve maximum visibility and results by using a simple and consistent visual hierarchy. Every item on a page has visual importance, but you can control that importance based on the nature of those items. For example, a newspaper has a clear hierarchy: its headlines draw readers’ attention because the headline text is larger than any other text on the page. Somewhat smaller subheads fall under the headlines, and help readers scan for chunks of information that might interest them. Then, even smaller body text follows. But despite this clear formatting hierarchy, just one quarter-page-sized image would completely dominate the entire page, and draw readers’ eyes away from the text. Similar design hierarchies are seen in other publications as well, and this is just one example.

The systematic ordering of importance through a hierarchy will guide students through a course, and help them achieve their objectives more quickly.

3. Text Breaks

As mentioned before, facing large amounts of dense on–screen text is not an optimal situation. In print, designers try to help readers by breaking up text using columns, paragraphs, first-line indents, tabs, and other conventions. Line length is another important tool. Usually, the eye is most comfortable reading from 41 to 50 characters per line. But this also depends on the optical characteristics of the font being used and on its size. It has been shown that sans-serif fonts, like Arial and Verdana, are easier to read on-screen than serif fonts, like Times New Roman and Georgia.

As we said before, graphics (either embedded in the text or running alongside) can provide a visual break for the eye as it moves through a story. Of course, size and placement are important; you want to use graphics, but also retain continuity. Diagrams and figures that relate to the story are especially valuable.

Visuals can also add motivation. For example, a course that presents exact steps for completing a software task will benefit greatly from screenshots that support each step. Nothing is more frustrating than to have text-only instructions for a visual task. If something requires a lot of hand-eye coordination, then the course should include screenshots, diagrams, simulations, or even video of the steps being completed. And using screenshots from the latest version of the software is mandatory.

4. Appropriate Imagery

Some educators draw on libraries of stock photography and “found” images for their course graphics. More often than not, these images are only marginally related to the course content. True, they add visual breaks in the story, but they often fall short in supporting course content. A common example that we’ve all seen is business courses that use stock photos of executives and secretaries sitting at desks and talking on phones, but who are not actually doing anything related to the course material.

The challenge here is to build cost-effective courses. A typical photo shoot, with all of its models and studio expenses, can be quite pricy. But there are some great traditional stock-photography agencies that sell royalty-free photos for reasonable prices. The web has also become a tremendous source of content-specific images. The Stock Xchange, iStockPhoto, Creatas, Veer, and other agencies have a wide variety of image categories related to specific areas of business. Most times, you can order these photos online, download comps, and use an online lightbox to view and select graphics. Of course, be careful to follow appropriate copyright guidelines when acquiring online imagery!

Over the years, SyberWorks has built its own library of in-house photos, which continues to grow. These images are a great resource for our courses, but if we need something more, we ask the client if they have a library of pertinent photos. Some larger corporations, for example, use their own targeted marketing images for sales collateral. If available, your own organization’s images may lend themselves well to a related course.

Finally, more and more public-domain photos are becoming available. Often, they have outlived their copyrights and are now freely available. You should especially consider public-domain photos if you are building a historical course.

5. Figures for Learning

Figures and diagrams with supporting text can really help learners accomplish your course objectives. Edward Tufte has written several superb, classic books about the effectiveness of figures, diagrams, charts, and graphs. Tufte single-handedly changed information design, as it is called, with the publishing of “Visual Explanations.” Creating figures and diagrams to support courses is a craft in itself. Basically, the most effective supporting graphics can quickly convey important information that their corresponding text descriptions cannot. It is extremely important that such graphics be appealing, easy to understand, and adequately labeled.

These images should help learners achieve specific instructional goals. A plain image of a semiconductor with supporting text may be enough for some learners, but the same image, with labels and arrows that are referenced in the text, can be much more effective for others. So always target your image presentations toward all appropriate learning levels.

Specific features of these graphics should be considered for effectiveness. Line weight, color, legends, and other features should all directly relate to, and support, course material. If there are multiple graphics within a course, consistency in design is important. Far too often, colors and styles will shift from graphic to graphic, and present a continuously changing look and feel. Learners may easily construe this stylistic meandering as a shift in topic or objective. Consistency of style and color can support broad themes, help learners to know when they are in a topic, and alert them when they move on to the next subject.

When labeling graphics, it is important to use contrasting colors and color fields behind the labels. Consider layering the labels and ordering them appropriately. Legends for color associations are very useful for charts and graphs, and the same holds true for figures and diagrams.

6. Charts and Graphs

Charts and graphs are very useful for conveying statistical or historical information. Most people can create charts and graphs in Microsoft Excel or PowerPoint, but these quick charts will always benefit from some additional work. For example, a pie chart that expresses a target sales quota may be presented with a specific piece of the pie enlarged, extruded, or in some other way more prominent than the other pieces. For quickly showing the relative importance of data, this is a visual parallel to the text hierarchy that we already mentioned.

Again, style and consistency throughout a course is important. You may have a series of column charts that express specific sales quotas from city to city across the country. Each chart might use gray bars for all states that are not currently being discussed and a blue bar for the state that is being discussed.

The width and height, (and now with 3-D) the depth of bars can be exaggerated, to bring attention to specific parts of a chart. Adding dimension, shading, and drop-shadows to a chart, although appealing, should be done only after the chart’s basic information is being conveyed effectively.

Be sure to adequately label charts, and make sure that the labels don’t obscure other information or data. Legends are useful guides for reading a chart, and should be both adjacent to the chart and clearly labeled.

Another way of improving charts is to use imagery that is directly related to their topics. For example, a bar chart about populations could use silhouettes of people (instead of rectangles) for its bars. A bar chart about oil prices could use barrels of oil instead of rectangles. Every chart should be examined first for clarity and accuracy of its presentation, and then examined for alternate methods of presentation that might be employed.

7. Color Choices

We’ve already mentioned color several times, but it can be a touchy subject because it is so subjective. You may be driving down a street where every house sports a muted shade except for the bright purple one with lime-green shutters! It may make your skin crawl, but to the person who painted the house, it’s beautiful.

Color is a science of its own. At the core of color theory is the color wheel, which basically displays and organizes the entire rainbow. The primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. From these, we can create the secondary colors, like orange, green, and purple. Tertiary colors are a mix of secondary and primary colors, and complete the color wheel. The color wheel also shows different color shades, from the outside to the inside, going from dark to light values.

Certain colors can evoke emotions or convey moods. Active colors are yellows, oranges, reds, and purples. These are ideal for highlighting parts of a course and calling attention to details. Think of the color of a stop sign. The color red is arresting and contrasts well with just about any background. So it’s a natural choice for an icon that commands students (at least in the U.S.) to STOP. Passive colors are greens, blues, and lighter purples. These are often used in hospitals and detention centers, because they are calming. You can use passive colors as background colors and in supporting graphics for courses. If your courses will be delivered internationally, also be aware that your other students’ cultures may influence color selections. For example, due to our traffic signage, American students easily perceive red as an indication to stop. But in some countries, red conveys danger, and sometimes even death. So unless you really want to convey a sense of danger (as in DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT PUSHING THIS BUTTON ON THIS MACHINE FOR ANY REASON, PERIOD!), you may want to avoid red graphics in courses for international audiences.

We can’t discuss color without talking about contrast – the relationship between colors in a given scenario. Black text on a white background is easy to read because those colors contrast well with each other. But yellow text on a white background or blue text on a black background is hard to see; there isn’t enough contrast between figure and ground to make the text legible. However, always apply common sense and good taste: green text on an orange background may contrast strongly, but this combo is hard to read, and painful to look at. The same considerations also hold true for graphics.

Color is a powerful tool when used correctly. It can convey meaning, add a mood, be playful or serious, and carry a lot of weight in delivering the content at hand.

8. Navigation Aids

Throughout your course, you’ll use on-screen controls to let users navigate through the material. These controls can be either textual (like hyperlinks) or graphical (like buttons). If you employ such navigation graphics, be sure that they are clearly labeled and easy to use. If at all possible, you’ll want to use a combination of both graphic and text elements to ensure ease-of-use. Button graphics should follow known human-interface guidelines, meaning that they should behave like buttons. Their appearance should change when they are rolled over with the mouse and clicked. This provides visual (and often audible) confirmation that the button action has been triggered.

- Be sure to follow these simple tips for creating navigation controls:

- Buttons should be clearly labeled.

- Contrast is important.

- Use complimentary or active colors to highlight button functionality.

- Place and use navigation controls consistently throughout the course.

Other useful tools that you can use in courses are breadcrumbs or area indicators. For example, the state of a button within a navigation system should change appearance whenever a certain section is reached. And the Previous and Next destinations should always be visible near the current page indicator. Every course navigation system must be easy to use, and allow students to always see where they just came from in the course, where they are now, and where they can go next.

And be sure to actually test your course and lesson navigation, to be sure that it is clear and that anyone can use it. Use several testers, and note and address any tie-ups or pitfalls that they find.

9. Functional Communication

When choosing graphic vehicles for conveying a series of steps, the style of graphic you choose (animation, static image, video) isn’t as important as the images accurately presenting the steps. Research has shown that a series of steps delivered as line drawings, animations, and videos are all assimilated equally well by learners. The true effectiveness of these graphics depends on both adequate labeling and the use of graphic features that show the progression or movement.

Un-illustrated text or unlabeled graphics do not carry much weight, and are not effective. Using even simple graphic devices, such as descriptive labels, sequential labels, highlights, and directional arrows, will help users to follow step-by-step tutorials. Adobe Captivate and other simulation software allow you to add these features to any recorded presentation – either automatically, or manually. Either way, adding descriptors to communicate functionality will go a long way toward successfully presenting a series of tasks.

10. Student Gestalt

There’s more involved in the overall training and learning processes than one might think. It’s important to strategically use thematic elements to tie a course together, in a consistent and appropriate gestalt. “Gestalt” is a German term, often used in graphic-design circles, that implies “the overall sense or aim of a user experience.”

Here’s an example of how a bad graphic gestalt can cause problems. A British design agency was asked to create signs for a coal mine in Africa. Due to the mine’s non-English-speaking workers, the designers used pictures of carts being loaded with coal. But when the signs were installed, the workers started unloading the carts, rather than loading them. The “gestalt” problem was that the designers assumed a left-to-right reading method, whereas the workers read right-to-left.

In the same way, making assumptions about your learners’ experiences, without actually testing the course goals, objectives, and results can lead to disaster. Be sure that you have a full understanding of your target audience. Take a student sampling and test your courses on them. You may find specific details that need to be ironed out. But more importantly, you should collect feedback about your students’ entire learning experience. If a course is objectively factual, but bores students to tears, it should be re-worked to make it more interesting. And if the course simply doesn’t meet its objectives, you should use a survey to gather feedback about the course materials. Perhaps there were too many distractions or unclearly labeled graphics. Revisit all problem areas with a critical eye.

Of course, not everyone comes to a course with the same learning ability, and different students will have varying aptitudes. So you’ll want to collect information from as wide a group as you can, to gauge your course’s effectiveness for all students. Gauging gestalt is like stepping back from painting, to view its overall composition before continuing.

They say that the first impression is the best impression and it is no wonder why interior designing occupies such an important place in creating a wonderful ambience. It provides a room with personality, life and color.

There are three main points to be kept in mind while designing a place. Most importantly, a well designed room should be practical. The room should also be able to convey one’s disposition and all the furnishings should blend together perfectly.

There are several factors to be considered while decorating a room. You have to select the theme you want for a particular room, which will express your personality and add a distinct personal touch. You can take your pick from the wide platter of themes available like contemporary, traditional, ethnic; the list is endless.

If you want to give the room an authentic touch, you can add some pieces of art like a painting, antique furniture, glass ware and the like.

Next on the list is the shade of the room. You can either decorate it with wall paper or beautiful shades of paint along with curtains and other fabrics which blend beautifully with the room. Remember to select colors which will go harmoniously with the theme you have chosen

You just have to put together the above mentioned interior designing ideas and you will effortlessly have a well planned, lively, well tailored and classic room which you will be the proud owner of.

Now-a-days there is no dearth of decorating ideas for you to choose from and all you have to do is to get in touch with an interior designer who is quite reputed in the field and you will soon be the envy of many eyes. Just remember that all interior designing ideas should be carried out in accordance to your personal tastes as this will surely add a touch of uniqueness to your place.

Modern decor can really change the outlook of your home. The changes will be simple but elegant and appealing. You can click here to get some interior design ideas