Getting Better at Web Design

[connor4312]

Hi,

I'm curious as to how you all practice to get better at web design. For me, I was required to take a web design class at my (high) school last year, and the teacher let me run a self-taught class. What I would do is, in the one and a half hour period, spend the first half hour reading design blogs like webdesign.tutsplus, then spend the remaining hour creating the design. I rarely finished, but doing this helped me a ton and improved my design considerably. I've started doing this again whenever I manage to get some free time.

So, what's your story? What do you do to get better at/practice designing?

[ralph.m]

Hanging around a place like this is good. I've learnt a huge amount here. Another great thing to do is look at websites you like and study how they were made, but looking at the HTML, CSS and JS. There are lots of great tools for studying how a site is built, like the web inspector in browsers like Chrome (Firebug for Firefox) and the web developer toolbar for FF and other browsers.

[Dreeass]

I started with Java, got to HTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL a bit and JS. I mostly get my inspiration from other stuff like games, programs, websites etc. and go on from there. But getting it all to work in IE just doesn't work so I'm currently making a website for Chrome and Safari (webkit) and when it's finished I'll edit the design for Mozilla, Opera and maybe IE with some less beauty.

[TechnoBear]

But getting it all to work in IE just doesn't work so I'm currently making a website for Chrome and Safari (webkit) and when it's finished I'll edit the design for Mozilla, Opera and maybe IE with some less beauty.

I thought we'd left those bad-old days behind. If your site is properly coded, then it should display pretty much the same in all modern browsers. If you're using CSS3 techniques, then you'll need to provide a simpler fallback for older browsers, but building different versions for different browsers really should be a thing of the past.

[Dreeass]

I thought we'd left those bad-old days behind. If your site is properly coded, then it should display pretty much the same in all modern browsers. If you're using CSS3 techniques, then you'll need to provide a simpler fallback for older browsers, but building different versions for different browsers really should be a thing of the past.

It will look the same in Mozilla, Opera, Chrome and Safari. But I can't get border images to work properly in IE9.

[ralph.m]

But I can't get border images to work properly in IE9.

That's because IE9 doesn't support hem. ... along with text-shadow, outline-offset and transitions.

This is the problem with using technologies that are still in production and basically experimental.

[henrywinsett]

It is imperative to regularly read and practice web design for getting through knowledge and skill. Regular reading habit is helpful to get updated with the latest tools and techniques. One should be aware of the latest trends and user's choice. It will help one in mastering web design and building a modern website design which is user friendly and obtain more visits to the website.