I’ve been teaching myself web design as a hobby for a little while now and a decent understanding client side coding. While I won’t be guru for some time, I would like to divert some of my attention to learning how to make sites look good. On the coding side of things the progression was pretty logical:
HTML -> CSS -> Javascript
I found that the better understanding I had of HTML the easier it was to learn CSS and then finally move on to Javascript.
I guess what I’m looking for is advice area’s to focus on first to build the foundation and then where to go from there in a logical fashion
The other question I have is can good design be learned or do you guys think it’s a skill that can be developed?
Thanks in advance, I’m really looking forward reading your replies
Don’t be embarrassed because everyone has to start somewhere and the whole point of learning is to improve. Those who can’t be bothered learning or refining their skills are the ones who should be embarrassed. My earliest website is still live and makes me cringe too, good luck trying to convince me to give that link to you
As for design I’ve learnt through the years and am self taught largely. I was fortunate enough to be in environments with experienced designers who were more than happy to share their knowledge and advice.
For the Adobe packages I would recommend getting a monthly subscription to either Lynda.com or [URL=“http://www.kelbytraining.com”]Kelbytraining.com and working through some of the tutorials there. They differ in approach and scope but both are very worthy of a month or two, especially in these early stages. You will get the feel of the software without feeling lost or overwhelmed or that you are working to someone elses time frame. Kelby is more heavily into the practicalities of doing the work, lynda is more instructional but they’re both reasonably priced and you have unlimited access for the time you are subscribed.
One thing I would say for learning those 2 programs is that for Photoshop there are multiple ways to achieve the same end. Don’t get lost in the step by step method but try and understand the process. In the end about 15% of the tools do about 90% of my work so you can achieve a lot by understanding the basics well and applying them. For illustrator learn the pen tool, layers, fills, masking and how to build up to complex shapes. Once you know how these all link together again the rest is icing on the top.
Look at some design books or tutorials for inspiration and follow the tuts that you get excited about. Certainly in the early stages it is an easy way to get familiar and excited which inspires and makes you want to learn more.
The absolute best resource that I’ve ever seen for explaining good simple and effective design is Before and After Magazine. Their website has tutorials and blog articles and a full catalogue. They’ve been doing design on computers since it first started - and doing it well. Their explanations and examples are always lovely, they write clearly and consistently. There are plenty of other resources around for inspiration too, I’m sure others will chip in.
Colour-wise computers are able to assist much more than they used to and the tools available for matching and understanding colour theory are much more plentiful. Adobe Kuler is available in some packages which makes things easy. Much of the time I work of complementary colours sampled from images.
I think lastly that design is something that can be learnt to a degree. Following basic principles of design, for layout, spacing, colour and dimension are all going to help. You might never set the world on fire but there are tons of good solid resources available now for the web. I wouldn’t get too carried away with feeling like you have to be able to do it all yourself, sometimes using someone else’s design as a starting point is a cheap way to get a head start.
What kind of foundation do you want to build? If you’re familiar with HTML, CSS, and JS, the only key you need that fits inside the whole is a good taste of art, design, an algorithmus in thinking, and either Photoshop or Gimp.
Your question is a good one, - I’ve been designing web sites for about 3 years now, and in my opinion I think good design can not be learned, nor developed. Of course, logically everything is possible, though as someone once said, - “Art is infinite”, which is true. Some people learn from developing for over a decade, and some may learn it during College in a Web-Design or Art class in just a year, and some just have a good taste for Web-Design.
Thanks for your response Phyxas. I understand that a sense of design is the missing key. I guess what I’m looking for is a little more focus to my efforts. I’ve visited a few design tutorial sites but subjects seem random.
As for software I own copies of both Photoshop and illustrator although at the moment when I open them I’m completely lost I’m not sure which to learn first or should I take a step back and focus on colour theory, coming up with a concept, usability principles or just dive into the software etc…
As for project I’m intending to redo a site I made when I was just out of school (http://cdspersonnel.com.au) at that time I had no really understanding of html, CSS or design and just hacked together a site from random tutorials I found on the web.
I’m somewhat in agreement. It helps if you have an innate knack for color, layout and placement and can do some illustration yourself. If that’s the case you can learn everything on your own.
On the other hand, without that innate foundation, it is not possible to develop professional graphic design skills without significant outside help.
But I would be very careful about judging your own level of skill. If in doubt, make an appointment with an art director for a reputable design company and ask for an informational interview to review your portfolio. Do not base your skill level off of the opinion of your piers who may know nothing about design and give you positive feedback on account of friendship or lack of skill. I’ve run into a few people who had their egos stroked in that type of environment, and they couldn’t cut it in the professional world.
Graphic design involves a lot of visual psychology, rules of visual composition, some traditional illustration skills, typography, and optical illusions that come into play. These are not things you pick up on the job, they’re taught in college and it’s not as easy as people might presume. Books alone don’t come close to teaching these things, you will need lots of practice and the experienced eye of a teacher to review your work and help you improve.
There’s a popular sentiment that graphic design (or anything related to the fine arts) is easy and anyone can do it, however that is purely a myth and there’s plenty of bad art and design out there to prove the point.
If you’re serious about graphic design for the web, I’d recommend looking for a college with a good reputation in that discipline. Sadly, most low-cost colleges don’t attract talented professors, so be very careful.
If college is not possible, I would look around for a professional designer who may be willing to do an apprenticeship of sorts. There is no substitute for a human being to teach you what they know.
I found that it can help to look at others at times for inspiration in design. Trying to recreate what someone else does, but suiting it for yourself and comparing the results. Studying the many, many techniques throughout the web and books, you’ll probably develop a bit of a library of tools that you know work. I personally like studying various techniques, embedding them in my brain and then figuring out how I could make these techniques work for me, what I could do differently…what else could I do with this new technique I learned, or how about combining this style with that style sort of thing. Experiment and practice.
I’m personally always learning and trying to improve, my biggest obstacle tends to be logo/font design. Can drive me off the wall. I feel most comfortable with color, absolutely love color. But anyway for logos, I’m still spending time looking at what people do…I’ll see a logo that’s stunning and analyze to death what their thought process must’ve been and use that type of brainstorming to outline ideas for my own stuff…so a logo for a tree (silly example for kicks), I’ll make a list of things I can work with like : trees are green, leaves, bark of a tree, wood, tree(s) falling over, tree branches, brown for the bark, autumn leaves…then I’d start thinking well I could make one of the letters a leaf, into a branch, make all the text brown, have woody texture? Or just be completely abstract and only adapt some of the colors? Maybe not the greatest example, but getting yourself to truly think about what you want to design/are trying to conjure up, helps…writing down ideas, looking for examples of what you’re thinking of can assist in seeing it clearer.
And for stuff like a business website, just taking a look and becoming familiar with elements that are common amongst them, making a mental note or real notes (I prefer both) of what you might find for a business website vs a blogging one. Like a business website might have a few points to make : this is what we as a company do, this is why you want to use us, this is what we’re offering you sort of thing. So after which can come how you’d want to display that information for a particular company, so that it represents them well. Take notes of sites that you consider interesting design and figure out why they work, what they say about the company they are representing.
Anyway not sure if it helps much, but hope it does in some way. Be prepared to exercise your mind though! Good luck~
