The Basics
Under the Settings in your Twitter page, there is a Design Tab option where you can change the appearance of your Twitter profile. There are two main parts here: custom background and color scheme. Sign into your Twitter account. Click on your username to get the drop down menu where you will begin. Select Settings, and then Design to view the options available in the Twitter Design tab.
To change the background, simply select “Change Background Image” and browse your files to upload a custom image. Alternatively, you can choose a design from the themes given.
Next, you may want to click on the “Change Design Colors” to change the color of the tweet background, text, links etc.
Customizing the Background
Changing the background is easy, but choosing a background with the right dimension is a challenge. Keep in mind that viewers of your profile may be using anything from mobile devices and tablets to large screen monitors, so the size and position of your logo on the background can determine whether your followers can see it or not. The Twitter page is fully optimized for 1024px screen, so it would be foolish for us to use a 1024px width background as it will be completely covered by the Tweet section (and it will look awful on a large screen). An ideal size would be 1440px as that gives you extra space of 250px to include your logo and some messages. Of course, this also means that your followers need to be using a screen of 1440px and above to view your full background. You can also go with 1280px background, but you only have about 100px of space to play with.
If you only want to upload a small photo of yourself, do take into consideration that Twitter will align all your images to the left. If your photo is not the correct size, it will be truncated by the Tweets section. As can be seen in the screenshot below, I adjusted the image to 230 x 150 and uploaded it to my profile. Twitter aligned it to the upper left corner of the background. Remember to leave approximately 20 unused pixels at the top of the image to align with the timeline. You may think that the image is cut off but navigating to your profile will display how it will look to viewers.
Color Scheme
Next, you need to customize the text and background colors to match your background image. Click the “Change Design Colors” button. Open a color pallet and drag your mouse around until you find the shade that works with your background. If you’re using FireFox as your web browser, use the ColorZilla add on. It’s designed to read color from any pixel on the screen giving you a hex code that can be entered rather than trying to guess at a color. Be sure to change each tile so all the elements match your new design.
Customizing the color scheme will require some creativity, and that is not something we can teach here. Here are some resources that you can use to spark your creativity.
Themeleon If you want to get your creativity on and have a profile page like nobody else, head over to Themeleon. It’s a free template design site that has over 600,000 design patterns to choose from. It’s endorsed by Twitter and linked directly to your Twitter page so it’s seamless. There are endless possibilities of design and customization in this site where you are sure to make your page far from standard!
Free Twitter Designer This site has the same principal as the Twitter Design Themes with a few more trendy options. The custom images tab allows you to size the image from the control panel without having to go back and forth into an image editing software. The application is easy to use for any experience level.
Twitter Backgrounds.com Choose from hundreds of unique backgrounds made by their in-house PhotoShop experts. The designs include everything from cool patterns to popular musicians and sports teams. One click upload makes it fast and easy to create a profile page that represents you.
Twitter Backgrounds Gallery Here you will find a showcase of inspiration for any Twitter fan to express individuality. The collection is made up of selections and recommendations by other Twitter users. If you need inspiration for your profile, go see what cool things your fellow Tweeters are creating!
Image credit: IconPedia
