Wide's World

The Candyman's in Town

Page Design for Profit

by

Widearea

Porno-Graphix

I was lurking around some webmaster boards last week and I read a post from someone who was talking about how they were wasting all their time making tgp galleries and not fulfilling their true destiny as a graphic designer. They posted to get some leads for design jobs and had vowed to stop making galleries. Admittedly, I was enthralled by this post, as I am a graphic designer who essentially came to adult webmastering to get away from some of the professional stigma of the graphic designer, as well as to expand my horizons (and make money). Did I mention I can be a junkie for the tgp? Now, far be it from me to truly assess that particular individual from a single post, for he may well benefit deeply from the pursuit of his endeavor. It was simply what sparked the inspiration for this week's segment. Each must find their own strength and style, and in that journey lies one's success, both inwardly and outwardly.

I discovered graphic design and visual communication in college, and I felt at the time I had found my calling, primarily because I felt I had important things to say that the media of symbolic expression could fulfill. I entered the professional world of commercial art, advertising and design -- all the while short-selling my abilities for a few dollars. Ten years flew by and I discovered that I had lost touch completely with the reason I loved to design in the first place. Years of being someone else's wrist was without any real satisfaction. But one thing I did learn was that sex sells, and not only does sex sell, but sex sells first and foremost.

Page design is a perfect forum for the designer to use his skills and the tools in his personal arsenal. The Newbie Project of the Week this week is a timely assignment to apply principles of basic design. You are required to set aside the use of any graphics, and you are encouraged to develop a creative and unique template. This essentially defines the role of the graphic designer in an adult webmastering situation. Design is problem solving. In the TGP gallery or AVS tour (and so on) the design solves certain problems. In a freesite the design of each page must also solve some basic problems. Let's look at how a designer's eye can help to leverage your sites for profit.

Sketch your Thumbprint

If you have been to a TGP post or even made your own TGP galleries, maybe you have seen the standard layout over and over again. A banner or sponsor link, a few pics, another banner, some more pics, and maybe a third sponsor link on the bottom, or a link to a filter or trap site.

While this rather standard template may solve the basic TGP problem in that it fulfills the requirements for the TGP gallery, it has a slim chance of standing out among the masses of galleries cut from the same cloth. Web designers should seek to develop their own personal templates that are unique and original; designs that solve the problems demanded by the specific type of site. In this way you are developing style and working smarter rather than harder.

Here is that basic 12 pic gallery layout with a small change.

I won't win awards for creativity today, but just to illustrate the idea that the combinations of layouts is extensive, I have tried a few different possibilities.

And you can explore many different shapes as well.

Hopefully you can see that it's not too hard to come up with an original or somewhat original layout!

Design without Graphics

Don't let them fool you! The webmaster's canvas is the stuff inside the html tags, and you can design pages that sell without creating a single graphic. Here are some design elements that you can control:
Color - Using the right color schemes is an important part of design. The background color and text colors should be complementary, making type and links easy to read. Link colors should be selected so they stand out in particular!
Type - Sponsor links and any other copy become important visual elements on the page. How will they be put together? What type sizes should be used? What, if any typefaces can be employed for additional impact? Type in design is an art in itself!
Tour - What does the sponsor's tour look like? Can any elements like color and type be pulled into your design to create a flow from your pages to the sponsor? This can often help sales as the surfer has already become comfortable with the "look and feel" of the sponsor as you have conditioned it.
Tables - Tables, tables, tables. Skill with making tables is key in laying out pages. Infinite designs and patterns are possible, but watch out for complex nesting of tables, and only use them when necessary.
Layouts - Try sketching some layouts on paper, trying multiples until you see something you like. Try different shapes and symbols. Creating these designs from paper to screen will be easier if you do this! We'll discuss this stuff more in the future!

Moving Ahead

Take this week's NPOW's basic freesite and apply your page design skills in creating your own individual style. The freesite has three to four different pages to design, each with its own content demands. The elements on the pages are yours to design and play with -- to create something profitable! When you have your own designs, you are well on your way to making money in the online porn business! On the warning page, how will you layout the elements? How will you create an illusion and sell your sponsor? How 'bout the main page? How will you give the surfers who go there that extra push? Will it flow from the warning page? How?

Originality is your strong selling tool. As an adult webmaster you have to find your style, get comfortable with it, and then get jiggy with it (sorry for the bad pop colloquialism). You should look at magazines and see how the ads are designed. See how the editorial is art directed... Look for design in your world, on television, while driving in your car. It is everywhere. Now, go and develop templates and streamline your pages for profit using the concepts discussed here in conjunction with Voltar's NPOW this week, and you will have a little piece of the blueprint for an empire. Good luck and until next time, we hope you enjoyed this graphics-free edition of Wide's whacky world!

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