Ask the Experts, Question 17:

What is the optimum size and weight for an award graphic?

by Wally Gross, Webmaster, Surfers Choice Internet Awards
15 February 2003

Print Version

Wendy Sears, Webmistress Assess Risk Web Award

Editor's Choice

As a general principal, award graphics should be small enough to limit the load time on the recipient's site, but the size and weight should be sufficient to maintain the quality of the graphic. The optimum size and weight of an award graphic, therefore, will vary from award site to award site, from graphic to graphic.

First, the words "size" and "weight" should be explained. When we talk about the size of the graphic, we are talking about its dimensions — its width and height in pixels. When we talk about the weight of an award graphic, we are talking about its byte-size.

To achieve the optimum size and weight, I would suggest that four questions should be asked:

In short, the optimum size is achieved by balancing image quality and loadtime, functionality and usability, and by taking into consideration not only the criteria you have established for others but the criteria of others with which you have agreed to comply.

Mariella Klaassen, Webmistress
Mariëlla's Web Award (This site has closed.)

Award graphics come in many sizes. My graphic is 100x100 pixels and 10 KB. In my opinion, the perfect size is between 100x100 and 120x120 pixels, and the optimum weight is between 10 and 15 KB.

We all want fast loading pages, and large award graphics are slower to load. The only way to make a large graphic load fast is to optimize it, but this will effect the quality of the image. I don't want my winners to alter the award, so I offer them one that is already fast loading and beautiful.

I don't think large award graphics look very elegant. Of course, this is just my opinion. There are lots of award programs that love big award graphics, so I guess we will continue to see them around.

Vitor Oliveira, Webmaster
BigEye Award Program

First, award givers must think about the weight when they are designing award graphics. Nobody wants to post a 30 Kb graphic on their site, and this includes award winners. If a site wins several awards, all with large graphics, it could create a problem with server space.

The next thing to think about is the size of the graphic. Nobody wants an award graphic that is as big as a postcard. It takes up too much space and does not look good on a web page, especially if you are displaying several of them.

Think about the needs of the applicants when you design your award graphic. They want a smaller graphic that loads fast and doesn't take up a lot of server space. In my opinion, no award graphic should be more than 130x180 pixels (vertical format) or 180x130 (horizontal format), and no more than 15 Kb in weight.

The optimum size will be about 100x130 (vertical format) and around 10 Kb in weight. This size loads fast and looks good. If you want to attract more applications for your award, then offer a graphic that award seekers will be happy to post on their sites.

Dave Edmonds, Webmaster
EddNet Awards (site closed)

The allowable maximum for an award graphic is generally accepted as 200x200 pixels. Personally, I feel this is a little large and would prefer to see no greater than about 150x150 pixels.

The optimum size, however, will depend on how "busy" your award graphic is. A simple design may require less space than a more complex one, but what's important is getting the balance right so the award graphic doesn't look cluttered or lost in a sea of space. As a general rule, the largest dimension should probably be no greater than 100 to 150 pixels.

Although Internet access is becoming faster with the rise of broadband and cable, spare a thought for the poor people on 56K dial ups (I'm one of them) and keep your file size small. Award graphics are usually displayed alongside many others, so I would suggest keeping the size of the file somewhere in the region of 10 Kb to 15 Kb. If you can design graphics smaller than 10 Kb, then so much the better, but you normally start trading off quality in your quest for a smaller file size.

Award graphics with many colours (e.g. photographs) are better in JPG format, while more blocky graphics with fewer colours are better in GIF format. And remember, always optimise your graphics with an optimisation program!

Loren Sebastian, Webmistress
Cerulean Award Program

An award image is the first thing an applicant gets his or her heart into before applying for an award. Keeping the 640x480 resolution in mind, people used to go with the "bigger deals, bigger values" motto. Not only did they design their websites with huge printed backgrounds and three color base graphics, but they made huge banner logos, entrance graphics and award images, too!

Now smaller images are popular. Award graphics in the range of 120x100 (width and height) are preferred, and the maximum weight should not exceed 15 Kb. This lighter weight is easier for both award givers and applicants to deal with.

Award graphics must be appealing to the applicants. More appealing graphics and unique designs will improve the potential of the entire award program. One should keep the basic theme of the site in mind when designing the awards. Graphics which are consistent with the overall theme will help to brand your site and the award program.

The award graphic must not be something you are just giving away. It has to be a symbol of your creativity, and it must represent your inner self. The graphic must be unique and beautiful so that applicants will want to post it on their sites.

Nikola Kitanovic, Webmaster
Absolut Awards (site closed)

If we are talking about serious award programs, then we should bear in mind that their award graphics must meet their own criteria for good design and quick loading. A serious program should never offer an award graphic that is too big, either in pixels or kilobytes,and most of them will agree with this.

Furthermore, we should keep the following points in mind when we create our award graphics:

Given these requirements, is it possible to create a small graphic, such as 100x100 pixels and maximum 10 Kb, that will meet them all? I think so. Creative award masters will always find a way. If you need some inspiration, just take a look at the award graphics created by Beehive Awards, Favourite Website Awards, Aljapaco Awards, Assess Risk, and Spider Food.

So, we see that smaller graphics are preferred by serious award programs and that serious award masters will find a way to meet this requirement while still creating graphics that most winners will be proud to post in their websites.

Maggi Norris, Webmistress
Nem5 Awards Program

Smaller awards, like 88x31, seem to be more popular among professional award seekers. There also appears to be a demand for mid-sized award graphics, from 100x100 to 200x200, that are miniature works of art. On the opposite end of the spectrum, children's and personal sites tend to want bigger, eye-catching award graphics.

While some award seekers do not care how much an award graphic may "weigh," others are conscientious of every single kilobyte (Kb) the graphic will add to their Web page and its loading time. For them, it is a good idea to offer graphics that weigh less than 10 Kb.

It is important to remember that while we may love our award graphic, we are still offering it to our winners and if they don't like it or can't use it because of the size or "download weight," then we won't get what we seek, which is applications from award seekers.