A site full of nice graphics or a Plain but user friendly site?
any Imo's?

well both.

the key is to find a happy medium. you need something nice to look at but at the same times you need a site that loads fast.

think about:
- avoid tables ofr layout, use css. use tables for tabular data
- graphical elements that can be made with html/css
- graphics that can be repeated to get the desired effect you want
- transparent graphics to cut down file size

might be more points, but this is what i thought of from teh top of my head. anyways IMO following this will turn you into the right direction of creaing a successful website design which will satisfy visitors.

Thanks for the info , I appreciate that .:agree:

I'd say that a plain and friendly and easily-navigated website is best. I mean sure, flashy in modern is great, but it's sometimes overwhelming. Personally, I dislike flash websites. I find them bulky, hard to navigate, and flat out frustrating, as well as quite "laggy".

A little bit goes a long way - there are some delightful examples 'out there'. On a normal website that's content-driven, subtle flash in the header on loading that stops moving after one pass makes for an interesting visit. But when you settle in to actually read what's there, it can be distracting if it doesn't stop.

Laura