Teaching yourself web design.

kaotikuk

kaotikuk

kaotikuk

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881
Hey guys im wondering has anyone here done this? if so wheres the best place to start? any books to recommend etc? Ive been thinking about learning it for a while now but really have the urge to start now so any advice is appreciated!

cheers
 
Depends really what you want to do?

Front end/UI/U-Ex/apps etc

Basics to get down is start with learning basic html then move to css. Once mastered, bring in Javascript and you got the basics down. Once you learn JS bring in some library's (my preferred is dojo/jquery). Then decide if you want to move to .Net/C#/Java or py depending on what you need and you doing a lot of server calls/tasks/cms coding etc.

A good place to start is code academy and the likes, dont skip anything and make sure you know those basics like the back of your hand ie you can code it from scratch.

Generally you need to know a lot of everything to get by these days as they all require something thats not out the box.

Good Luck.

EDIT: I would suggest Visual web developer/studio express to get you started aswell as they have code assist etc for most stuff, but i also tend to use Aptana and even notepad++ if im feeling confident with the code.
 
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Im still doing this after years, I mastered basic html and then moved to css but went no further as i didn't continue or feel the need too. As above go from basic to difficult but make sure u know the previous perfectly before moving on
 
Nail the basics and dip into and out of the fads.

HTML, CSS, PHP and SQL are your basics to get sorted. Fads like Coldfusion, Ruby, etc come and go. ASP is great if you want to work for a big corporate with a ****** web team, as they will likely be paying through the nose for it. I'd say get as diverse a knowledge of different languages and technologies as possible - as long as you have the four key ones down you'll be doing fine.
 
I learnt HTML 4 by opening pages into Notepad and picking the code up from there. However, that was when HTML 4 was the main language, back in the days of linear messaging boards and pop-up adverts. Nowadays, it's all HTML 5 and Flash. Can they still be inspected, presumably not in Notepad, but can they still be inspected?
 
Learn HTML & CSS then move on to backend stuff, since frontend stuff is saturated as hell by 14 year olds, and countries with low labour costs willing to do it for 5 pounds... or something.

Heck, I've worked in web development but mostly worked with backend systems and databases and never touched html. Enterprise stuff(JEE, Spring) pays well but usually requires a cs degree.
 
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So should i just use online resources like w3 schools etc for HTML? or is buying a book or something worth it.

thanks for the replies all.
 
This fella should have some good tips:

spider+web.jpg
 
not the best time to start either, quite a few changes in the pipeline.

Monserrat said:
I learnt HTML 4 by opening pages into Notepad and picking the code up from there. However, that was when HTML 4 was the main language, back in the days of linear messaging boards and pop-up adverts. Nowadays, it's all HTML 5 and Flash. Can they still be inspected, presumably not in Notepad, but can they still be inspected?
Click to expand...
It is still, primarily, HTML4(.01)
 
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If you want to learn some web design then http://www.codecademy.com/ is a good place to start. I decided to do their codeyear thing and worked my way through HTML, Javascript and CSS. That is all free and gives you a good basic knowledge to create websites.
 
UK-AL05 said:
Learn HTML & CSS then move on to backend stuff, since frontend stuff is saturated as hell by 14 year olds, and countries with low labour costs willing to do it for 5 pounds... or something..
Click to expand...

That really depends on the type of job he's looking for.
While it's true that many agencies seem to want someone who may not be absolutely amazing at any one thing, but is instead fairly good at a little bit of everything, that's not the case with high end agencies. They usually have dedicated front and back end teams as this allows them to hire employees that may not be able to do a little bit of everything, but the things they can do, they do very very well.

Source: I'm the senior front end dev for a larger agency

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I didn't even notice that the OP is asking about design, not development.
  • First of all, you're going to want to get a good working knowledge of Photoshop. While some designers advocate using Fireworks, PS is the industry standard so learn it first.
  • You're going to want to subscribe to a lot of design and development blogs and do a lot of reading. You're going to want to read up on design theory, color theory and typography.
  • Start designing websites. If you're stuck for ideas of what to design, come up with your own redesigns of popular websites such as Facebook, Twitter or even OCUK.
  • Even if you plan on being a dedicated designer who just hands over the psd's for a front end team to build, I highly recommend learning html/css/JavaScript/jQuery. You don't need to master it or anything, but even a basic working knowledge will benefit your designs as you'll have a better understanding of what works and what doesn't when it comes to actually building the site.
 
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Yea tbh, i wasnt quite sure how it all worked, design/devlopment so tripnologist your post is very helpful. I guess id like to do both, but probably learn the code first.
 
Tripnologist said:
That really depends on the type of job he's looking for.
While it's true that many agencies seem to want someone who may not be absolutely amazing at any one thing, but is instead fairly good at a little bit of everything, that's not the case with high end agencies. They usually have dedicated front and back end teams as this allows them to hire employees that may not be able to do a little bit of everything, but the things they can do, they do very very well.

Source: I'm the senior front end dev for a larger agency

-----------------------------------

I didn't even notice that the OP is asking about design, not development.
  • First of all, you're going to want to get a good working knowledge of Photoshop. While some designers advocate using Fireworks, PS is the industry standard so learn it first.
  • You're going to want to subscribe to a lot of design and development blogs and do a lot of reading. You're going to want to read up on design theory, color theory and typography.
  • Start designing websites. If you're stuck for ideas of what to design, come up with your own redesigns of popular websites such as Facebook, Twitter or even OCUK.
  • Even if you plan on being a dedicated designer who just hands over the psd's for a front end team to build, I highly recommend learning html/css/JavaScript/jQuery. You don't need to master it or anything, but even a basic working knowledge will benefit your designs as you'll have a better understanding of what works and what doesn't when it comes to actually building the site.
Click to expand...

Yeah that's what i said. But a backend dev still needs to html, which is why i said learn the basics of HTML and then move onto backend stuff.

Backend developers earn far more then front end devs in areas like JEE and Spring. Those frameworks tend to be used corporations as well.
 
Once you grasp html/css how do you progress onto the fancy cool looking pages and layouts? Can't find many resources on that ie do designers use the grid system etc

So far all my sites look like throw backs form the 90's.

@op hope you don't mind me asking in here as didnt want to start a whole new thread just yet?
 
welshdragon said:
Once you grasp html/css how do you progress onto the fancy cool looking pages and layouts? Can't find many resources on that ie do designers use the grid system etc

So far all my sites look like throw backs form the 90's.

@op hope you don't mind me asking in here as didnt want to start a whole new thread just yet?
Click to expand...

Essentially you need to become a graphic designer.
 
I was looking to create a website for my parents business and also for myself and, after reading this thread, CodeAcademy is brilliant! Still on the basic stuff but the way it is structured is great. I'm also using Microsoft Expression Studio for the offline design and coding which is free to students and seems to have everything i need from the software unless anyone could recommend anything better?
 
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