View Full Version : Webdesign for the uncreative?
I started studying PHP lately, I had already learned quite a bit of basic HTML and so I got a book on PHP, MySQL and Java-scripting. It seemed to come highly rated.
After learning some PHP coding I decided out of curiosity that I would watch some videos of a website being made. Although the website ideas seemed very creative unlike any of the stuff I could think of. The videos I watched were over at 3DBuzz, and mostly they used Photoshop and sliced it out and exported the slices as images, but designing the actual website seems like you need quite a bit of creativity.
I like coding but I'm in no way creative. Is there anyway around this and what else can PHP, MySQL and Java-scripting be used for besides web building?
When you say creative, do you mean coming up with an idea for a website, or the design of the pages?
I like coding but I'm in no way creative. Is there anyway around this and what else can PHP, MySQL and Java-scripting be used for besides web building?
There's not really any way around it. If you're a programmer, you should be able to produce a clean, professional-looking site design, but if you want that extra 'shine' you should expect to work with someone who has the design skills you lack. I've been in web development for 15+ years now, and on most of my projects I've worked with a designer, that's very much the norm.
PHP can be used for offline scripts, although that's not common, personally I use perl for that sort of thing. MySQL is a database, it can be used for any situation where you require a database. It just happens that most database applications are web-based nowadays, which is where PHP typically comes in. Javascript can in theory be used as a general purpose scripting language, but that's even more uncommon than with PHP. Essentially, it's a web technology.
Yeah - if you work on big jobs then you will have a designer, and a programmer, and possibly also somebody to manage the back-end (database setup, server management, etc).
When you say creative, do you mean coming up with an idea for a website, or the design of the pages?
Sorry for being unclear, I meant the design for the pages.
There's not really any way around it. If you're a programmer, you should be able to produce a clean, professional-looking site design, but if you want that extra 'shine' you should expect to work with someone who has the design skills you lack. I've been in web development for 15+ years now, and on most of my projects I've worked with a designer, that's very much the norm.
PHP can be used for offline scripts, although that's not common, personally I use perl for that sort of thing. MySQL is a database, it can be used for any situation where you require a database. It just happens that most database applications are web-based nowadays, which is where PHP typically comes in. Javascript can in theory be used as a general purpose scripting language, but that's even more uncommon than with PHP. Essentially, it's a web technology.
Thanks, I guess I need to work on my creative skills somehow. :scratch I like the coding side, but when it comes to the design and colour scheme and where the menu should go and designing a logo it just doesn't work. I end up with silly colours and a child like logo :D
Yeah - if you work on big jobs then you will have a designer, and a programmer, and possibly also somebody to manage the back-end (database setup, server management, etc).
I like the idea of focusing on the code and not so much the design but I'm only a student at university so this is more for me to practice at home.
Thanks guys for all the feedback. Its appreciated.
same as Andyn, I get the designer, usability expert and sales&marketing on my case for each website.
The designer makes a couple of images, programmer does a best guess of what the pages the designer forgets to include should look like, usability expert comes in and adds text, sales and marketing come in and add text and check for compliance with company standards. All comes back to me as the man who makes the idea come to life.
The number of designers who send through a PSD for a homepage and then you have to guess what every other page on the site will look like :( I'm still changing css values on a zen-cart design that was implemented in this manner almost a year on ....
As a non-designer, I think the best advice if you want to work without a designer is to keep it relatively simple and minimalist. If you're not a designer then the fancier you try to go, often the worse it will look. Try to go for something straightforward and professional, rather than art-heavy; basically play to your strengths.
Careful use of CSS styles and consistency can help you get something which looks 'decent', but if you're thinking of this as a profession it might be worth making friends with someone who is stronger on the creative/design side but weaker on the programming/technical parts and sharing skills.
same as Andyn, I get the designer, usability expert and sales&marketing on my case for each website.
The designer makes a couple of images, programmer does a best guess of what the pages the designer forgets to include should look like, usability expert comes in and adds text, sales and marketing come in and add text and check for compliance with company standards. All comes back to me as the man who makes the idea come to life.
The number of designers who send through a PSD for a homepage and then you have to guess what every other page on the site will look like :( I'm still changing css values on a zen-cart design that was implemented in this manner almost a year on ....
Thanks, its nice to have an insight into what all the different roles are. Pretty cool how it all comes back to you :thumb:
As a non-designer, I think the best advice if you want to work without a designer is to keep it relatively simple and minimalist. If you're not a designer then the fancier you try to go, often the worse it will look. Try to go for something straightforward and professional, rather than art-heavy; basically play to your strengths.
Careful use of CSS styles and consistency can help you get something which looks 'decent', but if you're thinking of this as a profession it might be worth making friends with someone who is stronger on the creative/design side but weaker on the programming/technical parts and sharing skills.
I honestly never thought of it like that.. I was always messing around in Photoshop trying to get something that somewhat resembled a logo design.. But that's solid advice. I'll definitely remember that. ;)
The job title of 'web designer' these days rarely means you sit on photoshop for a bit then pass the results on to a dedicated programmer. Almost all 'web designers' (myself included) are front end coders too.
I pass over to a developer when PHP etc. are required, as although i can understand and edit PHP I wouldn't be able to write something from scratch to the same standard as a proper developer.
In the majority of cases all front end design and development from initial photoshop design through to HTML, CSS and javascript (usually jQuery in my case) are all covered by the job title of 'web designer'.
It makes sense if you think about it as knowing how to build your designs enables you to build better designs in the first place.
So..
web designer = front end design/dev
web developer = back end code (i.e. what the OP obviously rocks at :thumb: )
It's not right these days to think of there as being a strict divide between code and pixel pushing in photoshop ;)
EDIT:
And also someone mentioned about another person coming in after the design process to add in the content. Completely the wrong approach. 99% of the web is content so you must design WITH the content, identifying areas which need to be highlighted or made more prominent etc. in order to best achieve the client's goal.
If you make an amazing looking website then just plonk all the content in at the end without thought then you won't convey the message effectively to the users. As a result the client makes less money, thus you have failed as a designer and probably won't get further business from them.
A lot of the time you have the not so ideal situation of not having content to design around at the start. In these cases you rely on making sure you fully familiarise yourself with your client's needs in order to make the site as effective as possible.
No, you have your graphics designer who is contracted by the project leader, who employs front end coders and back end coders, depending on the size of the project.
Generally for bespoke projects, I just use toonshorty to do design stuff, and I'll do the backend and front end,
No, you have your graphics designer who is contracted by the project leader, who employs front end coders and back end coders, depending on the size of the project.
Generally for bespoke projects, I just use toonshorty to do design stuff, and I'll do the backend and front end,
Graphic designer is a different job entirely. A web designer is focussed on designing for the web and doesn't just make pretty graphics. It's obviously an important thing to be able to do that but there's much more to it.
A web designer should understand the basic principles of design and user experience like visual hierarchy, visual weight etc etc. It's no good just being good at photoshop if you want the site to be a success and not just a collection of pretty buttons and images.
The process you are describing is the reason why many companies now employ freelance web designers as they are specifically trained and practiced in web design, not just making graphics and handing them over to someone who won't understand the thoughts behind why it was designed that way.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.1.12 Copyright © 2012 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.