I'm sure that almost everyone out there, while searching the web, has stumbled across a site so full of useless ads, nav bars, large images, etc. that the content was nearly invisible. At the same time, I am sure that just as many people have found sites that are full of great content, information on sites to visit, special offers the website has, or anything of the sort, but looks absolutely terrible. In web-design, some designers have a tendency to forget about keeping things balanced, people want to fill their website with useless images to attract people, or ads to bring in money, or they want to make sure they can say everything they want to say. Both of these things are a problem.

First Impressions Matter

One of the first questions any designer should be asking themselves when they are making a site is, "Do I need this?". It's an important thought. The vast majority of websites on the web are for businesses, for companies trying to sell some item that they think people want to buy. Business websites have to look good, so that potential buyers with like the site, and feel comfortable enough to stay and look around, look at the prices, look at what's being sold, and decide on whether or not they want to buy anything. If a site looks terrible, with tables making up most of the site, bad overlap and spacing between item, illegible typography, no one is going to stay long enough to look at the content, and the company won't make money. A good design is a site's first impression, before anyone visiting a site looks at the content, they look at the site itself, they look at the background, at the navigation, at the header, the body, the footer; people make their first opinions based on the first few seconds after they click onto a site. So, we as designers must understand the importance of a good looking site.

So, you've Got their Attention

Now, they look at your wares. They'll take a look at what your selling, read the little bits explaining who you are, what you sell. It's here that the real game begins. The importance of good body copy is no mystery, anyone who has ever visited a website understands the importance of content. Navigation should be well labeled so people can find their way around, any information should be clear and concise. Without a strong message, and without a well articulated purpose, people are going to leave. It's all about setting the right tone, getting your information across. The average web-surfer has an attention span of about 30 seconds, and in that time, you need to get them interested in your product, in your content, in your blog, or whatever it is your site is for. Without good content, it won't happen.

So, what do I do?

Here are just a few tips for keeping things balanced, for making sure that all first impressions are good, and that most people logging on will stay to buy something, or take part in your content:

1- Be a minimalist.
Make sure you have whatever you need to get your message across, and nothing else.

2- Be memorable.
Make a site that is going to stick in people's heads.

3- Be easy on the eyes.
Don't make people want to click away, make them want to delve deeper.

4- Never forget the little things.
Make sure that every little detail of your site is good, fix typos, margins, little nuances to make your site shine.

If you have any thoughts you want to share, or things you think I missed, post them below, I would love to hear them.

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Well, for the non-designer, it seems to me that the carousel is one thing that really sets a site off. It takes what could be a long gallery of stuff, poorly organized, hard to sort through; and turns it into something that can be easily navigated and that presents information in a clear and understandable way.



The carousel, that very important piece of a website, is coded with Jquery, a useful little expansion of Javascript, used by most websites around for a variety of things.
Here, I thought I would first showcase a few great Jquery carousels, so you can really get a sense of not only what a carousel looks like, but the variety of ways in which it can be presented.












These are just a few of my favorite JQuery carousels. If there are any you really like, please post them in the comments below.

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What is brink? Well, that's an interesting question, and one that certainly needs answering here at the start of the site. brink is devoted to "apps, themes, and interfaces". Now, this may sound a bit vague, a bit too broad, so let's take this time in order to delve into specifics.


01 Apps
Apps, the very first part of the three pronged attack that is brink. The apps part is more than just our very own development, apps created by the people working behind the scenes here at brink, the apps part of the site is actually beyond that. The apps part of brink is like a giant gift to you, along with releasing our own widgets for blogger, wordpress, iPhone, etc. we will also be sharing some of our favorite apps made by other wonderful programmers. Whether they're for work, design, fun, or anything in between, we will be sharing the content with you. Because we understand the important of apps, they allow you to streamline your life, to take your fast moving meetings, your flying-by society, and help you organize it all, and make sense of it, or help you clear your head, by giving you a little escape from it all. We understand the importance of these many little programs created by so many devoted developers, and thus we at brink will strive to always provide you with the best content in this field. Because finding an app for what you need shouldn't be like pulling teeth.

02 Themes
Part two of the brink triforce, the themes part of the site is a way of us helping you put your best face forward. We love themes here at brink, and so we want to help you, who may not have the skills to design your own site, or the time and resources to do so, to make the face of your web endeavors better looking than ever before. Whether the themes be for blogger, or wordpress, or just pure XML/CSS templates, or anything else in between, we hope to continuously provide the best content in this field for you, to help make life better for you.

03 Interfaces
Now on to the third part of our project here. Interfaces, the final piece of the puzzle is something everyone notices, whether they call it by that name or not. By "interfaces", we mean the little things sites do to set themselves apart from the crowd, the little Jquery, and AJAX, and Javascript, and such that make a site's presentation smoother, that add functionality beyond the raw CSS and XML that make sites what they are. Interfaces is about the icing on the cake, it's the final thing that makes a site great. We here at brink put a focus on interfaces because we want your site to wow people who see it, we want you to know when you log onto your computer and type in that url, that you are seeing something completely special and interesting, whether it helps attract clients or readers, a great interface is an essential part of any website, big or small. So, we bring to you our thoughts and such on interface, our tutorials and resources and all things of the sort, to make your site the best it can be.


Final Thoughts on Purpose
Well, those are the three parts of brink. Apps, Themes, and Interface. Wow, important stuff. We hope you enjoy the content provided here, and keep checking back for more. We hope you subscribe to our RSS feed (link below, or in the header), and that you spread the word of the site to other people looking for quality resources on design on the web. But in the end, it's not about our popularity, it's not about this site, or this project, but about making your content better for you.

About the Author
Hi, my name is Andrew Brinker, a 14 year old Junior in High School, living in good old sunny Southern California. I love web design, and actually began with it on iPBfree forums (a very unorthodox starting point, I know), where I started a short lived skinning site, and created several forum themes. From there, I moved on to blogger, where I began practicing my abilities with XHTML and CSS by programming (at first, poorly) themes on test blogs I started. After I became confident enough in my abilities, I began to toss around the idea of a design blog, seeing my position as a young designer, coming into the community, and the new point of view that brings, as a valuable asset to this wonderful group. I started up brink (using part of my last name as the title), and am very happy for it. It not only allows me to share my views and thoughts on design, but also to showcase the various work I create in the future (there are things coming down the pipe all the time). I hope to see this site grow, and also hope that I may be accepted into this community, which I have accepted and love so much.
Thanks to any and all who read this, I hope you stick around, because things will just keep getting better.

Thank you, this is brink.

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Well, we all start somewhere right?
Guest blogging, writing for another blog that you don't run, is a great way to get experience in the field, to get your name out there and get some publicity before you try to expand your enterprise. It allows you to share your thoughts, practice blogging, and get input on what works with your writing and such without actually posting on your own blog.



Why should I guest post here?
 One simple reason, because guest blogging on here can do more for you than simply getting your name out there. Every guest blogger on brink gets added to our special Premium Group a group of people who brink chooses to recognize, and who get special privileges from the site, including advance notice on any give-aways, a newsletter from the creators of the site with special information and posts, and even higher priority than other people if Staff writing positions come up. Being part of the Premium Group is a great way to expand your resources, all with the simple act of writing for us here at brink.

How do I do it?
It's super easy to get any thoughts of yours on here. Just do one simple thing, fill out the form below, and email it to us at stringsnpicks[at]gmail.com. If we like your content well enough, it'll be posted on the site for everyone and anyone to read.

Here is the form to fill out, make sure to include everything so you can be considered.

- Full name
- Short biography about yourself
- Website URL – if you already write a blog, or have a company, this is a great way to get publicity for yourself.
- Picture – a little identifying image for yourself, preferably a self-portrait, but a logo or such is fine.


We look forward to some absolutely great content from You.

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Just a simple way to make navigation easier for all you readers out there. Here is a list of all the tabs attached to posts, to make is as easy as possible to find what you're looking for.
All tabs are arranged alphabetically, hope you find what you're looking for.



brink
Interface
JQuery
Showcase
Web-Design

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