Making It Look Good

Getting Your Ideas Down

I'll start this week's lesson by reassuring you about your artistic skills, whatever they may be. You do not need to be an artist to design visually interesting web sites. In fact, you don't even need "art" to have a great looking website.

Start with what you know. If you enjoy drawing, consider a design that includes some of your art work. If you are more of a photographer, then a site built around photographs - especially ones taken specifically for the site - may be more your style.

Begin an idea list for yourself by first writing down the answer to this -

What can /I/ do to make my site interesting to look at?

If you aren't sure how to answer, go back and re-read the second paragraph. 

Next, write down your answer to this question -

How do I want people to feel when they visit my site?

Perhaps you want them to feel excited to be there. Or maybe you'd rather they feel calm, serene, relaxed during their visit. If you are selling something, you'd want them to feel inspired to spend money. 

After you've answered those two questions, go ahead and move on.