Web design

sniffy

sniffy

sniffy

Soldato
Joined
12 Dec 2003
Posts
8,141
Location
East Sussex
Hey,

I've seen some brilliant websites made by users of this forum and I'm curious where you guys draw inspiration from? Do you just naturally have a creative flare so you can make something from nothing or do you design based on features you like from other sites? Maybe something else?

I lack an artist way of thinking so find it hard. I'm somewhat competent with XHTML, CSS, PHP and so on but the design is lacking. It would be nice to get to the stage where I could earn a little money along side my education. I've got mates asking me to make them sites for family businesses etc which I'd happily do for free to get a portfolio going but I only want to do it if the work is to a high standard.

I don't really know what I want from this thread; please just post your thoughts :)
 
I'd say if you're not a design/creative type then don't try to force it. For example, I'm a web developer and not a web designer. Where I work the designers take care of of all the design stuff - as I really couldn't hope to compete with some of stuff they come up with. I can advise on the design in terms of web functionality, useability though, but not come up with the original design flare that creative people seem to have been born with :)

Would also be careful of doing stuff on the cheap for people you know, as if stuff goes wrong it can get quite messy. Saying that, I had some of the designers at work do web designs for a couple of freelance projects and that has worked quite well (mainly because I've only had to think about the development side) :)
 
Thanks for your input.

I definitely appreciate that professionals specialise in this line of work and for good reason. I'm a lone CS undergrad though so I can't really utilise that. I'm not a bad designer, it's just I'm a much better coder.

Again I appreciate what you're saying. However I won't be charging a penny for the work so I wouldn't owe them anything (basically take it if you want it). If I were to be in a position to start charging people for my work then it will be handled in a professional manner :) Anyway that's a long way away, I need to get good first.
 
Thanks a lot for those sites, very helpful.

Looking at nice sites is how I design mine. Once I have something in mind I alter it quite a bit; it's like I just need something in my mind to get me started.
 
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