Create Banner
Whenever I am having an event, especially a party for the kids, I like to create a banner. It is fun to stretch out a large sheet of butcher block paper, and have everyone work on it together with pens, pencils, paints, stencils, and glitter to create a banner which will show everyone where the big event is. I first got the idea from going to my 5 year old's preschool open house, where all of the kids created banners about who they are.
I didn't get to watch my child create a banner, but I could tell that he had had a lot of fun doing it! His banner showed are house, his parents and little sister, his best friend, his dog, and his favorite hobbies. There he was, curled up in an imaginatively drawn chair, in my lap, sharing a picture book. It really touched my heart and made me want to create a banner with him, where we could have an experience bonding and sharing ideas about our life, so on the week before his very next birthday, I came home with some butcher block paper, and we got to work.
Of course, being involved in internet commerce, banners are more than the way I bond with my toddler. Every time I start a new e-business, I have to create a banner for my website. There are a number of different software options for doing this, but really, if you know your way around the computer, and already have web-design software, there is no need to buy special banner making software. You can create a banner out of any images, animated or otherwise, and good old Photoshop, combined with a search engine and a trusty scanner has always worked well enough for me.
It's silly to bother to create a banner with animated gifs and flashing colors, because it will just look annoying and grating to someone, and they will most likely close it outright. The best banners have a more subdued, tasteful appearance to them, and try to earn the sympathy of the viewer, rather than clobbering them over the head and trying to force them to buy what your selling. Before I create a banner, I always think about my target audience and what type of images they are most likely to appreciate. Then I can create a banner that will appeal to them and their tastes. .