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f13.net  |  f13.net General Forums  |  General Discussion  |  Topic: Current trends and resources - Web Design 0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
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Hawkbit
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on: April 06, 2012, 08:55:12 AM

I went back to school for Web Dev about a year ago.  I'm starting to get into the meat and potatoes of my degree, and I want to expand my knowledge base of current trends and issues in web design, including everything from graphics to browser/server scripting. 

To anyone into design, what resources do you use to keep up on things?  I realize that's a pretty broad list, but I'm hoping to find a few gems that I don't know about.

I've got Smashing Magazine and ReadWriteWeb in my lists right now. 

I looked at some of the good print mags for support, but I can't really afford them right now.  The best seem to come out of the UK and require a pretty hefty sub fee. 

Thanks a ton, any advice is appreciated!
Salamok
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Reply #1 on: April 09, 2012, 09:05:33 AM

I check popurls.com daily for a quick overview of what is on hackernews, slashdot, dzone and pinboard (and occasionally something on lifehacker or wired will jump out at me).

Reddit's programming & linux threads are also on the daily tour and if you are googling for solutions stackoverflow hits always get clicked first.

A list apart is good but once I acquired a decent foundation of knowledge I lost interest in it fast.  Occasionally i'll read a few articles at sixrevisions.com.

edit - As with everything on the internet there is also plenty of bad info out there (looking at you w3schools!), until you get a firm footing it is easy to be ambushed by the ignorant.
« Last Edit: April 09, 2012, 09:08:39 AM by Salamok »
Krakrok
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Reply #2 on: April 16, 2012, 08:13:04 PM


I use the videos on lynda.com to train my people on Flash and other web related junk (HTML/SEO/etc). The Flash stuff has worked the best or maybe I just never give them HTML related work.

What I still haven't been able to find is something that would teach general design principles like "keep X amount of margin" or "put this color with this color" or "how to build a dialog box that doesn't look like it was made by a 2 year old".
Hawkbit
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Reply #3 on: April 16, 2012, 09:01:57 PM

I have a book called Above the Fold that I found decent in that regard. 

I mean, to an extent.  Design is something that is really hard taught.  Some get it, some don't.  You can either code or design, but if you can do both then you're a unicorn.  So I've been told.
Lantyssa
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Reply #4 on: April 17, 2012, 06:42:03 AM

Pretty much.  I can code, but I have no interest in design, so it doesn't stick with me beyond the "simple is better" philosophy.

Now given a choice between two designs, I can tell you which is better and why.  Trying to invoke that from scratch?  Nope.

Hahahaha!  I'm really good at this!
HaemishM
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Reply #5 on: April 19, 2012, 08:38:50 AM

You can either code or design, but if you can do both then you're a unicorn.  So I've been told.

I am a unicorn.  why so serious?

sickrubik
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Reply #6 on: April 19, 2012, 09:33:27 AM

"Simple is better" will get you a long, long way. But then, I'm a minimalist. All hail Helvetica.

beer geek.
Mosesandstick
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Reply #7 on: April 22, 2012, 12:06:20 PM

Is there anything anybody would recommend for learning from scratch?
Hawkbit
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Reply #8 on: April 22, 2012, 12:32:17 PM

Web design, or programming for web?

Web design is much harder to teach, but I'm finding that as I learn web programming, large portions of the design side is falling into place.  However, I have experience with photography and I think having an eye for layout has helped.  

Here's what got me started in web programming, and what caused me to go back to school for design:

http://htmldog.com/

After that, then this:

http://www.w3.org/
http://code.google.com/edu/

EDIT:  The hardest thing I've had to do is try to create projects from scratch.  Once I create a reason for wanting a page on the internet, the rest falls into place.  But finding the idea for a page conception is often the hardest part as a newbie designer.  That's where textbooks come into play, by giving me pre-formed projects, much like a client will in real life.
« Last Edit: April 22, 2012, 12:38:46 PM by Hawkbit »
Lantyssa
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Reply #9 on: April 23, 2012, 08:59:02 AM

Web design is much harder to teach, but I'm finding that as I learn web programming, large portions of the design side is falling into place.  However, I have experience with photography and I think having an eye for layout has helped.  
It is a massive benefit, Mr. Unicorn.

Hahahaha!  I'm really good at this!
Salamok
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Reply #10 on: April 23, 2012, 11:03:41 AM

Also when you begin doing your own designs you start looking at the rest of the web with more of a designers eye.  I can remember having 50 or 60 bookmarks to sites for no other reason than I liked a design feature they had implemented and wanted to reference it in the future.
Krakrok
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Reply #11 on: April 23, 2012, 03:26:07 PM

Is there anything anybody would recommend for learning from scratch?

I'm still going with lynda.com. I've sent people to HTML certification classes before and this is the same thing but from your location. The people I'm using it to train have no prior experience (aka just graduated high school kids). It doesn't teach you to self motivate however.


As far as design ideas I use TemplateMonster, searching google for 'free css', and wordpress templates (or whatever CMS). Usually end up with something the same or better than if I had created it from scratch and saved hours and hours of work.
Hawkbit
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Reply #12 on: April 23, 2012, 05:49:11 PM


It is a massive benefit, Mr. Unicorn.

I can't take that title yet.  Mr. Unicorn in training, my badge says.
HaemishM
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Reply #13 on: April 24, 2012, 07:44:35 AM

Lynda.com is a fantastic learning resource. We've used it many times where I work and have a monthly sub.

Salamok
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Reply #14 on: April 24, 2012, 08:53:50 AM

For the design minded folks CSS Zen Garden and Web Designer Wall are good inspirational sites.

Is there anything anybody would recommend for learning from scratch?

tizag.com is not bad, what exactly do you want to learn from scratch?  

One of the big barriers to entry in web programming is the breadth of it, even a modest site can require a decent level of knowledge in a variety of programmy stuff:
html, css, javascript, php, sql

and that isn't even counting the frameworks you may want to use sass, jquery, jquery ui, codeignitor, etc...

Or the non-programmy stuff like managing your server stack or creating graphics/layouts in photoshop or illustrator.

And then on top of all this is security, which you simply can't afford to be ignorant of.

I'm about 5 years in on what is probably going to be a 10+ year journey.  My suggestion is to do the tutorials until you acquire enough knowledge to boost your google-fu to the point where you can search for the answers you want, at that point become goal oriented and make your own project be your tutorial.  Once you are here your biggest asset will be if you can find someone to audit your code.
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