Learning web design

M

molly

New Member
I need to learn (very quickly) how to design web sites well. This will be from something very simple to more complex flash sites. I will be in London from September. Can anyone reccomend either a good course, or know anyone in the profession with some free time available to teach me.

Thanks!
 
M

molly

New Member
To put it simple I am an entrepreneur and the only thing coming between my ideas and their reality is my lack of ability to create professional websites. I don't like to rely on the skills of others, or have to pay out large sums of cash. I prefer to learn the skills and do things myself (or at least have that freedom). So my goal is simply to be able to design my own websites.
 
Arkette

Arkette

New Member
Ok I can relate to that, but why the need for speed. To learn the principles of design and layout can take a very long time, add to that the time needed to learn html coding, css, xhtml standards, image editing and optimisation and you can be talking months and months even on an intensive course and that's always supposing that you have some talent or apptitude for this kind of work. Even then having once mastered the above disciplines you have barely scatched the surface of website design. To create anything more than a site with very simple functionality you will also need to learn client-side and server-side programming if you are aiming at a professional marketplace. At some point you will have to bite the bullet and realise that there is no way that you can acquire the necessary skills in a short time frame even with a massive full time commitment. I realy am so sorry for being so negative but as an entrepreneur I'm sure you understand the need for things to be well grounded in reality.
 
M

molly

New Member
I guess I have just no idea whats really involved, and it frustrates me. I think I should do some reading and try to work out exactly what i need to learn. It really will just be the actual programing though, on the design side of things I am fairly confident with my current ability. Can you reccomend any books?

Thanks!
 
M

Munkeypop

New Member
The Visual Quickstart Guide series of books are really good. I've used them in the past and they're a good starting point. Look them up on amazon and you'll get a better idea of all the different ones available. However, as mentioned above, it takes a while. Even if you can make it through a book a day, you'll be there for weeks if not months after practicing before you start to get some really nice sites up and running.
Also, one thing to remember, which has plagued my conscience over my 4 year uni course in multimedia design, is that anyone can sit down, read a book, practice and stick together a site, so how are you going to go that bit further than the average Joe to make your web design profitable. My tip would be looking into mobile phone web interfaces. The nest gen of web enabled phones are coming out in the next year or so and mobile web is gonna be huge with lots of money flying about! :D
 
toxic_pmp

toxic_pmp

New Member
Molly do you know any html at all. if you want i can whip up a small website with lets say 5 pages and then tell whats what, i know its not proper training but its the way i started a few years back, then you just look through it and see whats what and what supports which parts of the site. basic html can take a week to learn and thats simple and you can still make a really good design if your clever!!! so why not try that and then work off from that as the language will just get easier. msg me if you want my help.

Regards,
 
M

molly

New Member
wow, that sounds fantastic!! My knowledge of html is very small. You said it takes a week. In fact I am flying out to India on Friday, so this thread was really about getting help when I'm back home. I know it's really asking a lot of you, but maybe I could send you an email when I get back and take you up on the offer?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top