When I built my first ever website, I didn’t design it. I knew what I wanted the main colours to be, and through trial and error with CSS eventually came up with something I quite liked. It was hideous, of course, but I wasn’t to know.

A lot of your design ability will come through practise and research, knowing what is “in” and knowing what will always look good. However, if you’re just starting out and don’t quite have a hold on the nuances, here are a few things to consider.
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We’ve all been there.

You know you’re unlikely to find anything that pays more than $4 an hour, but work is thin on the ground and you’re feeling optimistic. Thirteen hours later you’ve watched 8 seemingly sensible buyers fall for the cut and paste bids, had 2 people tell you you’ll never make it in freelancing unless you halve your rates, and made exactly 0 pennies.

I’m sure there are some people who make a good living out of these sites but if you, like the me of a year ago, feel that freelancing sites are your best bet to get some portfolio work, read on. (more…)

For some reason, on a semi-regular basis another person I know will say to me something along the lines of :

“You taught yourself all this web stuff, I want to do it too. Teach me?”

My usual reaction is a sort of resigned sigh, since their newfound desire to learn soon fizzles out rendering my efforts useless. Instead, from now on, I will with a lazy wave of my hand and a heavy heart send them on their way to this blog, where I shall eventually compile the ultimate web stuff learners guide. (more…)