Thursday, November 3, 2011

Web Design As a Hobby

These days, building websites is something that almost anyone can do. There are many tools available across the web to help people who have no background in web design or development build good looking websites quickly and easily. For instance, Webs.com and WordPress.com are both websites that allow a user to build a beautiful website or blog for free without having any previous knowledge of web languages, such as HTML, CSS, PHP, etc.

However, if you're like me, there's something about your brain that makes you a little bit more curious than this. Personally, I want to know the inner workings behind a website and the code that makes it run. I'd like to be able to build something from scratch rather than use the building blocks that someone else is providing.

Well, the good news is that for people like you and me, there are plenty of resources available that start from square one with web design. W3Schools.com is one of my favorite resources, and it provides beginner, to intermediate, to advanced info and tutorials for anyone to read and learn from. If you're planning on taking up website design and development as a hobby, it is good place to start because you can learn at your own pace and the lessons take you from the fundamentals to the more advanced tricks of the trade.

Tutsplus.com is also another great website that you might want to look into, although a lot of the tutorials and articles provided are for individuals with more advanced knowledge. This might be the places to go once you've finished several of the lessons and tutorials provided by Tutsplus.com, and when you have also decided to invest in some basic software that will help you with your work.



Speaking of which, there are so many design and development applications and programs out there today, which makes it really hard to decide on what to use. Especially if you are going with a paid app or program, it is important to do some background research before making any purchase. Oftentimes, paid apps or programs will offer potential customers a free trial period, which usually consists of 15 to 30 days. As a casual hobby, this can help you decide whether or not the purchase will be worth it to you in the long run. But hey, if it makes working easier and more enjoyable for you, I say go for it.

If paid apps and programs don't sound like something you would be interested, you're in luck. There are many free, albeit less feature rich and polished, programs and applications available for junior and casual web designers. In fact, some free utilities are so functional and well built that even seasoned, professional web designers and developers still use them. For instance, at the last Colorado web design company I worked for, we used Cyberduck, which is a free FTP utility, and the GIMP, which is a free photo editing tool with capabilities almost akin to Photoshop. If you think about the fact that Photoshop will cost you between $400 and $600 depending on which version you purchase, going with the GIMP or another free photo editing tool sounds pretty appealing.

Wherever you go for information and tutorials and whatever tools you decide to use, always remember to keep things fun and enjoyable. If you aren't doing this kind of work professionally, then the only compensation you're getting from it is your love for your work. Once you get adept enough, I would suggest asking family and friends if they could use your skills: it's a good way to get experience and even more fulfillment out of what you're learning and doing.

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