Retro Web Design Graphics

Remember the early days of web design when you had to create graphics that loaded speedily in dial-up connections using a 14K baud modem? One of the tricks used to shrink graphics was to reduce the color palette and use dithering in the converted .gif to simulate the original image. I 'kinda' missed dithering. It often added a fine pattern or noise to images that gave them a retro feel and a bit of texture and dimension. Well, I'm bringing back dither patterns baby! It feels so retro!

In the home page for my web design portfolio I converted the main graphic into a .png file that is reduced to 128 colors, and used a noise pattern to render the image. This closeup image gives you a look at the subtle texture this adds to the photo. The subtle retro feel works perfectly for the '59 Caddy in this photo. Well, as digital makes it possible to create smooth images with perfect color, its nice to step back to the look and feel we had in the days of film. Love that texture!