1) Target one word for each page: A huge mistake that many beginners make is cramming numerous keywords onto every page. Instead of doing this, you should focus on one specific keyword for each page. If you want to target multiple keywords then it is necessary to create a separate page for each.

2) List your major keywords in the links back to your site: Many search engines, Google being the most famous, have started to take into account the words that are mentioned in the title tag of the links that point to your site. So, a great way to improve your rankings for your keywords is to place it in the title tag.

3) Make your first 100 words on the page keyword rich: Another mistake that most webmasters make is to have a menu on the left-hand side of a website. Since search engines primarily focus on the first 100 words of a website, a left side menu is a misuse of valuable space.

4) Insert the keyword into your title tag: In the source code of most pages are "header tags" (also known as Meta tags), which help search engines understand the content of the page.
The first step is to insert the keyword in the title tag.

5) Insert your keywords in the description tag: The description Meta tag is almost as valuable as the title tag. The information in this tag is listed directly below the title tag in search engine results.

6) Insert them into your keywords tag: Like the title and description tags, keyword tags are used to help search engines understand the content of your web page. Whenever a search engine scans your site, it rates all words in the headline as being more important then the rest of the web copy. To take advantage of this, you should have your keyword in the page headline.

7) Write your keyword enriched web copy: Now that you have set up the structure of your page, you can write your web copy. The total web copy of your page should be about 300-500 words. Also, the keyword should be included about 5-12% of the total words of the page. If you follow all these steps, you will definitely see an improvement in the search engine rankings for your keywords unless they are extremely competitive.

A. Important Aspects to Know About Web Design Outsourcing
So, you've decided to outsource web design for your company or private use.

1. Do not leave designer questions unanswered. Each of them was included to guide the designer about your preferences and needs.

2. The lack of information leads to generic designs. References to colors, fonts, shapes, concepts, keywords are important clues to the designer.

3. A logo design is a process. Throughout the design process is a refinement of the following sketches. The quality of the suggestions and recommendations provided by the successive customer has direct correlation with the quality of the final design obtained.

4. References graphical point. Many people believe that if it says "I like the Nike logo" designer copied the logo in question. By contrast, the designer can compare their preferences with those graphics. Everyone has ratings of individual signifiers, and we need to know the designer.

5. Clarity. If you would like a particular design, you can still get a logo next to their expectations, provided that guides the designer in the right direction. If you provide clear feedback during the design process, there are high chances to get a design that meets their expectations. When the design process is complete, "adopt" the design of your choice.

6. Testing design. Do not choose a design because it "seemed nice".

B. It Helps to Have a Web Design Guide
Web design must not be confused with web development. The latter involves the more technical aspects putting up a web site. On the other hand, web design is more concerned with the concept of putting together web pages to create a website with good content. It utilizes various design and graphic principles. When one decides to build a web site, a web design guide may be an important resource to own. If you are a web site owner or a marketer who wishes to build his own web pages, there are many aspects of web design that you must be familiar about.

Whether you will outsource web design services or not, it is practical that you equip yourself with the proper knowledge on web designing. Having a guide to web designing can spare you from being conned by some web designers later on. Don't worry if you are not well-versed of the internet's technical aspects. It will not be too difficult for you to learn about designing a web page since there is an easy to use and apply web design guide.

You can get tips on web design especially on how to create and develop professional web site on your own. You can choose from many companies that can offer you a cheap guide to web design. What better way to learn than learning from web design masters. There must be consistency in your design and web page content. Furthermore, your design must be able to attract your target customers. If you have a web design guide, you will be able to build your web site quickly. Maintain satisfied customers in your turf for a more prosperous business.

Does having an ebook cover or mini-site header graphic on your website increase your sales or does it hurt your business in through long run.

Do your graphics look good enough?
Do they have the right designs?

Well let's say that your websites sells an audio product - cd about a recent interview you did, Now lets assume you have some great website-designs but what would happen if you had an ebook cover on your website, well you would probably get a few sales, but it wouldn't sell great.

Now lets see what would happen if you had an image of a cd with a cd case. How much better would your sales increase, well first thing would be that your customers would see the cd product and know instantly that the website sells an audio product, there are hundreds & thousands who are actively seeking audio products. Your sales would increase just by showing the graphics of an audio cd.

You guessed it
- website graphics, which consist of;
-header panel
-ebook cover
-order button
-background image
-footer image

Just by having any of the above graphics on your website, you can dramatically increase your Website sales, People have reported that their sales have increased by as much as 443% (the above example is for a customer I did some graphics for).

Adobe Photoshop 7 or above so that you can use the action scripts

Action scripts - ebook/cd/ezine/spiral/membership card covers
Royalty free stock images - from as little as $1.00 per image
Special ecover software - software which creates graphics without Photoshop

Here are 3 steps to create great graphics.
Step 1 -
Then open the images you are going to add to the graphics, if you don't have any try istockphotos.com.
Step 2 -
Enter your text on the template which the action script created. Rearrange the text and images to where they look good on the graphics.
Step 3 -
Once everything is looking good, simply save the image for the web and you're done!
A. Graphic Website Design - How You Can Do It Yourself Fast, Easily and Cheap Over and Over
Graphic website design is not as hard as it sounds. I am here to tell you exactly how you can supercharge your graphic website design portfolio if you are not a professional, by revealing to you how you can leverage the work of expert graphic designers with web site design skills to create the kind of websites that artists who design graphic websites are paid highly for. At the end you will be able to use this knowledge to design your personal graphic web site.

This problem can easily be overcome by getting blank graphic designs that is created by professional graphic designers, then inserting your specific needs by following simple instructions a little child will understand, such as, click here-save-export and so on.

For example, if what you need on your site is a header, then get blank headers that are created by professionals; if you want your color match to be blue, then get a blue blank header. If your header text is “ get fast solution to chicken recipes here”, then insert the text into the blank header and so on. You will get a professional quality website graphic design only those in the know use.

You can get these blanks from graphic design websites on the net.

B. Graphic Designing For Elevating Your Website Image and Profit
Now hi-tech and attractive looking websites are preferred by the masses globally. Graphic designing is dominating the world of website designing. Highly skilled and professional graphic designers can very well insert graphic design features into your website. Also for ecommerce websites, graphics uplift the overall online shopping experience. Graphic design can build brand images which acts as a promotional tool.

Usually website owners prefer using graphic design services from a professional service provider. To deviate the potential customer to your website these graphic design specialists create designs that gives better site visibility and come ahead of your competitors.

Graphics that is useful to the website can ensure long and positive website existence. Website design professionals are experts in their respective field that can work together with you to make you leader of your respective field on the internet. Creating perfect graphic design needs hand-in-hand online marketing techniques so that designing can be done as a part of marketing plan.

So to have a well-designed website design is very important. Ask your graphic designer to create graphic design images that are interesting and professionally perfect. The task of graphic designing has become simpler and easier with modern designing software. The most common problem faced in graphic design websites is the color combination. Sometimes wrong combination of background color and text creates problem in readability.

The internet is full of web design companies pleading for your business. Not sure which company to select? By following these simple steps, you'll be able to select the perfect designer for your business.
1. The search for a web designer. Most people turn to search engines on the internet for their search.

2. The designer's portfolio. Once you stumble on a website that catches your interest, look for samples of their work. Freelancer or business, anyone who claims to be a web designer has design portfolio.
Are there designs clean and crisp?
Does the overall design have a professional appearance?
How Is their language, grammar and spelling usage?

3. Check references. If you think the designer can do a good job for you, check their references. You'll find contact information for past clients in the designer's portfolio. They can give you their real life experience with the design company.

4. Selecting a web designer. If your comfortable with the references and like the examples in the portfolio contact the design company to discuss the requirements of your project. By corresponding with the designer via email of telephone, you'll learn a lot about how responsive and flexible they are. Keep in mind that not every web design company has the capabilities to do what you need.

5. Getting pricing for your website. Request web design quotes from your favorite companies.

6. Partnership. Engaging with a web design company should be a partnership. We hope These steps will help you on your quest to find the perfect web design company.

A. That Don't Impress Me Much: Even Pretty Web Sites Have Abandonment Issues
There is a certain similarity between human relationship breakups and web site abandonment:
The good news is that making a good first impression with your web site visitors is much easier than preparing for a blind date. For starters, you can be surfing in your pajamas, no makeup or with "bed-head" and the web site won't laugh its head off at you.

For good web design, you should have a good idea ahead of time about who will be knocking on your web site door. Speaking on behalf of web sites only, not as a relationships counselor, one of the biggest turn offs web site visitors have is dishonesty. For example, any job search in Google will inevitably bring back employment sites, as well as work from home sites. Here's how one web site promoted itself:

"Earn up to $300/hr. Hot jobs. Apply in seconds." Really? I can earn that kind of money without any experience? When I arrived at the homepage, I discovered several images weren't loading. It did mention the product name itself, repeatedly. (Probably for the sake of search engines, not you.)

Nowhere on the homepage did it say why this company could pay that much money to anyone, regardless of their background, work history, age or location. Where does this money come from?

I finally located where to apply way down at the bottom of the page. Credibility? I never entered the rest of the site because their claim was the same one made by thousands of other web sites just like it on the Internet.

If you've read studies on the pros and cons of long content vs. short, then you know that long pages aren't so terribly awful. If you can manage to engage your visitor, they'll hang in there with you. Shania Twain walked through a blazing hot desert in her music video for "That Don't Impress Me Much", tossing aside all kinds of things that didn't impress her. My son wanted a certain popular kids book series on history. The search engine quickly took me to the publisher of the series. When I arrived at the publisher's web site, I was happy to find the following elements within the first few seconds of arriving:

1. Attractive, colorful web design

2. The web site name, and a reference to the book series I searched for. Therefore, I knew I was in the correct site.

3. A "Featured Book" was front and center, in clear view.

4. There were three types of navigation, indicating a large web site. The top was auxiliary stuff, such as "things to do on our site". The left side navigation was designed for first-time visitors and browsers who are "just looking". Sections for Parents, Teachers, Kids and Writers indicated they intended on meeting the needs of many different types of consumers. Every link described in descriptive terms destinations like "Discussion Guides" or "Mother/Daughter Book Club", rather than simply "Discussion" or "Clubs".

The central navigation filled the main body of the web site and was broken into sections. This is how I learned the book series had several categories. They briefly describe, with well-chosen words that provoke interest, each category and a drop down menu allows the visitor to scan and click directly to the corresponding section inside the web site.

5. I knew I could purchase from this site because of the "Shop" button at the top of the page. It wasn't a tiny shopping cart icon, which some kids and non-computer savvy folks may have missed.

No pricing information, sale items or discounted items were on the homepage.
Curious about pricing, I clicked from the central navigation scheme on a book title that sounded like one my son might like. Incredibly, when I clicked on the Featured Book link back on the homepage, I met another conversion dead end. This web site had convinced me their products and company were credible, but they forgot to show me how or where to make a purchase.

I had a choice of clicking around the site looking for prices, or leaving and ordering elsewhere. Armed with all the information they provided me, I could easily find the book at Amazon. You're totally co-dependent on the needs, whims, wishes, desires, dreams, financial status, location, age, gender, and personality of the person who clicks into your web site.
Your web design mission is to meet needs, answer questions, and point the way to productive activity such as purchases or registration.

B. Choosing The Right Web Design Company For Your Website
Choosing the right web design company to create your website presence is like finding a good plumber or electrician. Some charge an obscene amount yet don’t get the job done properly, some charge a lot and do the job great.

Things to look out for when choosing a design company:
Does this company’s website look clean, professional? A good web designer / developer is someone who is not afraid of telling you what is good and what is bad for your website, if when you contact your chosen website design company and they don’t dispute anything that you have asked for or don’t offer constructive and helpful advice on what would be better, more suited to your business and they don’t discuss with you the pro’s and con’s of this, then chances are they are just another design company who is after dishing websites out one after the other with absolutely no concern what so ever of them wanting to push your business forward, driving it out to your customers and creating your business identity.

The pitfalls of using the wrong web design company
• Designed correctly, promoting your company’s image and identity
• Coded properly using CSS and standards compliancy (W3 Standards)
• Loads fast, is hosted on a high speed backbone.
• If your selling products, sell in context to the page its contained within
• Don’t overwhelm your visitors with banners, advisements etc
• Ensure it’s designed without any frames, and the layout is done through CSS and not tables

Most of the above things you will most likely not understand, but don’t worry, just asking these questions is the biggest step towards getting the right website created for you, picking the right company, forming a relationship with your designer to meet your business needs and not asking these questions is the biggest pitiful that most businesses make.

Ask Questions
Ask these questions, if your designer / developer stutter’s or seems confused with these questions or you don’t feel confident when discussing this with him/her, then find another web design company that understands why the above is so important to the success of your business. Good luck in finding the right web design company, and I hope this article has been helpful!

Regardless whether you manage a small business, charitable organization, or Fortune 500 company, choosing the right web design firm can quickly become a full-time research project. With thousands of design firms to choose from, what factors truly determine which design firm is best for your business?

The primary considerations for choosing a web design firm are:
* Price
* Customer service/access to support
* Credibility indicators of the design firm
* Portfolio and design experience
* Other services offered (domain renewal, hosting, SEO)
* Turnaround time

Price
Like many products and services we purchase, both personally and professionally, deciding on a web design firm can often come down to price. A $200 web site usually turns out to look, feel and perform like a $200 web site.

The price of your site’s development will depend on three factors: the features of the site, the amount of content, and the service options included with the design package, such as hosting.

* Will the firm provide multiple design concepts, prior to actual development?

Customer Service
Consistent, open contact with your web design firm is important for ensuring success before, during, and after your web site is developed. If you are limited to e-mail technical support, consider other firms that offer a wider range of customer service options such as telephone and live chat support.

Credibility Indicators
* Toll free telephone support
* 24 hour customer service
* Better Business Bureau affiliation
* Human e-mail address contacts
* Google PageRank of 2 or above
* Presentation of a hard-copy quote/design contract

Design Experience/Portfolio
Does the design firm have experience in working with similar types of businesses? Even if a designer doesn’t have a web site in their portfolio related to your industry, the firm you select should have a strong working knowledge of how to develop an effective site for your business type. Product and service web sites are not the same.

A few good questions to ask about a firm’s design experience include:
* Does the firm offer a number of diverse, finished web sites available for review?
* Will the firm conduct research regarding my competition?
* Will my web site highlight the features, benefits and value of my product or service?
* Has the firm outlined a plan of action for creating an effective site, start to finish?

Design experience need not always relate to the type of web sites the firm has previously developed.

Additional Services
Many web design firms offer design, but do not provide other required services such as hosting and domain name registration. Ideally, your web design company should be a full-service firm, offering at least basic hosting, domain registration and search engine optimization services tailored to your needs.

Turnaround Time
* Upload of your web site to the hosting provider
* Configuration of any scripts or forms on your site
* Domain propagation (accessing your web site and e-mail via yoursite.com)

Hiring the cheapest, fastest, or most elaborate web design firm does not always equate to hiring the right web design firm.

A. Looking for a Web Design Company? Use a Web Design Directory
Your business website tells a lot about your company. A poorly designed website will have your visitors questioning the quality of your business. A well thought out elegantly designed site would instill confidence in your visitors that you are a credible business to deal with.

The same holds true for web design.
There are so many Web Design companies now. Wouldn’t it be great if you had a resource available to you that pre-screened Web Design Companies to narrow down your choices? To answer that question, yes there is, use a Web Design directory. Web Design directories are usually run by companies in the Web Design Industry. Using their knowledge to pre-screen the Web Design companies that submit their contact information to the directory insures that only quality Web Design Companies are listed.

Most Web Design directories are categorized by region. If you live in Alabama then you simply click the link that reads, “Alabama Web Design”. Some Web Design directories will also allow you the customer to submit a quote request. Then they take your information and forward it to Web Design Companies that meet your criteria. Along with a directory of different Web Design Companies, you may also find helpful articles to educate yourself, and help make the decision process a little easier.

B. Instant Website Design Quotes Provide A Great Way To Estimate Cost Of Web Projects
If your business is looking for a fast and efficient way to receive an estimated cost for your upcoming web project, without wasting any time, then I recommend using an instant website design quote to generate an online estimate.

From my own research there are many sites out there that allow you to generate estimated quotes for your web project. You do have to be cautious because some are not instant quotes - you actually answer your questions, enter your contact information and then their sales team will contact you. However, I did find a few really good quote services that allow you to answer a few questions and receive an instant website design quote in a matter of seconds, without the pressure of being contacted by a salesperson. From my experience in the website industry, you will receive a wide array of quote ranges from various companies. In the past I've seen quotes where one company would estimate the project at $5,000 and other companies would estimate it at over $100,000.

By Will Tejada


Have you ever considered buying wholesale fashion dresses? These days, it is quite logical and practical to do so. We all know that tag prices of almost everything have gone significantly higher. Women's fashion clothing and accessories have always been expensive but they are pricier today. Budget-conscious and entrepreneurial women find strategic ways to be able to shop without spending too much.

Wholesale fashion dresses are available for women who want to buy the items at lower costs. However, not all women are open to the idea of buying a number of dresses. Some women who do so cite several logical reasons for doing so. Here are the major goals of women who opt to buy wholesale fashion dresses from various wholesalers in communities and online.

First, women who find and purchase wholesale fashion dresses intend to buy large quantities at a time. Buying wholesale is not for women who do not like collecting several pieces of the same dress at the same time. Why would you do so? It could be that the fashion style or design you like is available at several other colors for variations. Some women may love one style because they look prettier in it. Others just cannot find other styles that are equally attractive when worn by them. When you buy wholesale fashion dresses, you should prepare enough money to make a large purchase.

Second, women who buy wholesale fashion dresses are aiming to buy clothes at lowest possible prices per piece. It is a common knowledge that wholesale buying is more practical. It could require bigger cash out because you are buying many pieces per transaction but if you would calculate the price per piece, you would discover that you could save by up to 75% compared to when you buy the same piece from the nearest fashion retailer to your address. This is the reason many women startup a small or simple fashion retail business whenever they purchase wholesale fashion dresses.

Lastly, buying wholesale fashion dresses is carried out by women who are always on the lookout for reliable, stable, and trustworthy wholesalers. This is advantageous if you are planning to continually purchase such items at wholesale in the long run. If you have been accustomed to buying in bulk, you surely would want to build a harmonious business relationship with a supplier. This is important if you are retailing items whenever you buy wholesale fashion dresses.

Women are more empowered today. If you are planning to startup your own simple fashion retail business, you should start scouting for good suppliers of wholesale fashion dresses. You could sell the items at your own shop, at home (to your relatives, neighbors, and friends), or online using your personal Website or social network account. Aside from that, it could be the best way to buy fashion dresses at very reasonable costs. You would never possibly buy the same items at such wholesale prices when you shop at fashion retailers even at hefty discounts.

After working with web design companies, agencies and firms, I have found the following steps will lead you to a much happier and fruitful relationship with your next web designer:
Never shop on price. You almost never get what you expect if you aren't willing to pay properly for it.

Pay careful attention to the portfolio of the website designer. Avoid web design companies that still use flash introductions on their own website. Give a small project first. If you plan to spend a lot of money with the company, try giving them a small project first.

ALWAYS define exactly what you need before the project begins. Like it or not, a project plan with specifications is going to save a lot of trouble later on, both for you and the design company. A good project manager should be able to convey your requirements to the team properly, but good project managers are uncommon.

Due diligence.
If you are getting them to do a $250 online greeting card, getting 10 references, having 4 prior meetings and asking for a 100 page specification is likely going to cause you to be tossed aside in favour of a client that is worth the trouble. On the other hand, if you are having them build the next major shopping portal for you group of 185 country-wide chain of stores and plan to have it intergrate with the services of several large companies, be absolutely sure the web design company knows what they are doing and has experience doing it.

You don't want a company that is learning the ropes by using you as a guinea pig. I hope that armed with this information you will be able to make an informed choice on which web design company, agency or firm you will use on your next project.

A. Finding a Professional Web Designer or Web Design Company
Your web site is your storefront window on the World Wide Web. Otherwise, it’s onto the next site listed on the search engine.
Choosing the best person to create your new web site is one of the most important tasks a business must undertake. Following are a few helpful hints to make sure you select the right web designer.

Why Hire a Professional Web Designer?
What you want is a professional designer who knows how to build a ‘search engine friendly’ web site. The key between the two professionals is one will build you a web site with pretty pictures, text links and a welcome page that leaves you invisible to search engines, while the other will do the same thing but with the coding and programming that makes your web site irresistible to search engines. The difference between selling and not selling on the web, and being found or buried on page 15 of the search engine results, is knowledge in building a search engine friendly site
.
Create a Web Site Requirements List
Browse the Internet and create a list of web sites that have the general look and feel of how you envision your own web site. If you are shopping for web design quotes, don’t forget to ask the web design vendor some basic questions:

* Will I be able to edit my own web pages?
* Are the web sites you design search engine friendly?
* Is logo design included in the web quote?

The problem with Web templates is that they are “closed systems.” Every month someone will call us to complain that their ‘template based web site’ looks horrible, or the web template system is too hard to use or understand. A great example of cookie-cutter, web template web sites abound in the field of real estate. All these sites look the same.

Establish a Web Production Budget
The web design process ranges from the novice who spends a few hours putting together sites of amateur quality, to high-end quality web projects that result in a world-class web presence. If you plan on spending $400 on your web site, don’t waste your time or money. Small business Web sites - $2800 to $3900

Small business e-commerce Web sites - $3600 to $4200
Medium business Web sites - $3800 to $5200
Medium business e-commerce Web sites - $4200 to $7200
Large business Web sites - $7200 to $10,000
Large business e-commerce Web sites - $9200 to $15,000
A well-crafted web site can bring you new or additional online traffic resulting in new clients and customers.

B. What Should You Look For in a Web Design Company?
Nowadays it seems that everybody has to have a website. Whether this is for commercial reasons, promotion, or just a hobby, information has never before enjoyed such unbridled accessibility.

Well first off you'll want reliability and professionalism. The important first step is to give the vendor's website a thorough once over. Is the design clean; the pages easily accessible; and the navigation clear? Imagine if this was your website and ask yourself the question: "Would I have happily paid for this?"

Don't be blinded by flashy design or gimmicky effects. By and large, there is no benefit from having a website that is in your face with the latest advancements in, say, Flash technology or Javascript. If your website is intended to promote your business, sell your services or products, then such a site will not be found in the search engine rankings and your investment will have been wasted.

If the web design company you're looking into has an online portfolio then investigate it fully. Even if their own website ticks all the boxes, this is where it really counts. The actual paid work they have carried out for their clients.

Remember the old adage: "You get what you pay for"? Costing can be based on a number of factors, depending upon the company. A lot of web design agencies will offer packages, dependant on size and the needs of a client; whereas others offer a fully bespoke service with each website priced on an individual basis. One thing to bear in mind is if you are opting for a static website as opposed to a content managed one, you will have to enlist technical help whenever you wish to make an update, however minor.

One final thing to consider when searching for the right company to design and develop your website is SEO. Search engine optimisation is of particular importance if you are a launching your business online or looking to promote your company via the internet. If carried out by a professional it can influence where your website will appear in the search engine rankings for specific search terms relevant to your website.

Be wary of web design companies that offer free SEO as part of the initial package, or for a nominal extra fee. Search engine optimisation is a long-term process and it is perhaps a wiser investment to employ a company dedicated to the purpose and leave the designers and developers to what they do best.

Fashion is an industry built on fantasy, to a great degree. Those fantasies are constructed in glossy magazines oriented to professionals in general (Vanity Fair) and to women who follow the trends (Elle). The online experience is a multidimensional tool to expand on designer fashions and the yearly line of products.

One of the intriguing features of the Gucci site is its frame-by-frame layout of their current ad campaign. The value of the advertising in keeping Gucci "current" is made evident by its prominence as a website feature.

Some fashion websites that you wouldn't expect to see doing it are retailing to the public directly from their websites. There's a corporate area for promotional materials and haute couture, and a retail section for deals on the latest products. Companies that engage in online retail include Dior, Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein - not a great surprise - along with Versace; Armani; Giancarlo Ferre and Prada, companies that you wouldn't expect to see retailing on the web.

Visual tools can be used to rotate a dress, suit, jacket or pair of pants 360 degrees. Short video pieces can show a garment and provide voice-over describing its practicality, range of use, glamour or whatever factor the company wants to highlight.

Web searches on fashion turn up a large selection of generic fashion sites that gain their revenue from advertising. One of their principal content highlights is always a list of designer web sites. In one case, apparelsearch.com, the site lists fashion designers and design houses in three categories: website for corporate information, for retail opportunity, and for wholesale connections.

That is valuable, down-to-the-rack-sale advertising for even the most well established houses. The web also allows fashion houses to segment in other ways. Click on Donna Karen and you'll find a web site that offers her accessory line up. Designers use the web in many functional mixtures.

A. Home Fashion: The Fashion Of Modern Occupants
Home furnishing or soft furnishing is the latest trend in the business of fashion today. In the last 3-4 years, people have begun changing their home furniture like they change their wardrobe according to the changing fashions. Lifestyle furnishing has become a mix of aesthetics, comfort, colours and designs. For instance, brown sofas have become outdated and people now prefer lively colours like blue and red. Though brand awareness in this segment is low but at present the scenario is changing, a few years ago consumers never stressed on purchasing branded home furnishing products, but now they are aware about new products and brands.

The list of furnishings includes bed linen like bed sheets, pillow slips (pillow shams), bed skirts, duvet covers, quilts and cushions; for giving the complete look to the bedroom matching curtains, tie-backs and also mats can be included in this list. Towels and floor mats, shower curtains, same soap cases, toothbrush holders, soap dispensers, mugs and rugs can offer the attractiveness of a bathroom. Water in this room, evokes memories of sea and ocean, shells and fish, and hence these are major patterns in the design making of bathroom accessories. Bed-and-bath themes are also combined together by designers.

Cotton is the most favored fabric for bed sheets, particularly those with a greater thread count. Exporters have an increasing demand for cotton bed sheets, though some also demand silk made-ups. For new born babies soft basic colours are used, where as for grown up children complimentary colour schemes with cartoon like motifs are mostly used. The prints for curtains vary from animals, to soft toys, cartoons and candies; the same is applicable for rugs, bed sheets, duvet covers and cushions.

Adults chose from a wide range of colours and motifs including traditional Indian motifs to modern compositions. In fact, the selection of colour and design depends on the fashion trend of today.

One step out of the bedroom and you reach the most happening room of the house - the living room. A combination of huge variety of colours and its relevant coordinates are particularly made to cater to people's physical and psychological desires. Sheer curtains to bring in sunlight, heavy lined curtains to prevent it, embroidered curtains and valences with lace trimmings flaunting luxury and a taste for design, make the room look more appealing and beautiful. Curtains can surely make the room look more attractive.

Generally fabrics for sewing curtains are 54 inches wide or extra wide at 110 inches or 118 inches. Curtains with well-designed features like noise and light reduction are being particularly produced for exports. The options are many; curtains are available in every size, colour, fabric and designs like stripes, checks, floral, woven, printed, etc. One can chose the fabric from the cottons to linens, velvets, tapestries etc. This two-part curtain possesses a sheer fabric at the top and privacy panels below.

Tab-top curtains have fabric loops on the top to which a rod is fixed. Tie-top curtains possess fabric on the top of the panel that is fixed to the rod. And, grommet-top panels have metal eyelets on the top which is fixed with curtain rings. Tap-top curtains are a latest trend that is common in modern homes.

Many traditional Indian weaves and embroideries are being done all over India on the home furnishings products. Traditional Indian embroideries like 'kasida' from Kashmir, 'kantha' from Bengal and 'chikankari' from Uttar Pradesh are in demand for bed covers and curtains. Many home furnishing companies are making these products with handlooms. Normally, high quality silk and cotton are used for these products.

While traditionally curtains were either produced with heavy jacquards or luxurious prints, at present a wide range of fabrics covering embroidered fabrics are being used. The attractive display of colours can also be seen in plain sofas with striped and spotted cushions or plush heavy pile carpets with designs varying from geometricals to florals and abstracts.
The showrooms for soft furnishings provide the customers with a collection of designs to select from.

The Indian home furnishings market is around Rs 15,000 crore, of which the organised market is about Rs 1,000 crore. The major carpet manufacturing areas (including all types of floor coverings and durries) are Agra-Bhadoi belt in Uttar Pradesh, Kashmir, Bikaner-Udaipur belt in Rajasthan, West Bengal, Haryana, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh. In India, there are 1215 carpet production units recorded and of that 190 are in the organized sector and the rest are in small scale industry sector.

Panipat has witnessed high growth in handlooms during the last two decades with the number of looms holding 50,000 are well known for producing acrylic blankets, bed sheets, bed covers, tapestry, upholstery, table mats and table covers. There are about 60 carpet woolen spinning units in Panipat with an annual turnover of Rs 175 crore making a variety of handloom products such as durries, mats, table covers, bed sheets, curtains and carpets exported to various countries, including Canada, Japan, Germany and Australia.

Benefiting from this booming market and the increasing new and young homemakers, department stores make their home furnishings space by creating well organized living spaces that sell the products very effectively. Many popular companies working with soft furnishings products in India are Welspun, Gujarat (which started first 'Spaces Home & Beyond' store in Mumbai); Handfab, Panipat; Highness Exports; In Vogue Buying, New Delhi; Indian Exporters, Kolkata; Shabari International, Kerala; Cannanore; Amber Textile; and Reliance Industries, and there are brands like the decades-old Bombay Dyeing and just stated like Spaces, Portico, Season's, Yamini etc.

Raymond provides the widest range of colours to satisfy the various colour requirements of interiors in Home furnishings. Home Solutions Retail (India), a 100% holding of retail leader Pantaloon Retail, intends to close its third year of function with about of Rs 1,000 crore. Home Solutions is establishing chain of home stores, committed to all things that would be required for setting up, decorating and furnishing a home. Each store, covering an expense about Rs 14 crore, will be allotted about 120,000 square feet.

To achieve its brand recognized in the big commoditised home furnishings market, Welspun is investing in retail stores and increasing its capacity to serve the domestic market. Besides its own brand the company recently received the marketing rights of Tommy Hilfiger home furnishing products.

Amongst the 125, 100 would be standalone Spaces stores. Recently, Portico, a premium Home Decor & furnishings brand introduced its premium and 'Sparkly' range. Because of huge demands, many fashion designers have also forayed in this segment. At present the home furnishings segment is considered a flourishing sector in the textile industry. Domestic and export markets are both booming for home furnishings.

According to experts, to make brand awareness home furnishing companies have to put more emphasis on the overall shopping experience. Retail ambience, coordinated product ranges; in-store display; point-of-purchase promotional literature on the product features as well as the company's lineage and superior in-store service are some of the primary actions that home furnishing companies must take.

While it could support in making fashion consciousness in India about home furnishings, as well as the designs, colours and prints are contemporary, and the packaging and labeling are as per the good quality standards, home furnishing companies need not be bothered about making more complication in their business by creating repeated changes in their product offering at this stage. We require building up more colour and design sensitive people to work in this segment. Cushion covers and curtains are the more demandable products.

For them lifestyle furnishing is turning out as a mix of aesthetics, comfort, colours and designs. Brown sofas are outdated; people need lively colours like blue and red. A few years ago consumers never demanded highly branded home furnishing products, but now they are very well aware about new products and brands in the market, though brand awareness in this segment is still low. Many companies are adding two to three products in their product lines every year and many are comings with innovative concepts in this segment.

B. Becoming A Fashion Designer
Being a fashion designer certainly does come with its benefits; but it is also a career that requires a balance between creativity and skill. The way we dress on a daily basis, the clothing we run to the stores to purchase, all depend on what’s popular on the runways. And what’s popular on the runways is created by fashion designers. A fashion designer creates a look and makes it happen. A fashion designer must not only be skilled in the manufacturing of clothing – including knowledge of textiles and expertise in sewing – but also in sketching and drawing their designs. The savvy fashion designer understands color and how to use it to capture the essence of their design.

Becoming a fashion designer means attending a reputable school that teaches design, sewing, textiles, and the like. Working alongside a fashion designer who can give you firsthand experiences and help you build your portfolio is incredibly important to becoming a fashion designer. A strong portfolio that demonstrates your talent and desire to work in the industry will go a long way to helping you realize your dream of becoming a fashion designer.

Fashion designer school is for people that have a passion or extreme interest in all things fashion. Fashion designers will be taught to sketch their ideas, draw and cut patterns, create simple garments, fit and modify finished garments, arrange showings for press as well as buyers, compare merchandise to that of competitors, learn how to keep current, and how to visit textile showrooms when they attend fashion design school. These skills will all contribute to helping someone with a passion for fashion develop their skill and utilize it in the real world.

Most fashion designers are self-employed and simply design for individual clients. A great way to learn how to create your own methods of creating great clothing, accessories, or jewelry is to become a designer's assistant. Some fashion designers work for larger firms and this may be a great way to get a fashion designer education when you get out of fashion designer school, as well. These firms or corporations typically have a head designer, which is responsible for most of the creative aspects and supervision of the design room staff.

Assistant designers are often hired by firms and often make the first patterns and help the head designer oversee creative and personnel issues. There are also specialty designers that may be hired by corporations that will work with other designers to help create limited or special lines of clothing. Special designers will often have a specific article of clothing or accessory that they work with and often they design for a specific market or country and can play a vital role in a large design company.

There are also theatrical costume designers that create costumes or articles of clothing and accessories for plays, movies, or other theatrical productions and these designers may work on contract. The work environment for every designer varies, as some work in very professional settings while others work in very cramped and rushed environments. If you are looking at working for a firm, be sure to ask hard questions about the work environment and schedule.

Just because you just graduated from fashion designer school doesn't mean that you should be subjected to less than comfortable working conditions! Freelance fashion designer work can also be done outside of your own job so that you can slowly create your own client base away from your corporate job. Many designers make more than $20 an hour and the average salary for a designer is more than $57,000 a year!

A. Are You Considering a Career in Fashion Design
More and more young people are choosing fashion design when they are quizzed about their future choice in a career and who can blame them. A career in fashion design means having a great job creating clothing concepts that will influence the way that people look all over the planet. To be successful at fashion design, one must be able to do a wide variety of tasks well including drawing, selecting colors and fabric types and sewing just to name a few things that a good designer must do well.

It takes a full year for a designer to design and create a line of clothing and if the designer is wrong on which direction that they predicted fashion would take they will be out of business.
If you are considering fashion design as a career choice then now is the time to start your studies by learning to sketch your ideas. Sketching is a great way to work out idea concepts without having to go through the time and expense of actually constructing anything.

B. A How to Guide For Young Girls Who Dream of Becoming a Fashion Designer
Learn to Sew! Yes, you must learn to sew. Check out local fabric shops for lessons, or check on line for "how to" videos and free patterns and ideas. If you can thread a machine, and sew a straight line, you can create anything. Start with very easy patterns like ones that say, "Sew in two hours", or "Sew Fast, Sew Easy", or "It's Sew Easy."

Once you have mastered that, move onto easy accessories like purses, headbands, and hats. Then move onto the more advanced things like lined skirts, princess seams, lined jackets, and zip up pants with a cuffed hem. Always be sketching! You never know when a great design will pop into your head!

Have plenty of fashion magazines on hand; check out the latest dresses, styles, and gowns in Hollywood, and watch fashion TV shows. Anyone can learn to sew a skirt on a sewing machine. It takes an exceptional individual to make a skirt that will be in high fashion with its uniqueness from the color, fabric texture, different stitches, design, and embellishments they used to create the skirt.

Fashion Design is an art, and you can learn it just for fun, as a hobby, sew for your family, design and make costumes for a local theatre company, or even open up your own little corner boutique.

What Is Fashion Design?
Fashion design is a form of art dedicated to the creation of clothing and other lifestyle accessories. Modern fashion design is divided into two basic categories: haute couture and ready-to-wear. The haute couture collection is dedicated to certain customers and is custom sized to fit these customers exactly. In order to qualify as a haute couture house, a designer has to be part of the Syndical Chamber for Haute Couture and show a new collection twice a year presenting a minimum of 35 different outfits each time. Designer collections have a higher quality and finish as well as an unique design. Both ready-to-wear and haute-couture collections are presented on international catwalks.

The first fashion designer who was more than a simple seamster was Charles Frederick Worth, in the 19th century. Before he set up his fashion design house in Paris, clothing was made by anonymous dressmakers and fashion standards were derived from the styles worn by royalty. Worth was the first designer to actually dictate to his customers what to wear rather than following their demands.

What Does It Take To Be A Fashion Designer?
Fashion design is a form of art. To work as a designer, you should have an artistic and creative personality. Fashion designers have a good visual imagination and are able to think in three-dimensions and put their ideas into garments.

Fashion designers have to be aware of the fashion market requirements. A good understanding of the audience's lifestyle and customer needs and requirements is also needed in fashion design. Designers should have good communication skills and be able to express their ideas clearly.

A. Become a Fashion Designer
You know you're destined to be a fashion designer if you: a) spent most of your childhood making clothes for your Barbie dolls instead of playing with your friends; b) read fashion magazines instead of your school books; c) ran a boutique out of your basement at age 10. In other words: if you want to be the next Yves Saint Laurent, it helps to be completely and utterly obsessed with fashion.

Working as a fashion designer can just as well mean supervising a design team at a sportswear company as producing a label under your own name.

Choosing a strategy
There are as many different ways to embark upon a fashion career as there are styles of design. Ralph Lauren's Polo empire was founded on a small tie collection that he sold to Bloomingdales. Michael Kors built up a network of customers by selling clothes in a trendy NYC boutique. However, most people find that the best foundation for a design career is to get a fine arts degree in fashion at a prestigious school.

"We live in a brandname society, and having the name of a good school behind you really does help," says Carol Mongo, Director of the Fashion Department at Parsons School of Design in Paris. It's hard to enter these schools as competition is high, and they tend to be very selective. You apply by sending a portfolio of drawings of your designs. Drawing is also an important skill for a designer – it is the way you communicate your ideas. In order to build an impressive portfolio it's a good idea to have some experience in sketching; taking art classes will help you understand form and proportion.

What school will do for you
Most fashion programs are three to four years long. During that time you will take fine arts classes and study drawing, color composition and form. One of the most important advantages of design schools is that they work really closely with the industry. Parsons, for example, have "designer critic projects" where successful designers like Donna Karan and Michael Kors work directly with the graduating students. One very important event is the fashion show at the end of the last semester, when graduating students show their collections. A lot of important people from the fashion industry attend these shows to scout new talent.

Alternative routes
"Let's be realistic," says Carol Mongo at Parsons, "School's not for everyone. If you're just looking to get a job in the fashion industry – not a career as a designer – you probably don't need to go school." If you want to work as a seamstress or a patternmaker, the best thing is probably to apply for an internship at a fashion house and work your way up. For example, Dior's brightest new star, men's wear designer Hedi Slimane, had a degree in journalism when he started working with men's wear designer José Levy. Balenciaga's Nicolas Ghesquière is another example of a brilliantly successful designer who learned the jobs hands-on, as an assistant at Jean-Paul Gaultier. Usually, you apply for an internship by sending a portfolio to a fashion house you're interested in.

Understanding the business
Unfortunately, it's not enough for a designer to be creative; you also have to have some business sense. A lot of fashion schools are currently increasing business classes in their curriculum. "Our students have to be smart enough to know how to negotiate a contract, or to pick a business partner," says Carol Mongo.

B. You Better Work: the Grueling Glamour of Fashion Design
Fashion Design Job Overview
Every year, fashion designers create billions of clothes, shoes, and accessories for a discerning and fickle body of consumers. They stay up-to-date with fashion trends by conducting research and attending trade and fashion shows. Over a period of 18-24 months--the standard block of time between a design's conceptual stages and its completion; not quite the mad dash depicted on Project Runway--a designer incorporates his/her findings into hand sketches, sometimes translated into computer-aided design (CAD), and then begins the process of either delegating technical tasks, such as sewing, to others (typical of large design firms) or completing this work themselves (more common in small firms or with those just starting out). Many others create mass market deigns, open their own stores, or sell their designs to other retailers. Some even work for the entertainment industry, researching period pieces and creating costumes for films and television shows. Whether self-employed or part of a large design team, all fashion designers must be prepared for frequent travel and the occasional all-nighter.

Fashion Design Education and Other Qualifications
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) notes that most employers seek designers with 2- or 4-year degrees. Basic coursework for a bachelor's degree typically includes textiles, sewing, CAD training, and fashion history. Fashion design students may also want to supplement their core curriculum with classes in business, human anatomy, and psychology. Aspiring designers can also gain valuable experience from internships or retail jobs, and should always maintain an impressive portfolio.

Job Outlook & Salary Information
Predictably, many are attracted to the glamour and artiness of fashion design, and this makes for a competitive job market. The BLS notes that the best job prospects will be found in firms that create mass-market designs. The average annual salary for fashion designers hovered around $62,810 in 2007.