I want to learn but where do I start
by Tom Skelton
on
Sep 21, 2009 at 11:45:05 am
Hey guys,
I am really keen to start web design, but simply do not no where to begin, I can see that it is a massive commitment and am unsure about wether to go down the dreamweaver, wordpress, flash routes?
Also how do I begin the learning, are there any realy good books, web videos and resources, i should be looking at.
I am already competent in AE and PS and AI so am not too worried about the Graphic elements, more being able to put a website together for my self and for other people..
Any input would be greatly appreciated and I thank you all in advance.
Re: I want to learn but where do I start by Curtis Thompson on Sep 21, 2009 at 3:16:59 pm
hello...
we get this question often, so also search the archives, but as always, it depends what you want to do - do you want to do this for fun or do you want to start to offer web design/development services for potential clients?
you can become a flash guru, but you'll be fairly narrowly focused there. wordpress is blog software, and while people can get a decent amount of work doing that alone, it's sort of the same. dreamweaver is not web development per se, but rather just a tool that generates html for you in a wysiwyg environment.
total training is a good resource, but it also depends how you learn - there are terabytes of free tutorials awaiting you via google searches, so that's an option as well if you prefer.
let us know additional information about your goals and perhaps we can add a bit more info...
Re: I want to learn but where do I start by Fernando Mol on Sep 21, 2009 at 4:18:29 pm
Hi, Tom
If you already are good at PS and AE the first step can be to learn Flash (timelines, keyframes, bitmaps and line art).
Also, there's a tutorial here in the COW on how to design web pages using Photoshop. Definitely not the pro way to go, but a good starting point.
Understand HTML is not that hard, and it's a basic. CSS can take a little more time, but when your designs get more ambitious it's the way to go.
When you get comfortable with the design stuff there will come the programming. For a starter you should learn some javascritp. Then, PHP and MYSQL are a free solution for manage databases, so you can take them later.
There are also other stuff that comes with the "design" part of web design that are not necessary technical stuff, like
If you are a video guy you can learn about the different formats to embed video on your page. But to do that first you should feel comfortable with HTML.
As you see, there's not a single line way to go, so start with what you like and then grow yourself with what you need. Internet is changing every day, so we all are learning all the time anyway.
I hope this helps
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Re: I want to learn but where do I start by Gary Krboyan on Sep 24, 2009 at 12:29:34 am
As a brand new designer, I have used and became alright with Dreamweaver. There are a lot of expert designers who don't really like Dreamweaver because it limits their abilities, but I think its a great start. I have been doing web designing for about a year just for fun, and have gotten quite good. I do not do it for a living but I enjoy the endless opportunity it offers. There is just so much out there. Most of the time, people just take free templates from the internet and put it into dreamweaver and customize to make it work for them.
