My sites are ok imo

 

does anyone have any tips to take sites beyond ok/workmanlike to fantastic (ie looking really professional)

 

is constant practise the only way to do this?

I'm teaching myself grid theory and typography atm in order to try and attain that pizazz

 

 

its proving elusive

this is a huge argument that rages on through the design world... can you teach creativity?

 

I studied advertising at university and we had 3 years of learning to be creative; some people are just NOT creative and cannot come up with original and interesting ideas. The same goes for design; some people will never have that eye for design that others find so easy...

 

Basically, practice and pain-staking pixel perfection is the only way to get things looking really professional. You need to measure every single pixel, guess work is not an option.

 

I would start buying art magazines (computer arts, wallpaper, creative review etc...) and get some inspiration from those. Follow tutorials on design rather than coding and above all; take your time over your designs.

 

Make sure your wire-frames are solid before you start prettying up your designs in Photoshop.

 

Good luck and practice hard

Well, it's one of those things where you need to break out of your comfort zone and try/experiment with new things, think outside of the box a little. I personally don't like those templatey looking sites where everything's boxy and looks like it could be marked up using tables. Sites should be a little different and have a creative flair about them I feel.

 

Browse CSS galleries, there's so many awesome sites out there that can give you inspiration. Gain inspiration from everywhere, appreciate the arts and work on mastering your graphics editor. Practice, practice loads and don't be afraid of trying new things and it will come!

thanks everyone

 

I'm going to analyse what I think are weakpoints in my game and work to rectify/eliminate them

The best thing, is you are trying to improve.

 

Ive worked with too many people that say "i do what i do, and wont take criticism as i am the best"

 

This is a great forum for you to gain help too.

 

Unfortunately, im not a designer, so cant help with that, but if your not sure about html/css, let me know, and ill do what i can.

 

 

Reaper

Resign yourself to using loads of ink (or do it digitally - it works better for me on paper) and print out a screenshot whenever you see a site you really like the design of. Then wack them all in a scrapbook and regularly look through it, every now and then you'll see a print out and realise that there's one particular element you really like and something similar would work as part of a current project. Worth giving it a go to see if it works for you!

To a certain extent you have to soak up all things visual and have an awareness of what's going on around you. Going on websites like templatemonster.com is good for inspiration. But don't get confused with stealing ideas. A lot of it is time and experience in the real world. I was at college doing design for 5 years and it didn't really start coming to me more naturally till I'd been working in the industry for a few years. Get your basics in Graphic Design solid, and the rest should come with time and experience.

 

And if your design doesn't work well on paper, it won't work on your computer screen.