Apr

15

Choosing the right graphics for your site

Filed Under Graphics

There are 2 types of graphics on your membership site that you need to pay particular attention to.

The first is the image that goes with the teaser text. The second are the visuals you include in the article.

Why separate them into different categories?

The image you choose that will accompany the teaser text is a thumbnail. Generally, it will be no bigger than about 100 pixels wide.

Because of the tiny size, you want to choose a picture or icon that is simple, of portrait orientation, and that adds impact.

The teaser image has to grab attention, and is there mostly for cosmetic reasons. It’s so small that you can’t really see all the details in it.

The one you find accompanying the article needs to be appropriate for the text. Since it’s a lot bigger, you can include pictures with a lot of detail to them. And they can also be landscape.

But does the thumbnail picture need to be the a smaller version of one accompanying the article?

When I first started my membership site, I thought that I needed to have a thumbnail of the picture that I included in my article.

Then, I thought, why? It’s limiting. You will have to choose (for the thumbnail) a portrait-oriented picture. And, because of its small size, the simpler the image, the better. Because of the small size, it’s perfect for little icons, which at bigger sizes may not work as well.

C O N C L U S I O N :

It’s all about appropriateness. The image you choose may look fine at bigger sizes, but may not at smaller ones.

Don’t limit yourself by thinking that your thumbnail picture needs to be a smaller version of the one you will include in your article. It doesn’t need to be.

Choose a picture that looks good small and then worry about the one(s) for your article. If they match, great. If not, it’s not the end of the world.

I promise, no one will wonder why the thumbnail doesn’t match the one in the article.

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