Balancing looks with speed is like tuning a track – you want that rich drop but still keep the beat smooth. Use compressed PNGs or WebP, split big gradients into CSS instead of images, and lazy‑load background pics so the page feels snappy. Keep the art pixel‑perfect but not overkill; try sprites for icons and trim unused colors. Test load times with a tool, tweak the file size, and you’ll keep both eyes and search engines happy.