Online tools for that Web2.0 look

Posted

September 27, 2008

Are you a stick-figure artist? Many of us have less artistic ability than we would like to admit. Still some of us can find our way around Adobe’s photoshop or fireworks. But when it comes to creating nice graphics for a new website, we are hopelessly doomed to spend way too much time just getting a simple and not so elegant design going.

Thankfully, some people out there had pitty on us. Actually some savvy people found a giant need and filled it with a great product. As a product developer and a programmer, these neat tools make me think - “I should have thought of that”. This is a great example of product development - finding a need and filling it. Add to that, it is a great example of creating a viral product as well.

Check out these cool websites and see what you can create.
*Note: Set your browser if using Internet Explorer to allow popups on these sites. Otherwise when you go to download the images, IE blocks the download and to accept, it refreshes the page losing your work. Or just use the FireFox browser.

Stipe Generator: http://www.stripegenerator.com/Have you seen sites with those nice background or header stripe patterns. They add that touch of flare that, if done right, make the site look finished but clean. I made the one above. There is a whole list of patterns that other users have created to save you the trouble. Plus they give you the code you need to add this to your css style sheet.
Background Patterns: http://bgpatterns.com/ This site allows you to make nice background images. The one to the left is a nice default image that you can make. Again, lots of patterns made by others to choose from. By the way, this thumb is shrunk(?) down. Its real size is 127×127, about 6x bigger than it appears.
Tabs Generator: http://www.tabsgenerator.com/
Looking for navigation tabs? These tabs are images which means they are fixed height & width which are less flexible than css tabs which often use two images to be dynamic. But you could always make multiple tabs of varying length. Still a neat web tool.
Reflection Maker: http://www.reflectionmaker.com/
This is another one of those web2.0 techniques that makes a site look polished. Enter a url or browse your pc for the right image and change background color and the amount of image to be reflected.
Tartan Maker: http://www.tartanmaker.com/
For those into Scottish designs or patterns.

These web2.0 design generators make it easier for most of us to get a cool look for new websites. I would definitely check these out to see if they could add a nice touch to your current or next site. And, yes, I know that some of you can do these in your sleep with photoshop, etc, and some of you may even think ‘enough of the web2.0 look - its getting old.’

But I still like it and it is definitely better than anything I can create. So for those of us who need the help, go for it. Your site will benefit and I believe your bottom dollar as well.

By the way, if you find OTHER cool web design tools that we non-artists could benefit from, let me know so I can add them to the list.

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