The Internet browser is the user’s vehicle to all online information. Whether we are checking email, managing accounts, facilitating business, or watching movies, without a browser we would be stuck.

Most of us do not give the browser the credit it deserves and this is probably because most of us are not really interested in our browser itself; we are instead interested in what our browser provides us.

Firefox brings us the best of what a browser has to offer the user. Here, you will not only find a vehicle for online information, you will also find a vehicle for personal interests.

Firefox creates personalized browser themes that are tailored to the individual user. There are a couple key things to keep in mind when creating and designing Firefox skins.

The Dimension of the Firefox Browser

First and foremost, you must know your motivation and identify your audience/end user. Firefox has the largest platform for themes and can support 200 pixels in height with versions 3.6 and below showing 85 pixels and Firefox 4.0 showing 110 pixels. Below, is the design template Brand Thunder uses for Firefox.

When designing a theme, it is important to know that only certain visual elements are going to be visible in the theme. For example, both the top and bottom of the screen are not going to be available visual space for the user and less than half of the image is going to be viewable. The horizontal size of the image is going to require some design work.

The width of the image is a shifting landscape and is 3000 pixels. When looking at a browser that is expanded at 1024 pixels next to a browser expanded at 1920 pixels, you will notice how very different the pixels are from the background perspective of the image.

Split images are less weighty than single images which slow down performance. A great way to get a fully styled background with less file weight is to use screened elements and tiled textures/partial images. You want the design to be minimal and clean and patterned backgrounds are a key ingredient for good design.

Image Placement for Firefox Themes

Simple backgrounds are best for creating Firefox personas and these are usually a single 3000×200 pixel image. Brand Thunder lets you surpass this in Firefox where the creation of Enhanced Personas is possible. Enhanced Personas enable a variety of CSS background traits and let you have more color control.

You can layer a background image with solids or tiles. Images can be stacked either left or right, with the left image layered above the right. Logos work well when they are square shaped and placed into the background of the design at 50px tall. Stay away from rectangles and wide images.

The move away from horizontal lines and horizontal design elements can be seen when looking at the old and new versions of the College Humor browser theme. College Humor’s original browser theme had both a wide logo and horizontal line. The most recent theme design by College Humor is cleaner and more efficient in that it uses the space wisely, and there are less alignment complications throughout the browser.

When creating a successful browser theme, it is important that designs do not depend on the exact placement of these horizontal elements.

Crucial design components should keep a small margin from the title-bar this way they will not get misplaced in the title bar.

Where to Begin

The browser theme will be utilized a great deal by the user and therefore should not be visually overpowering. The design needs to be minimal and clear, yet also bold enough to stand out from other elements within the design. There is obviously going to be a lot going on within the theme (tabs, URL bar, etc.) and the main design elements need to be strong yet subtle. Design should not too visually complicated for the viewer/user.

Browser design is an interesting and challenging endeavor and here are a couple of user-friendly wizards to get you started. For example, BT:Engage is a platform that is currently used in private beta that allows you to create your own browser themes. Below, are some helpful tutorial sites:

• BT:Engage: Firefox and IE theme creator
• Firefox: How to Create Your Own Persona for Firefox
• Firefox: Create and Host Your Own Personas Gallery with Personas Interactive





Author Bio:
Patrick Murphy is the founder and CEO of Brand Thunder (BT). You can follow him on Twitter @brandthunder or Facebook. The team at Brand Thunder creates persistent engagement between major brands and their online consumers with extreme makeovers for Internet browsers. BT’s new platform, BT:Engage, gives everyone the tools to build and share their own browser themes.

A good browser theme is both visually appealing and highly functional. The themes below
have both of the characteristics along with others that make them both highly effective and fun
themes.

- CollegeHumor

Many people go on the internet looking for a laugh or a good way to kill some time.
CollegeHumor is a site that provides both of these functions. This theme is notable for its sleek
design and appealing color scheme. Though CollegeHumor is mainly intended for the college
ground, the browser has a wider appeal. With the website’s content delivered right to you when
you open your browser, it continuously draws you back to the website.

- House of Blues

Nothing says cool quite like the House of Blues. Who else, then, would you want to make your
web browser just a little bit cooler? The House of Blues interactive theme includes a menu that
takes you right to your favorite venue to find out what’s going on in your town’s music scene.
This is a great browser theme which will keep any music lover connected and happy.

- Daily Beast

The Daily Beast’s interactive theme adds a great toolbar to the web browser which takes the user
directly to their favorite new stories. This theme gets you to your news faster than having to go
to your favorites and get there yourself. The theme is rather minimalist although it does add a
picture of a current event behind the navigation bar. Stay informed with this interactive theme.

- Daytona

Daytona actually has a few different browser themes available based on your race. Never live
another second not knowing just how long you’ll have to wait for the next big race by installing
this theme with the built in countdown. This theme combines a love of race with added
anticipation for the next event.

- Huffington Post

For those amongst us with a more serious sense of style, the Huffington Post theme provides
clean, minimalist look that is reminiscent of a business journal. The menu bar that comes with
this theme includes links to the days top news stories. This theme makes it simple to stay current
on today’s news.

- Major League Gaming

Gamers spend a lot of time on the internet trolling for the latest trends and events. If you find
that your one of these people, then MLG has designed an interactive theme with you in mind.

With direct links to the latest gaming headlines and a sidebar filled with YouTube videos, this is
the perfect theme for any serious gamer.

- Dragon

This dragon themed interactive browser adds a little more adventure to your web browsing. No
longer to browser need to be stuck in stodgy, old realty. This amazing browser theme comes
with a sidebar full of video updates from around the web.

- Weather

Just as we all long ago started turning to the internet to tell us about the weather instead of
looking out a window, you’ ll someday think that going to an actual website to find out the
weather was a quaint notion as well. This browser tells you about the weather before you even
ask it so you’ ll always be informed about the current outdoor conditions.

- Starry night

Van Gogh did not paint the night sky on your browser, but Brand Thunder has taken the liberty
of doing it for you. This interactive theme includes a changing night sky map which the
astronomy enthusiast will surely love.

- NASA

If you like stars, but are looking for a little more details, this NASA theme will be just up your alley.
This theme updates once a week with a fresh, new pictures from NASA as they continue to explore the
galaxy (while you explore the web).

You can download these themes on BrandThunder.com. I will update the article soon with photos and links

Up until very recently, companies only had their own website available as a means of establishing a web presence. Today, social marketing tools and Web 2.0 technologies introduce a host of new approaches and outlets for the brand marketer. Unfortunately, many of these new communication channels aren’t actually effective in sustaining brand awareness and building brand loyalty.

The reason for this is that they are still limited to only a narrow portion of an internet user’s overall experience, much like the brand’s original website.

One brand-developing opportunity that’s been introduced over the course of the past few years is custom browser themes that showcase the brand. This is especially effective in categories where people are proud to declare their brand loyalty, as is the case with sports teams, colleges, favorite musicians and artists, movie franchise, and news sites.

What Is A Browser Theme?

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If you don’t like the default Google Chrome themes you can create your own Google Chrome theme just using a web-based application Chromethemes.

To create your own chrome theme you only need four .PNG files to use theme in the frame, toolbar, and various tab backgrounds.

Alternatively, you can just leave the image slots empty and chose colors for each area from the “Colors” tab.

When you’re done, just hit “Pack” and download your theme to see how it looks. It’s extremely simple to use, and a cool way to really personalize your browser. Hit the link to try it out: Create Google Chrome Themes

To use it you simply have to follow five steps:
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