Got a quick Photoshop CS3 and up tutorial, Highcontrast Paint Effect. This effect uses 1 smart object, 3 filters and 1 adjustment layer. I’d rate this around beginners to intermediate, because a lot the process is straight but because the effect is different from resolution to resolution that the numbers must be altered to look.

For advanced Wordpress users, this will show you how to customize the WP-Admin of Wordpress. This post is Macintosh specific and does not apply to windows and IIS servers. If you are web developer that has used Wordpress to the point that you are making your own user templates, then you may have notice that there are not built in custom features for the back-end with the exception of changing the color scheme between two preset.

A background element can be categorized as one of four: Solid, Pattern, Photo or Gradient. A solid is only one color. Solids are used when the text is sitting directly on a background. This is because when trying to read something on a clashing background tends to be difficult. Patterns tend to be use for the main background, for the reasons stated before. Photo is well a photo and works like patterns because they tend to busy. Finally there is gradients, which is the blending of color or pattern in another.

A structural elements is any element that separates the content for section to section. The common forms of structure changes are contrasting color, dividing lines, even large text. Without structural elements a page will look the way the internet was when it started; straight text with images all one column, one solid background or repeating pattern.

Moving on to Focal Points in the Web Design Element series, a focal point is the center of interest or activity. Usually made so by it’s size, color, and/or location. If something on the page is big, bright yellow and at the top center it will be the first thing the user will see. Focal points tend to be logos, icon, corporate identification’s (corp id).

This will be a brief overview of some of the key elements used in web design today. A design element can be translated into almost everything on a website because of this there are numerous sub-categories of each element from how it’s used. The most common agreed on element names for these sub-categories are accents, focal points, structure, and background. The reason I said “most agreed on” is because depending on your education background, different terms mean the same thing. The best example of the is the text on the page. Some call it the copy, verbiage, text, jargon (all though jargon mostly refers to the use of technical terms in a profession), etc..