Web Designer’s Block

Like any creative person, web designers can suffer from writers or should we say designers block.  There are many ways a designer can deal with a block to get the creative juices flowing once again.  The following seems to work and may help you to get new design ideas. 

 Procrastination Blocks Creativity

It is while you are working on a new design that you will find yourself swamped with ideas of other projects.  Don’t let that throw you off track.  Simply jot them down and try brainstorming for the current project in hand.

Start From The Middle

It’s unexplainable, but for some reason web designers feel they have to start from the top of the Web page and design down.  Yes, ultimately, that’ the way you will have to think about the HTML or CSS, however, when  working on a design, best to focus on the most important part first, and usually it is not the navigation, branding, or advertising to be found at the top.  The same is true for content writing, as more often than not one starts off by giving a title to the article, and then having to change it later as the article is usually completely different from what the title says.  This means the title has to rewritten to match the content.

Take a Break From The Computer

While, you may initially do most of your rough drafts on the computer, take a break from it so that you don’t get hung up on technical issues like HTML or JavaScript.  Do some designs on paper, which are easier to erase or scratch out.

Take All The Time You Need

Don’t jump right in and start building a web page, take time planning your web page and when you think you’re done, take a little more time to go over the plans.  

  Ask for help

Never hurts to ask for help, but make sure those you do ask for help are people who can provide constructive criticism. 

If you’re really stuck, do something else

If, you seem to be stuck for ideas, give yourself a break.  Don’t force yourself to go on, do something else to allow your mind to get off the problem you are working on.  Most certainly, once your mind is refreshed, the ideal solution will b

Give Your Website A Professional Look

To give your website a professional appearance, there are a number of things that must be ensured, namely:

1. Your website content should be both useful and interesting content, as well, it should be presented in an appealing manner with a quick download time.  The sites overall appearance i.e. backgrounds, fonts, etc. should remain consistent page to page and only web-safe colours and fonts should be used.
2. A professionally designed website loads faster due to a clear navigation system, unbroken graphics and links that work well.
3. Use a limited number of graphics appropriate to the content of your website, optimising the graphics used to improve load times.
4. Change the content of your site frequently to encourage return visitors.
5. Keep contact information easily accessible, responding quickly to requests for information or trouble reports.
6. Start a newsletter allowing visitors to keep in touch, tell them about any new changes to your site.  However, make sure you are not harvesting e-mail addresses for spam purposes.
7. Offering a loads of free stuff and members-only specials will add to its attraction.
8. Do away with too many animated graphics, unwanted pop-ups or music with no ‘off’ button, as these tend to annoy visitors.
9. Keep clean HTML tags.
10. Design a cross browser compatible website that is accessible to text only browsers, as well.

 There are certain design gimmicks that should be avoided since they prove to be red flags to an unprofessional web appearance:

• Animated bullets
• Too many graphic and / or line dividers
• Multiple banners and buttons
• Too much advertising
• Large Welcome banners

Other things to be avoided are:

• No Meta tags
• Under construction signs
• Scrolling text in the status bar
• Large scrolling text across the page
• Poor use of mouse over effects
• Poor browser compatibility
• Poor use of frames
• Poor use of tables 

Keeping all of the above in mind and you can be sure you will come up with website that is not only attractive but has a decidedly professional touch to it.