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[TechnicalTalk]

 TechnicalTalk » Graphics and Web Design » General Web Design
 Any advice?

[austinberke]

austinberke  

 Any advice?

Well, I'm not bad at designing graphics, but my one real problem is that I need inspiration. I can get the job done, but I can never think up something that would look good in the first place. And that's the most important thing... You can't really make anything without an idea, right?

Any advice? I'm guessing this is common.

[Eilt Druin]

Eilt Druin  

 Re: Any advice?

Yeah, I have the same trouble. I can do a decent job if I have an idea, but coming up with ideas is what kills my projects.

[polas]

polas  

 Re: Any advice?

I think that is a common problem - getting the idea and the basic template down to flesh out I find the hardest. What I do is go away from the machine, and get some paper and draw on the paper how I think it should look and then move on from there modifying the design etc...

This is one of the reasons I hate webdesign

[amccloud]

amccloud  

 Re: Any advice?

The best advice I have and took me a while to let myself do is ... don't be afraid to be expired by someone else's work, and by that, I mean don't be afraid to copy someone else's work. From there you can modify it and make it unique to your needs.

There was some nifty quote that stated this but I forgot it.

[Cham]

Cham  

 Re: Any advice?

When I was starting out I used to find a web site I liked and copy the design. From there I'd tweak it to make it my own. This does two things: 1. If you have a template to build from you can learn faster by figuring out why your design doesn't look like the one you're trying to copy. 2. It gets you into the habit of good design practices (assuming of course that the site you're copying was designed properly to begin with).

There's often a lot of little tricks that go into making a site look good aesthetically.

[Admin]

Admin  

 Re: Any advice?

Agree with Cham. Others work can also inspire you for working more and better.

[TechieTom]

TechieTom  

 Re: Any advice?

Honestly, think about the site you're designing for, and it's theme. Otherwise, you can't really have an extensive design for them, and make it detailed.

For example, if you're creating a header image for a site that revolves around rating pictures, you could include a vector of a camera, then have different Polaroids spread out with pictures and "5/10" around them. Not only will it be eye candy, but it will be great from a guest's point of view. Not only would they know what the site is about, but they'd be lured into joining because of the great design.

[EvoD]

EvoD  

 Re: Any advice?

Most important rule:
Never doubt yourself and your capabilities.
You can do and create anything, just put your
head to it, and you can achieve it.