Today I thought I'd touch on Buttons, Badges, Blinkies and Stamps, the difference between them and why Buttons are so important.
First up, buttons! Buttons almost always have a size of 88px x 31px. The sizing is odd, but dates back to Myspace! Buttons are used both as decoration and to link back to sites you like!
You'll see a lot of 88x31 buttons on your adventures on the indie web! A lot of webmasters will make a custom one for their site and let other webmasters download and display their buttons with a link back to the creators site as a way to keep track of and show off other people's websites!
For example, here's a button wall from onlywonder.net! All these buttons are links to other websites! them all being the same size makes them fit together well, which is why it's important to remember to size your buttons properly!
Here is a button maker or you can use any art program (I use Aseprite for pixel art and ClipStudio for other art). Another option is the free alternative to Photoshop, PhotoPea.
Next, badges! badges are similar to buttons, but more slender. They also don't really have a set size. Badges are also far less common. The most common sizes for badges are 80x15 and 88x15!
you can make 80x15 badges here or 88x15 badges here.
On to blinkies… I uh. Don't like blinkies. They include flashing colors (which is why they're called blinkies) and can cause headaches and seizures in photo-sensitive people. There are ways with JavaScript that you can pause gifs, but I am not a JavaScript person, so I don't know how that works. I also personally do not include blinkies on my websites so I don't have any resources for them, (and neither does Stahl) sorry.
And finally, stamps! The originated on DeviantArt, so people often refer to them as DA stamps. There isn't a universal size or template for them, but you can find resources on DeviantArt and elsewhere on the net but looking for "DA Stamp Templates". Stamps are often animated gifs, but not always.
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here is a tutorial for making stamps with PhotoPea, which I linked earlier in this post.
...I think that's all! If you have questions, feel free to send us your questions! - Homura