If you have visited our facebook page recently you will have seen an image which is bigger than is actually permitted on facebook. What? Yes – read that again – it’s bigger than the permitted maximum size of 843 x 403 pixels – but our image is 843 x 521 pixels… so how was it done?
Look again… it’s not a single image.
Instead it is a highlighted gallery with one main image and then the thumbnails along the bottom of 7 more images – which when presented on the timeline look like a single image.
The inspiration (and the dimensions!) came from Jon Loomer’s page – which is a great facebook marketing resource.
We started with a large image and then sliced and diced it in Photoshop – saving the individual elements as separate images. Then when the gallery is posted – and then highlighted – it comes together as seen.
There are a couple of issues – facebook adds 3 pixels of space between the top photo and the bottom photos, and between each of the bottom photos – hence the white grid – without the white grid only the bottom images would have white borders – the effect is so much more impressive if the whole image has the grid – the grid reinforces the illusion rather than weakening it. Of course a white background to the elements would have done the same thing, but you are still faced with the fact that you cannot get away from these separators.
Then – the images don0t work when viewed in the gallery itself – you only see the “parts” of the whole image – on their own a piece of a shoe doesn’t say much.
And, finally, it doesn’t work on mobile devices as the highlighted image simply doesn’t display.
But is was fun – and we’ve had some great feedback!
