Where do you get your inspiration?

[Xenoran]

Hello everyone,

I'm currently working on teaching a friend how to do web design and graphics design, but I seem to have hit a barrier. He doesn't seem to have any inspiration for what he wants his site's design to be, I've offered many suggestions and quite a few examples, but he still can't seem to find anything he likes... except my sites :(. I'm trying to discourage him from using design elements from mine because I think it will impair the learing process, I'd like him to create something completely original on his own.

So, I go back to the topic of my post, were do you get your inspiration for the designs of your sites? I really could use a 3rd party point-of-view on this one.

Thank you for your time.

[Strider]

my first site i learned from reading source codes, but my second site (which i actually consider ok) was first based on ngemu's tables, then on original buttons and table graphics i made in aps, i used some of the source code from ngemu to figure out how tables actually work, and then i changed it around a lot, substituted my graphics, put in my own numbers, and made the table on the top of the page, the end result was a site that looked nothing like ngemu, which i was hoping for since i didnt wanna plagarize the guys who made this place .... since it was a website for a school project it was mainly educational, therefore most of it is text based... the site is about the two towers, just click the little line under my sig

first off, tell him to find a theme for the site, second tell him to think of a template, third, tell him to think up of a colour template that looks good

[Quatro]

use your imagination... use good color combination and the theme of the site will definietly be it... its like projecting interest in hte project, you get inspired because you like to do it...

[T.O.F.K.A.Z]

Inspiration = Imagination IMO
But it all is based on wanting to extend your capabilities as a person ,in a particular field.

My Motto : There are no limits , everything can be accomplished aslong if there's a will there'll be a way.

[Galway no Sora]

Do he have imagination? Something that he want? If he dont have anything he wanted, we, you can't help. I mean helpless. BTW, why he want to build a website if he doesn't have any plan on it?

[Quatro]

yup... first he must decide what kind of site he want to make... that he think is worth doing...

[jegHegy]

every webdesigner gets some of his/her inspiration from other webdesigners' works. there's nothing strange about that.

nyaa

[RZetlin]

Originally posted by Quatro
yup... first he must decide what kind of site he want to make... that he think is worth doing...

You can never go wrong with warez, roms and porn! :D

[dn]

/me sighs

I just wrote out a very long post, then I hit the reset form button. In summary, the post says look at shapes and colours of different things. http://www.darkengine.net is a site i made and was started off with me making a big circle in photoshop (the background planet thing) and it all progressed from there.

listening to music, watching music videos, dvds etc. is good. cd and vinyl art is good too. good luck.

[Chrono Archangel]

1) find a subject
2) find the primary colors you want in your website
3) decide the shapes of you bar, buttons, etcc...
4) go from there

[dn]

I just read Chrono Archange's post and it should be also noted that the subject is extremely important as well. Very often you can use material made by others as a base for a site. For example, a site on pff.. Jennifer Lopez (whatever), you take a pic of her, chop bits out of it and use it as a background and a template for content - page content goes in the stomach or whatever.

[Chrono Archangel]

>page content goes in the stomach or whatever.

are you saying she's fat? or that she doesnt have alot of content? :D

[Thorgal]

Actually, aside from the 'inspiration/imagination' way, there's also quite a rational way to find out how you want your site to look like.

First off, determine what kind of and how much content the site will have.
Second, what kind of navigational system (meaning menus, and which menu items) does the site require in order to access the content? Tip: search, contact us and sitemap are always handy links to show in a clear spot.
Third, think of a color scheme that fits the content/site theme, and perhaps a font that suits it well (use it consistently then).

Layout is the first step. Go further from there.

Oh, and whenever you see a website design you like, bookmark the site. I''ve got 30+ of those, for both inspiration and imitation (I prefer a combo of both).

[Keith]

It just comes to me when I am bored :p

Some people are just talented .. lucky for me I have the ability to do both design and coding, nice combo for web development. ;)

I agree with what people have said so far, not much more to add. Also if you do want to do a site, atleast make it something you are interested in. I have tried other areas and just got bored with the site before it could ever really become something.