I want to take up Web Design, where is the best place to start?

Answer 1

The world wide web consortium at http://www.w3.org/

Answer 2

Ok first off - ignore dodgy packages like MS Frontpage and any suggested freebies. If you want to seriously learn how to web design you need to use the stuff that the professionals do...ie Macromedia Dreamweaver.

But before you do that you need to learn a little HTML and CSS. If you google either you will see that there are thousands upon thousands of websites offering free tutorials...none of them are really any better than the rest, but you can help yourself by trying places like:

http://www.webmonkey.com/

which is were even the pros go for help.

Additionally if you want to do animations, you will need to learn Flash (and actionscript for the really funky stuff)...and another necessity is Adobe Photoshop, the tool of choice for the pro designer.

When you've got that all under your belt (just take your time, like anything it can be slow going at first), you may want to consider buying yourself a web domain name and hosting package so that you can start to show off your work.

However, all of the above said, if you reaaaaaally want to get into web design properly there is no substitute for experience. Look around at job sites such as:

http://www.cwjobs.com

for "Junior Web Designer" positions. A lot of them only want you to have a basic understanding of whats going on, so that they can mold and shape you to their own techniques. Every web agency does things differently, so its always best to start at the bottom and work your way up.

But above all - avoid dodgy "do it yourself" freebie packages and stay the hell away from MS Frontpage!

Best of luck

Answer 3

If you are just beginning I'd recommend using a WYSIWYG program. Yes, I do believe that hand coding is the way to go, but for starting out it's better to build strong visual skills, then learn how the program made that happen.

The more fun you have fooling around with things, the more you'll want to learn. If you start off hand coding things and get frustrated the web won't be fun anymore.

You can start with any of the online "page builder" WYSIWYG (though Yahoo or other free hosts.)

Find some good web design forums to help you solve your problems, and to bounce ideas off of when you run into a problem! Good luck!

Other great programs:
Evrsoft 1stpage 2006 - http://www.evrsoft.com/1stpage3.shtml
Coffee Cup HTML Editor - http://www.coffeecup.com/html-editor/

Answer 4

First, take hints from successful websites, like Amazon, eBay, AOL.COM, etc. The most important thing is being able to make your site look and feel professional. Once you begin to get an eye for design, starting learning basic HTML code, I love http://htmlgoodies.com/ it was what helped me. I have designed several websites for companies/bands, etc. and that place was the best help. Get some free web space that allows you to use your own HTML code, and make a couple pages. Finally after you can use the code well, grab a program like Dreamweaver or Homesite and use it to really accelerate your skills.

Answer 5

Make a career out of it. Go to DeVRY.

The CIS program is a web design Program.

If you don't want to invest in that, start in HTML, and move foward.

Do a google search- web design.

Answer 6

I suggest Microsoft Office FrontPage or Publisher. Both help in the designs of own web sites.

Answer 7

Free site builder.
NVU
http://www.nvu.com

Free FTP to upload pages.
Filezilla
http://filezilla.sourceforge.net/

Free HTML tutorials.
http://www.w3schools.com/

Step by step tutorials.
http://www.webmasterautomation.com/videos/

Answer 8

On your own with notepad. You can get tutorials on html from sites like htmlhelpcentral.com

Answer 9

http://www.digitaljuice.com/

http://www.tutorialkit.com/