My interpretation of Task 1C-1

Web design trends and fads come and go as fast as you can say the word .Staying on top of web design trends can be difficult and time consuming, but it is extremely important to not be left behind. One of the best things any web designer can do is to learn the newest trends or fads and put your own spin to them and incorporate your own feel. To stay on top of web design trends you must visit and make use of all the media types:
• Websites
• Blogs
• Books
• Magazines

But what exactly are the elements of a good website?
• Interactivity through content via forums/ blogs, video content and
• Social Components - Is your users able to contribute and relate to the content
• Is your site backed up by the latest technology (RSS, Email, Social Media, click to call, Skype)

With that being said, I’d say trends are heading more high tech, more interactive in the following fields where the stage has been set and the law has been passed.
• Increasing Use of Video
• Increasing Use of CMS (Content Management Systems)
• Bigger Fonts
• Big, Powerful Header Images
• Use of Engagement Tools, like Chat, Music, Forums, Blogs, Polls, and other user-contribution features
• Intelligent Incorporation of Ads
• 1024×768, Center-Aligned Design
• Detailed Borders
• Useful Footer Design
• Bread Crumb Navigation
• SEO Considerations – proper meta data tagging
• Pre-loaders & Favicons


A couple of examples and sites well worth the visit…

Vintage is back in fasion!!! Just kidding…
http://www.webdesignerwall.com/trends/2008-design-trends/

According to color supplier Pantone®, the color of 2008 is Blue Iris. The blue is a radiant, calming hue, dark, but not dark enough to be in the realm of navy, and is a sharp contrast to the 2007 choice, Chili Pepper Red.
“From a color forecasting perspective, we have chosen PANTONE 18-3943 Blue Iris as the color of the year, as it best represents color direction in 2008 for fashion, cosmetics and home products,” explains Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “As a reflection of the times, Blue Iris brings together the dependable aspect of blue, underscored by a strong, soul-searching purple cast.”

http://www.colourlovers.com/blog/2008/01/09/happy-blue-year-2008-color-trends/

I know i'm Sticking on one thing befor moving on... >_< gomenosai...!

Emerging Trends

o Trends that have emerged in regards to the internet is above all a shift towards online transactions with venders including but not limited to Online Shopping and Online Banking.
o Information is readily available as people find it more accessible, flexible, timeous to find information on the internet as apposed to traditional media e.g. books.
o Also a significant development is the boom of online chat rooms with more and more people using the internet as a medium to socially interact for example Facebook.
o The internet has become essential for personal and business communication; Emailing has replaced post and fax as the most effective method of communication.
o Almost all documents are now in electronic format and can be sent to other people over the internet
o Another trend is online data bases, where data can be stored on the internet and can be accessed from a remote location at any time of day or night.

Effect on Business and Politics

o With regards to Online Shopping, this has major impact on the way we do business; e.g. a reduction in show rooms when selling larger items, less human interaction, lower paper transactions etc, and a greater ease of use for the customer.
o Online Banking has provided a convenient means to transfer amounts, make payments etc. with intangible money, and removed the hassle of standing in a queue at the Bank, thus becoming a preferred method of interaction.
o Internet profiles of companies are readily available, and provide effective advertising and informational purposes that is cheap and effective, business opportunities are readily found, and a company can enhance its presence by making information about it known on the internet, which is immensely beneficial.
o Chat rooms and social networking sites provide a new means of meeting people, without actually meeting to them face to face. This is also seen in business, where some companies interact with their clients via an internet discussion.
o Many companies form networks and supply chains via the internet to serve their clients, as orders are placed online and processed by the different stakeholders.
o Politicians also have their own sites and blogs with which they can interact with their voters on a new, more personal level than at a rally.
o Online voting is also becoming more feasible, as data is evolving to an electronic format.
o Online databases and server access is also enabling the practice of working from home more viable, and business is moving towards this approach as it provides greater flexibility to employees.

What other things will be affected?

o Interaction with other people will become less personal and move more to the electronic space. It is not unusual to have a lot of online contacts spread geographically across the globe and not have met any of them. Many people are also resorting to online dating as an alternative to more traditional venues to find a partner.
o Data sharing is now electronic, and media such as movies etc is transferred to other people via the internet, and available for download from a website, thus quickly removing the need for buying music CDs and DVDs.
o As more formats are becoming electronic, the need for libraries etc. are becoming less certain, as books and resources are available online.
o The more technology grows, the more the internet develops and becomes integral to more and more areas of our lives.

“Hot” technologies

o Search engines such as Google and Yahoo, internet technologies that can browse through millions of sites in a few seconds and filter them according to a keyword, are becoming more valuable, and viable businesses on their own.
o Tools such as RSS feeds that send updates on topics that interest individuals straight to their Inbox are an increasingly popular and useful technology – especially News Feeds.
o Tools such as MSN and the more advanced Skype, capable of sending messages and even video and audio conversations between two people with no geographical limitation.
o Social Networking sites like Facebook are being used as a personal profile for individuals and a centre for social interaction.

I believe the internet has changed the world like nothing seen before. If you think in terms of pre - internet days, a company would advertise itself by word of mouth, advertisements over TV, Radio, Newspapers, and Flyers etc. When the internet came along a new world opened. Companies could now design their own brochure (website) and market their products or services world wide in stead of just in their local area. The days of a website being a brochure for a company is also now long gone as internet marketing has become fiercely competitive with aggressive internet marketing techniques and also using tweeters, news letters, blogs, articles, emails and spam to promote their products or services.

Internet is not only used by the corporate market but also by individuals, communities, education. If you think of the pre internet days, school children and students had to go to libraries and encyclopedias to source information, now everything is available on the Internet through sites such as Wikepedia. The internet is also not just used by companies and educational institutions but also for social interaction. If you think of sites such as Face Book and many other dating sites where people could reunite and strangers can meet. The internet has brought many people back together who would not have found each other otherwise.

Individuals also now have their own sites just for fun or discussions. No singer would be caught without a website. As with any community there is also a negative aspect that includes hackers, spammers and criminals waiting to steal you’re banking details or other personal info for malicious intent. The internet has also become a shopping experience if you think of sites such as Kalahari.net and Pick 'n Pay Go Banking where you can purchase products and have them delivered to your door step in stead of having to leave your home and go to stores.

Lastly the internet is an information portal, no matter what info you were looking for, you are sure to find it on the internet whatever your requirement is. Tourists wanting to visit a country for example could find a lot of info and pictures on such a country before deciding to make the trip.More and more users have access to the internet with cell phones, lap tops, internet Cafe's Black Berry etc. The internet is also very convenient to use for Internet Banking which is fairly safe to use although problems have occurred before

More people use the Internet for online banking, reservation bookings and enquiries, business communication, social communication etc.
More and more people is using the internet as a communication medium.
The technology is growing so fast that we can purchase a lot of software and hardware to make the Internet data moving faster and easy to use.
We can use the Internet to advertise us in many ways, sending pictures with sound effects, or play a video, animation. There is so many things on the internet that we can learn from, knowledge never stop.
We also have access to a variety of devices, for example, speaking with someone at another computer through a microphone.
Use our cell phones to go on the Internet.
Every single trend is growing bigger and better. Yearly, new things are developed and improved on.
There is so much information on the internet, basically everything. Education, holiday, corporate, plants, animals, communication, shopping etc.

It is good to stay in touch and learn mostly some of the trends of the internet.