[jackniksmith18]

Hi,
I have recently been playing around with web design HTML CSS alot lately, but have come stuck when it comes to the presentation, layout and design of the site. I can never seem to get the design right, my question is how do you all first start off in the design area, do you draw it out, look around on the net for a design. This may seem like a strange request but I just cant seem to get a good lookng design on the screen. Any advice on this would be great

Thanks All

[roothost]

First and foremost, you have to be design orientated in this business. That doesn't necessarily mean you have to be able to draw with a pencil - hell, my drawing sucks! You just need to have an understanding of what works, what doesn't, colour theory, layout and above all presentation.

Try starting off with pencil and paper (not everybody does it), or just play around in photoshop.

When building a clients site you should already have a project brief outlining style, colours, layout, fonts etc so you have a good base to begin from.

It all comes with experience, and trial and error.

[robbydesigns]

First up I'm guessing what you're actually looking for is inspiration - we all do it. I blog the best things I find and use it as my scrapbook: robbyblogs.tumblr.com If you don't fancy that, look online for sites with the same subject as what you're thinking of designing and if you're not inspired by then give up

[roothost]

robbydesigns, on 17 January 2012 - 02:17 PM, said:

First up I'm guessing what you're actually looking for is inspiration - we all do it. I blog the best things I find and use it as my scrapbook: robbyblogs.tumblr.com If you don't fancy that, look online for sites with the same subject as what you're thinking of designing and if you're not inspired by then give up

Good idea! I'm forever finding great ideas, coming back to them weeks later through my bookmarks to find that I never actually bookmarked it!!!!

[robbydesigns]

roothost, on 17 January 2012 - 02:20 PM, said:

Good idea! I'm forever finding great ideas, coming back to them weeks later through my bookmarks to find that I never actually bookmarked it!!!!

Cool, let me know if you start a Tumblr and I'll follow you

[porkchops]

Roothost is on the right track.

You need to have a solid foundation in design principles. Design isn't just painting a pretty picture, it's method of communication. Once you understand the basic language of design, it's much easier to communicate through it.

Try reading up on basics like line, shape, color, gestalt, dominance, balance, etc. Understand how things work. If I remember correctly This Book does a pretty good job of covering the basics in a web design context. It'
s certainly not a complete tome on the subject but it's a good starting point.

After you have the basics down, I'd start by sketching. Sketch up a dozen ideas for the page you are working on. Then figure out what works and what doesn't. Throw these sketches away and start over, pulling the best parts from each sketch. Once you have something you are truly happy with, bring it into Photoshop or whatever you use for a graphics editor.

Or, you can try going right into HTML5/CSS3 instead. That works better for some people so it's worth trying out.

[Malyo]

Hello

I won't write much. Watch this whole lecture by Matthew Smith

you'll thank me

ps. @porkchops Principles of Beatiful Web Design is great resource

This post has been edited by Malyo: 17 January 2012 - 11:10 PM

[skidz]

Personally I suck at self inspiration so I go around collecting ideas from other websites, work out in my head a structure, interpreting a base design from the different websites I've visited and take it from there.

It's a fine line between ripping people off and drawing inspiration from peers, not quite sure which side of the line i am.

[jackniksmith18]

Hi guys sorry for the late reply, but thanks all for your great ideas. Im kind of using them to help me and my pal get our site up and running. Guess the real problem now is getting some traffic. Feel free to take a look www.criticsunknown.com

thanks

[Glowbridge]

roothost, on 17 January 2012 - 02:20 PM, said:

Good idea! I'm forever finding great ideas, coming back to them weeks later through my bookmarks to find that I never actually bookmarked it!!!!

Evernote

Thank me later.