How many of you web design for a living?

[Nocturnal]

Any of you out there web design for a living? Any pointers to help me out in trying to figure out Photoshop?

 

[Juniper]

designs by mark

 

[notfred]

Photoshop is not intended as a web design tool, you might want to ask for graphic artists or photographers.

<- Web developer, former graphic designer.

Tips:

Pick a project, don't stop till you're done. If you get stuck trying to do a specific task, ask. Repeat until it looks how you want.

 

[jonmullen]

I am starting a Web development internship that works with .Net. I guess it has some to do with web design.

 

[DumbGuy]

I've used ImageReady (which is almost the same as Photoshop) to work on websites.
It can be used to create a layout, and then slice it up in various images

 

[Blieb]

I prefer, web engineer.

hehe

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: jonmullen
I am starting a Web development internship that works with .Net. I guess it has some to do with web design.

About .000001%, yah.

About .000001% of my work is web "design", which is a good thing for our customers, as I lack gfx what I consider to be professional gfx skills.

 

[Juniper]

Originally posted by: jonmullen
I am starting a Web development internship that works with .Net. I guess it has some to do with web design.

You will most probably be doing lots of coding in C# or Visual Basic, and minimally designing websites. Web Development is about developing the functionalities of the webpage.

 

[rootaxs]

Web design is not just about Photoshop. Though i will disagree with some of the posts here. Photoshop and ImageReady is a good combo for designing websites. Though Fireworks makes some items easier to work with (e.g. rollovers, animated gif's), ImageReady can do just the same. I thank Adobe for finally speeding up IR in the PS7 bundle.

To continue. Web Design is just as much about Optimization, User-friendliness/Accessibility and Color psychology as it is about "design". A lot of people laugh at me when i say this but other professional designers would agree with me (if not to an extent)... Web Design is a science of the interaction between media and people. Not just about "sitting in front of the computer tinkering with Photoshop filters."

However, it is by tinkering with Photoshop that you learn best how to use its features.

Learn the theories behind different kinds of media and how the Web differs from the traditional. That's one step towards being a good Web designer. It definitely is a fun process if it really is your calling, but you do have to put a little grunt every now and then to actually be good at it.

A word of advice, don't narrow your skills to just plain web design. In this day and age it helps for you to be multi-disciplinary in your approach. Learn beyond what you think you need. Scripting (CF, PHP, CGI/Perl, etc) and the theories of programming will go a long way in helping you become a well-rounded developer.

 

[Descartes]

It is my opinion that those who design websites should leave it to others to actually *realize* the design. My company usually outsources site design to a graphics company, who in turn sends us a Photoshop psd file. We then extract all images as necessary and create the ever-so-mundane html. All html is done by hand, not with a wysiwyg. I have never used a wysiwyg that was even remotely-acceptable from a resultant architectural standpoint. I've assimilated many a site that was done by a "web designer" who knew very little about actually architecting a site. I usually end up having to redo the entire thing anyway.

 

[ThePresence]

<--- Graphics dude for a group of freelance web developers. Although, lately I'm doing more print work than I usually do....

 

[jjones]

I design mostly for myself and a few clients. I have about a dozen commercial web sites now. Using PS is great for the general layout (I use Corel myself but it's the same thing) and the only real way to learn is to start with a project and learn as you go. Start by designing your logo, then proceed to general layout and graphic details for your site. Try doing a search on Google for PS tutorials to help you along and you may also want to visit a site like coolhomepages.com to see some great examples of what others are doing. Visit sites that are similar in content as your to get ideas also.

 

[rawoutput]

I do web design. I use photoshop to make the design and then cut it up into html. I agree with designers not being developers. It usually works the other way around too, every web site i've seen done by a programming weenie has always looked like crap. I found it better to design the site and then outsource the programming overseas. That way the customer gets a kickass site with all the doodads and I get to sell services that I otherwise wouldnt have the time/skills to do.