Web design basics

Pixel Eater · 05-06-2018 11:24am #1

So I'm a graphic designer and while I did some basics of web design in college I've mostly been doing print work since then, which is a good few years now.

Since I've been doing print for so long I'm a bit out of the loop; what's the main tools of the trade these days do you know? I was just going to use WordPress and learn some HTML & CSS around that. Or is there a better application for doing it now? I'm just interested in the front end, how it looks rather than any complicated features.

Axwell · 05-06-2018 1:14pm

What is your aim - build a few websites for people that are existing graphic design clients or are you looking to move towards front end dev as a career?

Pixel Eater · 05-06-2018 2:18pm

Mainly to add another string to my bow. Will simply need to know more practical web design skills when I go looking for another job.

Axwell · 05-06-2018 2:50pm

Well WordPress is just a platform - depending on the theme used it can be very user friendly drag and drop type stuff where having a good design eye is a big help but its not really going to get you a front end position knowing it. You would pick it up quick enough to be honest if that was one of the requirements of a job.

If you want to work towards a front end position you should focus on html, css and javascript themselves. Once you get your head around javascript then you could look at React or Angular but those are more on the development side maybe than the 'how it looks' side you mentioned.

A lot of jobs these days have varying specs when it comes to front end - some are leaning more towards design, some lean more towards development. With your graphic design background ones more focused on UI or even UX might be more your interest. Have you looked at UI and UX design at all as an option? A good eye for design with a good understanding of web layouts, responsive design, typography and UX would fit together better for a UI position than maybe looking at web design and ending up trying to go the development route.

Pixel Eater · 05-06-2018 9:10pm

Thanks. I would need to get a more fundamental grounding in the basics first before I tackle the UI/UX side of things. I did make a conscience decision a few years ago to not go into the back-end development side; graphic design is my profession not coding.

I thought Wordpress would be good starting point; would you recommend another application?

Axwell · 05-06-2018 9:22pm

Wordpress as i said is just a platform. These days with themes a lot of it is drag and drop builers and selecting colours for div backgrounds or elements. Theres very little coding needed, sure its good to know it to customise things but you can do a good bit without it.

My point was career wise you wont see many jobs wanting ‘wordpress’, they will want html,css and javascript so you should focus on those if thats the route you want to go. Knowing or being familiar with Wordpress is fine but its not a skillset, its just a use of the skillset (html,css etc) in a platform to make your life a bit easier.

Pixel Eater · 08-06-2018 4:48pm

I hear what you're saying and really appreciate the feedback.

Coding of the bat in Notepad or Textedit seems a bit daunting; is there no application that help a newbie when building a site while learning the code?

Axwell · 08-06-2018 4:58pm

You can use something like dreamweaver but really its better to get used to coding from scratch so you can get the basics and understand divs, ids and classes etc. Then when looking at other websites they will make more sense to you and you can see how they are structured.

Start your off making a basic homepage and look at tutorials, design a layout and try create it in html and css, you will learn far more that way than using some wysiwyg editor.

mmg0305 · 08-06-2018 5:09pm

For an editor, I quite like Visual Studio Code

S.M.B. · 08-06-2018 6:07pm

I have no idea what the job market is like in Ireland these days but in the 10 years I've been a FE developer in London I haven't once worked with a Web Designer who's role involves writing code. I am assuming there are plenty of small/medium size businesses that have a use for this multidisciplinary type role over here though.

Axwell · 09-06-2018 2:57pm

Theres usually a good few html and css courses going free on udemy every few days if you want to grab some of those

https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057198335/297/#post107216424

Some_randomer · 14-06-2018 8:59am

Axwell wrote: »

Theres usually a good few html and css courses going free on udemy every few days if you want to grab some of those

https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057198335/297/#post107216424

@Axwell that link is broken maybe you could update?

Axwell · 14-06-2018 6:38pm

Link works fine for me.

Do a search for Udemy courses and you should find it if still having issues (its in the bargain alerts thread).

Bladebringer · 25-02-2019 11:54am

It’s quite difficult to create a good website or blog, I agree, but to create an engine, there are templates, and in fact in this regard, almost all sites are the same and are divided into only a few groups. And in order for your site to stand out, you need a powerful design. I also made a website for myself, and ordered the design from . I was very pleased with the result. If someone is interested, then in the portfolio on their site, there is my page.

sheesh · 24-04-2019 11:45am

html/ css looks really complicated to a new person but really is not

and text editors notepad++ or atom are quite good.

it is all write html; save; alt-tab to browser; refresh; the page is going to look like crap for the first couple of hours this a design-ey person will start seeing the potential
learn about using a grid system (this is where your design will start coming in)
then learn about some sort of html framework, foundation and bootstrap are good

recode the site · 14-10-2022 5:31pm

I’ve done little bits of it as a hobby. Like yourself OP I’m artistic, have sn I ate sense of design, and grasped CSS very easily, to me it’s almost like painting by numbers. So learning that can be good fun for an artist/designer.

HTML you can get used to easily enough, and for a bit of fun practice I clone small websites and alter them.

Javascript makes the sites come to life and do stuff, like making a button do something on clicking. You are into the realm of programming there, but you need to get into some of that to be a web designer.

If you want to get a start you could try an affordable Udemy video course like this kind of thing:

https://www.udemy.com/course/complete-web-design-course/

Sometimes I have found those courses to be a bit out of date which can be frustrating if your are a newbie to coding. You have enough on your plate without having to discover what you are being taught has been deprecated. Anyway don’t be too put off by that, you can always ask questions if the instructors and see answers to any such issues that might arise.

If you want to get an international certification without breaking the bank the little known EITCA, a European funded tech learning organisation has serious courses. I am doing one at the moment. Take a look anyway:

https://eitci.org/eitca-programme

It’s very affordable, and you have little to lose, €220 at the very most to get a full international certification in Web Design.

18-10-2022 8:56am

If you go down the WordPress route, please learn html and css and how to work with templates and for the love of god don't use something like elementor.

Web design basics

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