Hey guys,

 

I'm currently on my quest to change careers and become a web designer, I posted a thread a while back about starting my journey and got some great advice and generally things have been going well since then.

 

I've got to grips with HTML/CSS and really enjoying it. Problem is, I've hit a bit of a wall;

 

I'm really struggling with 'coming up with ideas'. I'm confident with all the technical stuff, whether that's actually coding stuff or even things like using Photoshop/Illustrator (which I'm fluent in anyway due to using it for my current job - 3D artist) and despite being pretty new to writing HTML, that's not the bit I'm having problems with.

 

I want to start building personal project sites to build a portfolio, but I get stumped at how to actually design the page.

 

For example, I thought I'd try and build a site for an imaginary cupcake shop, not hugely original I know but I thought it would give me a nice little project as a starter. I came up with the name and planned out the site content / site map, and then drew a blank when it came to actually designing the site. I just had no idea what to do!

 

Changed up my concept a bit and thought maybe I'll try a simple, executive layout for a law firm or something, and the same problem... all out of ideas on how to actually design the page.

 

I suppose this is probably what it known as designers-block, but for me, it's not that the ideas have just stopped, they haven't even started yet!

 

Do you guys have any tips/advice/articles/resources for generating ideas or coming up with designs?

 

I know I could just stick with the coding and focus on the development side, which is something I do plan to do, but even then, I want to actually have some built examples of what I can do to put in a portfolio.

 

Thanks!

Scour the internet. You need inspiration. Don't feel too much pressure to come up with the next big thing, but do look up the latest design trends and interfaces that inspire you. Obviously don't copy but take inspiration and suddenly the ideas will flow.

It gets easier, just keep at it. Reminds me that there are two kinds of writers in the world - those who can write a book in a month and those that takes years to do the same thing, stressing every sentance. Both are just as good.

Thanks guys, good to hear it's not uncommon!

 

It's more frustrating because I'm aiming to ultimately focus on development, progressing onto Javascript and then PHP/Ruby, but I feel I should get a good grasp of HTML/CSS first by building some sites. And as I've discovered, coding them is the easy bit for me!

First of all don't get discouraged, it's not like proffesional designers have all those ideas popping from knowhere, there are some steps that you can follow, that will make generating ideas much easier.

 

There are many techniques of web design, lots of them are similar, but the most important thing is, they are just guidelines for doing the right thing. I think you should buy some easy to read book for a starter, i suggest ,,Principles of beatiful Web Design" by Jason Beaird, he goes through process of web design.

 

From the top of my head, the general pattern is:

- gather information about your subject, try to get know the culture, the history, check other websites about same topic, google photos about your subject (for example coffe)

- Having a bit of knowledge, you can decide what aspects of you ,,clients'' services are more important, you can start building an information hierarchy of the web (assuming you've got content, which is most important), this is also called wireframing

- Having informations about the culture, the photos, the sites, add some creativity, by defining emotions, that you want to share with user (for example calm, excitment, even neutrality), this will lead you to chosing color scheme, as well as picking font (which isn't that easy task, but you can read upon color theory and font theory for web design without problems, i'll add some resources to the post)

- Now is the time for some actual photoshop (or w/e) work, this is the most creative part that you have to do, but having the site structure i think u can manage it, try to play around with elements, i'd suggest starting from less to more detailed elements (from bg to font shadow of some low hierarchy header). It could be the most frustrating, but most satisfying part as well. My personal pointer for desinging is to make sure, every element on page and it's design, has a purpose ( for example my background for coffee site is light beige, beacuse it's not distracting, but keeps the feeling of the coffee, that is main subject of site ).

 

My post was a bit chaotic, but hopefully i have helped you make design process easier. If not, i'll give you some really usefull resources:

,,Principles of beatiful Web Design" by Jason Beaird - it's really great for starters

http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/sessions/web-design-theory/ - web design theory session, many important topics are covered, worth reading

- simple steps from decent to great web design by Mathew Smith, great conference vid - will really encourage you to design

http://www.dribbble.com/ is a really good resource to find inspiration. You can sign up yourself but you need a referral if you want to post your own stuff.

 

Go on there and search the subject you are looking for and see what other people have done and what you like about certain things and try to implement that into your own design.