Fundamentals of Web Design

Web Banners

Also known as a banner adA form of advertising on the World Wide WebIntended to attract traffic to a website by linking to the site of the advertiserConstructed from an image—usually GIF or FlashOften employs animation, sound or video to maximize presence

What is a Web Banner?

Usually designed in a high-aspect ratio -- tall and skinny Sometimes called a Skyscraper AdHas more impact because it stays on the screen longerCosts more to post(usually 600 x 120)

OR wide and short (usually 728 x 90)Costs less to post, but scrolls off the screen quickly

Design

Typical Sizes

The orange ad in the upper right is 250x250 pixels. Ads this size or larger can be found within the text of articles in some cases. They act like magazine ads that break up the text to get more attention.

On this page you can see a narrow strip for Netscape at the top, a standard banner ad, a square AOL ad mid-page, and four smaller ads along the bottom.

On this page there is a round WSJ button up top along with ads for Casio, Ubid and Radio Shack along the side. At the bottom there are tiny ads for four money sites along with small ads for CareerBuilder.com and WSJ.com (even the advertising is sponsored!).

In Fireworks, use the states panel to create multiple images Use the frame delay to allow the viewer to “read” the image

How to Create

State 1

State 2

State 3

Example

End Result

Twist and Fade Image Effect

Silver Metallic Text Effect

Beveled Edge

Neon Text