Hello everyone. I am new to this site and forums. I think it is great to have this kind of resource. Here is my pitch!

I have a hobby webcasting station. I have a corresponding complimentary website. I want the site to have music news, artist profiles and new artist features. The source of content is not the problem. I have plenty of stuff to put online. I have permission from other sites, and other resources to use some of their stuff, as long as I link or give them credit.

My problem is, getting started with a design. I like a lot of sites out there. They are slick and look nice and easy to use. But -- they are THEIR sites, not mine. I can put a site together that is like theirs, but it still is THEIR site, not mine.

I am not an "artist". I am more of a application type of person. I can't come up with the idea, but I can sure put together what you want if you explain it to me. So, where do you "designers" start when building a site? If you have a blank screen in fromt of you and your favorite siite design software at your fingertips, where do you start? Do you have a sketch or written design that you work from? Do you just start putting stuff up - and go from their?

Do you have a theme in mind, or a color scheme to begin with? Where do you start when you build a site for a customer?

I appreciate any response.

Hi voice23, i have same problem. i am not designer but i do web site designing. Where i am starting my design is.. get inspiration from 2 to 3 more layouts and putting it together in one PSD layout. I know this is bad practice but this is what i can do with my "creative skills"

That is pretty much the same thing here. Us that are "creative impaired", have a serious problem. But it does not stop us from trying. Thanks for the support. .

Believe it or not, this is a challenge even for those of us who are the creative ones.

Here is my process.

The first thing that I do is to take quite a bit of time and see what every one else who are in the same industry as my client are doing. I do this for a few reasons. Number one, these are the sites that my clients customers are currently going to. There are going to be quite a few functional things that I will need to know about. This will help me see what visitors are going to be expecting. (For instance, does a real estate web site need to have a mortgage calculator on it?)

I determine what the visitor is looking for, and what the process is for getting them from the home page to the decision, i..e., buying the product/service, etc. as quickly as possible. Sometimes that is all that is needed is for a visitor to contact my client. If this is the case, will it be advantageous to have a small contact form right on the home page? Or is it going to take a little more information before a visitor is willing to commit to this..?

By seeing what the industry is doing I can usually make these decisions. My main goal is to give them what they are looking for in a way that will both be familiar to them, yet at the same time be fresh and stimulating. Come up with a better and more effective/efficient way than everyone else.

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Next, with the info I gather from the above steps and with my goals overview in hand, I determine the best layout style to present the information on the site.

I am a fanatic about color. I use color as a marketing piece. If I am selling appoints for a massage client, I am not going to use Bright reds and greens, I am going to use soothing colors, that I determine with my trusty up-to-date color book. If a visitor recieves a measure of calm from just visiting a web site, how are they going to feel after a massage? This is marketing 101 and it is amazing that less than 2% of Web designer/developers consider it more that from a graphic desginer's perspective. Think of color from the marketing perspective.

<Side bar on color>
One of today's high end awesome marketers is Nike. What are there corporate colors? If you notice, their little Nike swipe comes in just about every color imaginable. The shape is their brand. They use color to motivate, not as a branding element!
</Side bar on color>

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Next are the graphics for the site.

I create the graphics that I need to compliment my layout decisions. Not the other way around.

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My overall goals in creating a web site:
1. Provide the needed information for a visitor to make the decision.
2. Create an architecure and layout that will facilitate the easiest and simplest way to help the visitor to make this decision.
3. Use color in a way to motivate the proper respopnse and create the mood of the business model.
4. Even with complex scenarios, find the simplest way to accomplsh the goal of the site. This infers that you have sat down with your client and specifically defined what the goals of the site will be.
5. Determine how you will measure success to see if the site is reaching the goals set forth.

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This may be a little more than what you were asking for, but I hope that it helps.

The creative aspect usually comes at three in the morning. When it does stop what you are doing (get out of bed!) and write it down. I have had major breakthrough with a design idea in the middle of the night and was excited that I solved a problem. It was such a big thing that I knew I wouldn't have any problem remembering it the next morning. Well guess what....!? Man why didn't I get up and write that down...?!#@&%@$

One thing that helps a designer is that he is doing it all of the time. This makes it easier to come up with new concepts. When you are designing for yourself, don't rush it. Get a lot of inspiration and come up with at least three ideas that stimulate you. Then show them to other people you know will be honest. And, don't ever take creative criticism personal. You need to know the truth, and your ego needs to take a back seat to making money!

And then there are resources like this for the design-challenged:
http://www.openwebdesign.org/browse.php

All free, open-source HTML and CSS. and you can customize graphics such as photos to suit your needs.

I go through a similar process as Chip does when starting a new design. I usually like to look at other sites in the industry, gather information from the client, and let some ideas germinate in my head for a few days before I start.

You're right those sites are not yours, but it's ok to borrow from them. Most creative people borrow heavily from others. I might for examply borrow the color scheme from one site to get started or the general layout of another. Sometime I really like an element on the page, maybe the navigation bar. Other times it's just a concept.

I'll also borrow from print. The layout of a magazine ad might strike a chord that I can bend to work with a site.

But borrowing isn't the same as copying. I'll borrow a part of another site and then add something uniquely me to it, which does create something new. It's part of the tradition of creativity. Not many or even any create something 100% uniquely their's.