   [web] Website Design
  My site-design is shocking. I can't design a half-decent website if I worked at it for 15 hours a day for 3 months. I can code/program alright but anything design oriented is a disaster.    How can I get better at designing sites? I've tried modifying templates to no avail, I got some good advice to take stylesheets from a good-looking site and to modify it/learn from it but I just can't learn!   Is there any tutorials or good practices that will help me to learn?Thanks,   Conor   
http://browsershots.org/showcase/;  Always the best solution is to use grid in making websites. Try it out and you'll be very impressed!And if you're a programmer, you simply don't have to make excellent design. You will be much more valuable as a good programmer especially in team.   ;  Just keep prectising and keep things simple is the key. Use very subtle photoshop effects and gradients. Don't use many colors, or better just use 1 and make a darker/lighter version of it to use.Take a look at this site (default theme), the design only uses blue tints and for the logo a slightly lighter and over saturated blue. Also don't be to nitpicky (i am a perfectionist :( ) if you look in the top left corner, the image of the header at the logo does not even have a smooth transition to the nav bar..... but did anyone notice that? Probably not :D.Regards, Menno   ;  I actually have the same/similar problem. I know what makes a good design, I know what looks good but I struggle to actually reproduce the designs of other sites, I'm artistically impaired! I think (and hope) it just takes patience and a lot of practice, you can't expect to make a fantastic site design first time round.I also suggest using a grid system, such as 960 grid, it's really helped me with my site designs as it makes you think in a certain way.   ;  I'd suggest that if you're already able to program sites you need to look into graphics design; you might be able to find some resources online, but a short course in your area would be a great way to learn a bit about the subject with some help and feedback along the way.  You can also try asking for tips and reading on graphic design communities.  Like anything else you'll need to practice to improve your skills, and you'll probably produce a lot of bad work along the way as you learn.Do keep in mind however that whilst you can almost always improve if you're willing to put in the effort, you may not be able to be good if the subject area just doesn't "click" with you.  If this is the case you may be better off working with other people who have the skills you lack.Hope that helps. [smile]   ;  Modifying page templates is not a great way to learn about good design. Many templates (like many software packages) are brittle in that they're difficult to modify without complete rewrites. Your best bet is to learn good design skills and apply them to your own original designs.Grid systems have already been mentioned; this Wikipedia entry might be of interest to you. Basically, whenever you want to lay out a page, either in print or on the Web, the simplest way to do it is with a typographic grid. To define a simple grid, just pick a page margin, a cell size, and a cell margin, say 40px, 200px, and 20px. If the majority of element sizes have a simple common factor (e.g., 20, 10), the design will be consistent throughout and have good visual rhythm.The four principles of Web design that you really want to learn and embrace are known as the CRAP principles, standing for Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity. Contrast means clarity, repetition means consistency, alignment means regularity, and proximity means adequate negative space. Like source code, the readability of Web sites increases drastically with judicious use of whitespace.If you're stuck on palette choices, you can always visit the COLOURlovers palettes section, which has countless great palettes for all of your design needs.Generally, simplicity is best. Focus on getting a good layout with a simple palette, then add subtle image enhancements such as simple patterns and light gradients to provide texture and contrast.And lastly, the best way to see if a design works is the same as the best way to see if software works: test it! Test it in many browsers and on many people. Ask people what they think and where you can improve. Follow the Principle of Least Astonishment: design a site the way you like sites to be designed.Hope all my rambling helps! ^_^