Crafting My Website Header: Bringing Business Ideas to Life

When I set out to design the header for my website, I wanted to make sure it resonated with people who have ideas for starting their own business. The main image I selected, titled “American Dream U visits Monterey,” perfectly captures the entrepreneurial spirit. It shows a clean, inviting workspace that reflects creativity. That is exactly the kind of atmosphere I want to promote. To complement this, I added my custom logo, which adds my personal touch to the header.

I sourced the workspace image from Flickr under the Public Domain Mark 1.0 Universal license, so I knew it was free to use. I designed the logo embedded in the header myself to include a touch of personality into it for me and my brand. Together, these elements create a mix of professionalism and creativity. To ensure my images were free for use, I followed the guidelines from Hodges' guide on creating website headers. It suggests using platforms like Flickr, where you can filter images by Creative Commons licenses. This allowed me to download images that are legally reusable for my site without copyright issues.

Although there are tools like MS Paint, as discussed in Davison’s article, "Because of the Pixels: On the History, Form, and Influence of MS Paint," the design process I followed using Pixlr offers more flexibility. Davison explains how MS Paint is a bitmap-based program that lacks the complexity of modern image editing tools. It creates images pixel by pixel, leading to rough edges and limited control over fine details. This "rough" quality, often referred to as an "MS Paint style," became iconic in early digital art and meme culture but also highlights the software's limitations for more refined work. In contrast, modern tools like Pixlr allow users to work with multiple layers, smooth lines, and high-resolution images. The use of layers in Pixlr gave me the freedom to manipulate individual elements like my workspace image and logo separately, adjusting them until they fit together seamlessly. While MS Paint is charming in its simplicity, Pixlr enabled me to take a more polished, professional approach to my website header design, allowing for greater control over the final look. Davison's discussion of how MS Paint's limitations shaped early digital aesthetics highlights just how far tools like Pixlr have come in empowering creators with more advanced editing capabilities.

The header sets the tone for my website as a place where people with business ideas can find the tools and inspiration they need to turn their dreams into reality. It invites entrepreneurs to dive in, think creatively, and learn how to build their businesses from the ground up. Sources: Header Image: “American Dream U visits Monterey”

By Flickr user Presidio of Monterey

License: Public Domain Mark 1.0 Universal

https://www.flickr.com/photos/presidioofmonterey/16470211180/in/photolist-r6q8Yh-qrcsr6-r4EaSZ-r6pfcQ-r4Ebrp-jmdof-rnYBaM-rnTneC-HbAhKq-6EWHSr-25fzVAU-25fzTBo-e9Z7Y1-2bpiRwU-2b7AVWK-2bpiRz9-2cvki5i-e9Z7bq-cpTbP-2b7AWbH-2cvkhZP-e9Trap-e9Z7hf-e9TspR-fCG1sW-e9Z7TW-e9Z8pf-e9Tso8-e9Z7s5-e9TrQr-e9Z7SQ-cUXfEA-e9Z7g3-e9Z8fo-e9Trkr-e9Z84S-e9TrcZ-e9Z7Gj-e9Tsk2-e9Z8gb-e9Z8oj-e9Ts7Z-e9TrTH-e9Z7qs-e9Z7Um-Ma8Ke5-e9TsmT-e9Z7Jw-28cwRXy-e9Z7Sb/

Header Image 2:

Custom-made logo by Mustafa Khalil. Davison, Patrick. "Because of the Pixels: On the History, Form, and Influence of MS Paint." Journal of Visual Culture, vol. 13, no. 3, 2014, pp. 275-297. SAGE Publications.

Hodges, James A. "Header Instructions for Strategic Presentation." 2019.