a guide to internet graphics and my blog
I'll try to make this entertaining, but we have a lot to cover!
Q: Sooo... What are blinkies? Or buttons?
A: Blinkies are a type of graphic that was popular 15+ years ago on personal blogs, often on a web host called Geocities.
Geocities no longer exists, but lovers of the indie/old web use other platforms, such as the new Neocities, to make their own old web-inspired blogs. They often decorate these with collectible graphics.
Q: You haven't really answered my question. What's the difference between all of these graphics?
A: Well, there are a lot of different kinds of graphics. For the sake of time, I'll only talk about the ones I post.
Blinkies are usually 150x20 pixels, but many creators like to improve their quality by making them 300x40, or even larger. There are also some oddly-sized blinkies, like this one:
However, most blinkies adhere to the standard dimensions. Most of them also have "blinking" borders, and usually feature text.
Let's talk about buttons. Buttons are, well, buttons. This button specifically is 88x31. This seemingly random size was the standard for Geocities users back in the day, who used these buttons as a portal/advertisement to their website, as well as a way to say pretty much whatever they wanted. Lot's of companies used them as well. Here are some examples:
Not all buttons share this standard dimension, though. Here are some other possibilities:
There are variations of these, too. Some buttons look pretty weird:
...and there are blinkies called "chain blinkies" that look like something else entirely:
Q: Ok, cool. What about stamps?
A: Stamps are a bit different. They're a slighter newer thing, and were made popular on Deviantart in the early 2010's. They are traditionally 99x56 pixels, and can be used to decorate any blog or website. Here are some examples:
as you can see, they can be made with a variety of borders.
I would love to continue, but I think this is enough for today. I'll have a part two up within a couple days! Stay tuned for explanations and examples of dividers, favicons, fanlistings, web etiquette, and more!
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dailybridgerton
gracieabrams
germansingergirl
kianamaiart
snowghoul
