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Web Trendy
By Robyn Greenspan
July 20, 2001

Site design has evolved considerably since the explosion of all things Net. The pendulum has swung from white pages with lists of hyperlinks to full interactive streaming media. An effective e-store combines the best of all elements and should strike a balance between boring and overwhelming the visitor. In essence, the site shouldn't look outdated nor should it be too complicated.

In the early '90s, when the Internet began developing a wider appeal, Web sites were very simple with mostly text-based pages and minimal illustrations. The low bandwidth was to accommodate the slow modem speeds and connections of that time period.

To emphasize the simplicity of the Web, take a look at Yahoo - A Guide to WWW. In 1994, Yahoo boasted 23,836 entries in 19 categories, considerably less than the innumerable volume of links that are available today. But Yahoo's site wasn't unusual for that era — the Internet was still a new medium and hadn't become popular with the business world yet.

Once the Internet became a viable commercial marketplace, Web design and development began to emerge as a source of creativity too. Colors and images were augmented by new technology, creating a visual landscape across computer screens. There weren't many low-cost alternatives to dial-up so pages weren't too bandwidth intensive yet. Modems were gaining speed though — 1200 bps, 2400 bps and 9600 bps were replaced by 14.4 bps, 28.8 bps and 56 bps.

Frames became popular for putting more information on a single page, serving as a constant navigation tool while visitors moved about the site. However, as search engines, bookmarks and browser compatibility became increasingly important, it became evident that frames could cause some difficulty.

With broadband competitively priced and readily available, rich media applications such as Flash and Director have established a prominent presence on the Internet. Many sites invite you into their pages by way of an animated splash page and since animation can now be compressed into smaller sizes, the enhancement barely impacts load times and creates visually stimulating pages.

Rolling has replaced clicking with mouseover links lately, proving that Web design will continue to evolve. But no matter where the next wave of Web design propels the Internet, certain elements remain constant. The most effective sites will continue to employ some basics:

• Clear presentation
• Easy and consistent navigation
• Organized content
• Aesthetically pleasing and fast-loading text and images
• Cross-platform, multiple browser capability

Rich, streaming media that creates engaging and interactive content will eventually become the norm. As new technology develops, so does the capability to enhance and intensify what we see on the Web. Here are some good resources for keeping your site trendy and updated:
ExtremeFlash.com
Flash Kit
FlashPlanet
Streaming Media World

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