I'm currently working on a new project which may EVENTUALLY be finished but the overall look still looks terrible. The coding isn't the problem - that's easy. The problem is the actual design.

At heart, I'm more of a programmer/coder sort of person and when it comes to graphics and design, I'm lost. The site I'm developing is going to be modern and use a reasonable amount of graphics. What sort of thing really distinguishes a good looking site from an old-fashioned one? I'm really interested in recommendations about layout and design as well as graphics.

I might as well reveal that it's actually going to be my main web design site to host my portfolio etc. etc. The logo on my hosting site will be used somewhere, so I need a compatible colour scheme.

Help anyone?

Maybe you could give us a peak at the logo you want to coordinate with? What name will you use?

Actually, I found your links. I think the overall look is good, but you need to tweak the font down a little, specially in the drop down menus at the top.

OK thanks for that. I'm actually talking about a new site although I haven't officially launched it yet. I will be using the logo from the hosting site for this new web design portfolio site

I've decided I'll try looking around my old PC for some suitable photos of local scenery which I might use to help with the layout and colour scheme.

I was just looking for general suggestions about how to make a site look more modern and appealing.

Anyway thanks for your suggestions about my hosting site - I'll look into that.

Dan

If your having trouble trying to decide how to design you website, I'd keep these things in mind, apart from the usual things, such as keeping you site's content fresh and up-to-date, keeping things simple, and researching your site's intended target audience.

You said you want to keep it more modern, so let your users interact with your site somehow, maybe give them something to participate in, such as having a poll, or install a comment or forum system, more interaction means you have a deeper web presence.

Make navigation simple and easy for your users to understand. Never have any part of your site more than three clicks away, otherwise they may just get lost.

Concerning graphics, what I would do is keep them at a reasonable size, just enough to grab their attention, but do no overload it otherwise you just create distractions for your readers. Plus the more fancy stuff you put on, the longer it takes to load, and people hate waiting.

The rest probably depends on what type of site are you creating. Is it another Blog, another hosting site?

Originally Posted by jamestl2

The rest probably depends on what type of site are you creating. Is it another Blog, another hosting site?

Thanks for the advice. Ironically, it's a web design portfolio site - where potential customers will visit to purchase web design from me.

Thanks again for the advice - user interaction is something I've considered before. I'll certainly look into it.

Dan

No problem, Dan

You also said you weren't sure about colors to use. Here's a handy "colors and their meanings" guide you could use:
http://www.sibagraphics.com/colour.php