Show me what you workin with!
Feb 20 '01
The Bottom Line When used correctly, clip art can add color, spice up, and illustrate your web pages, stationary, and more!
Clip art. It can liven up a web page by adding color and life, help illustrate a story, and even add a comic element. No one wants to look at a text only page, it's just plain boring. Add a few pictures that correspond with your theme, and BAM!
Choosing And Using Clip Art
There are so many places you can find clip art. I don't recommend buying the CDs chocked full of them, for the fact that you will never use them all. It's a waste of money, considering the fact that you can find them all over the web. In any search engine, (I'm partial to Google) type in the search phrase "free clip art". I promise that you will be bombarded in only seconds with thousands of pages that offer clip art for free. These are just as high quality as what you would pay for in stores, only you don't have to pay for them!
Choosing the clip art you use isn't a hard process, just remember to keep it simple! Here are some guidelines to follow when choosing and using clip art for your web page:
1. Keep with your theme. If your web page is about making money, don't post an animated picture of a kitten, just because you like them. Keeping with the theme of your page makes it more professional looking.
2. Don't go overboard. Not only do massive amounts of clip art look cluttered, but also can take a long time loading on many people's computers. Too much clip art looks very not-professional. (This especially is true for animated clip art!)
3. Steer clear of cheesy clip art. It's hard to differentiate between cheesy and not cheesy. I good tip would be to ask yourself if you think a major company would use the specific clip art or not. If you don't think it's good enough quality for them, then it's not good enough for you!
4. Color coordinate your clip art. Again, this falls within the category of keeping a theme going.
5. Place clip art strategically. Your clip art should be placed in clever places, keeping a balanced effect. Don't just scatter them aimlessly around. Place them beside key links or statements.
Hopefully I've helped a bit in your quest for clip art. The tips above are mainly common sense, but many people seem to forget these simple points when building a web page and using clip art. Now keep in mind, there are many other things you can do with clip art besides use them on web sites. They are also great for making your own stationary, fliers, business cards, etc. The guidelines above hold true for virtually anything that you decide to spice up with clip art. Until next time, good luck with finding and using your clip art! Below are some nice clip art sources:
www.gifart.com
www.cksinfo.com
www.graphxkingdom.com
www.allfree-clipart.com
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young1028
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Member: Evelyn Parker
Location: Kentucky
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