how do people make beautiful websites? :confused:

i just cant seem to understand this. I am only average webdesigner and a good php programmer. all i could come up with bunch of boring websites and i just cant seem to master this website design. It looks like i dont have that in me. Is it my ignorance or lack of talent to blame?

i am confused here how to other people make beautiful websites?

 

Well, it depends.

Some people look around for designs, and create a variation of it.

Some people just have the inspiration to do it well.

I, myself, just look around the room, building, outside, etc, and look for cool designs, and replicate it.


PHP FTW!

 

I can not desgin a web site. But now a day, I find a lot of web site try to match google adsense, so that people can not which is the link and which is adsense link. become A bit frustrating to me.

 

lack of talent I would say.

 

You've got to crawl before you can walk. There's absolutely nothing wrong with buying a template and "adjusting" it to suit your needs, which is far easier than creating a design from scratch. As you're "adjusting" existing designs, you'll develop skills that will enable you to begin creating your own designs. You mentioned you're a good PHP programmer... did you start out that way? You probably started with

echo 'hello world';

Code (markup):

 

Design it in photoshop, Code it in CSS, Html etc.

Then its shmexi, just make sure your good

 

Your skills are in a different area, thats all!

I know people who can make wonderful HTML websites, but when it comes to writing PHP they think that echo is something to do with shouting in a tunnel... Its nothing to get down about, everyone is skilled in a different area!

 

very well said Actually it is hurting me a lot when i want to start a new website or business. Without a good website, any business is hard to succeed.

As you know, i probably wasted money in buying templates and later not liking it.

 

IMO, designing is natural talent. It's not something you learn it is something you're born with. Yes, learning of course helps you enhance your skill; however some have a natural eye for design.

 

I agree, good design is a natural talent. Stick to what your good at and outsource the rest. Also, who says money making websites need to look good?

 

In my opinion I usually like using visual editors more then code. I like to get away from the code which enables me to make better designs

 

Finding a good template?

 

use photoshop for createing the design and then code it. but you still need the creativity to create good designs

 

I don't have the skill to build those gorgeous websites (although many of them are hard to navigate) but I do enjoy building a minimalist website.

 

I`m with you. I think too that you can`t learn how to design, you are borned with it. You just can make you better.

 

I am poor in the first step. graph design with photoshop or fireworks.

I can process small menus with photoshop but I can't design the header and large photos.

Can anyone give indecations where to improve the graph design .

 

To learn how to build nice websites, I started off by doing PhotoShop tutorials on how to make website layouts. This helps because you're making someone else's beautiful design step by step and you can think, ahah! Now know how to make mine better!

 

good way to learn and improove skills but watch out not to post thous designs because people will think you're ripping them....

 

Couple of things that may help you.
Search on YouTube for Photoshop Tutorials. Trust me, you are going to enjoy learning those tricks to design beautiful graphics.
Secondly, learn CSS. If you are good with PHP and you learn CSS and you get your hands on basics of Photoshop, you can design beautiful designs and can easily convert those graphics into beautiful sites.
Surely, this all is going to take some time, but my rough guess, if you sincerely invest 2 months in learning css and photoshop, you will have no problems in near future and you will be soon amazing yourself with your beautiful designs. I know a few people who learned photoshop in 2 or 3 months and they are creating close to award-winning graphics. Photoshop is DAMN powerful.
Regards,
Andy.

 

smashingmagazine.com is a great site to get ideas for better design - from downloads and templates to just regular round ups to what's good on the web in terms of design, it's always worth a look.