hi, my skills at inventing designs are weak , but my photoshop skills and integrating google images arent bad. my css skills arent good enough yet, but i was wondering what exactly do employers give you when they want a design done? and i was wondering, if i cant come up with an idea, could i just google similar sites and base my site loosely on another site if i have trouble?
i wouldnt copy it, i would just get inspiration from the basic layout idea. any help greatly appreciated. thank you. derek

I get inspiration from everything I see...I don't duplicate it, but I take things I like about things and integrate it into my own work. My inspiration doesn't just come from things I see online...I collect advertising material from companies that I find interesting.

It is doubtful you will be successful at finding employment in web if you aren't good at designing or programming. This field is highly competitive and if you don't have it, you aren't going to get the work. I'm noticing more and more employers are looking for individuals who can do it all...Design (Graphic & Web) and Programming (XHTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript, ASP, ActionScript, Ajax - Yes, all of it)...What's irritating is they don't want to pay qualified individuals their worth...Especially for that laundry list of qualifications.

Also, do not use images found on Google in your work. They aren't there for free use but are spidered from websites by the search engine and are copyright their respective owners.

Well, if you have good photoshop skills, what I would suggest you do is this. Do some research, look for some web 2.0 templates.

Find some new templates that you like and practice on them. Work on some design contest here in the forums and improve your skills.

Most people tell you color schemes that they like, some sites they like, and ask you to work on those, based off their ideas.

great thanks very much for the help. derek

No problem at all.

That is what we are here for. We enjoy helping others and teaching people tips that they are interested in. If we can be of help again please feel free to let us know.