be a better web designer

I am the same way codebase25. I’m a technical person and have trouble visualizing and creating designs. The first thing i realized is that i am creative, it just takes a lot longer to be creative than the average person. Sketching out a design is a great idea to start. There are few good starter books for getting better at design, but unfortunately i can’t remember them atm =(

Don’t neglect fonts if you are desining a site that is font heavy. It can take a long time to choose a font, but its well worth it almost every time.

Being almost completely on the data side of the world, I do have a hard time with designing (or at least implementing a design) on the web.

Creating 2D graphics is something I need to learn first, as I don’t have my own designer for graphics. I’ll definitely be working on this goal more often.

Definetly worth doing. Lots and lots of hours. This “thing” was and still is time consuming. I think the phrase practice makes perfect really does apply to some things. Dont get discouraged. And when your about to throw your computer, take a break. :)

I went from a newbie designer to teaching it at college – you can do it, and everything you need to know is on the internet somewhere. Start at www.sitepoint.com, then go to alistapart.com then go to google and look up “how to do whatever you want” and you’ll find a perfect tutorial somewhere. Get ON IT. There’s no time to be any better than right now.

Lately I have had the chance to spend more time designing. Like most things I guess the more you practice the better you get it at it. I’m still waiting for the one of those “I’m getting better at this” moments.

I’m getting cought up in this whole blogging. Some people have gotten it to work for them and maybe one day, I’l be one of em.

I’ve learned much about xhtml and css, I’m constantly reading about good webdesign techniques and practices, and I’m now paying much more attention to my code, as opposed to my old ways of focusing on what the outcome looked like.

Now, the next step would be learning AJAX or maybe PHP, but right now I’ve got my hands full (job & school don’t mix well). So it goes on my “to do after I graduate” list.

I’ve designed and coded an XHTML 1.1 Strict website in the last 2 months. Learned sooo much in the process. I’m still fiddling with it, but overall, I’m pleased with the design.

Now I still have to read all those XHTML/CSS/DOM/JavaScript articles that are waiting in my del.icio.us “toread” category…