Delving into Web Design

I'm finishing up an introduction to web design course, and it was really intense! It's amazing how much you can learn about HTML and CSS in less than six weeks. Of course, I only learned the basics, and we used Dreamweaver as a toll to help us understand the code, but now I want to play around with HTML and CSS more so I can learn to make my own websites, especially a site for my portfolio. Each week, I was required to study other websites to learn what a well-designed website should look like. I've learned that a simpler website works the best, especially sites that have a lot of content such as retail sites. I think a good example of a simple, clean, well-designed site is http://tandaskincare.com/. The company sells an anti-aging light treatment. In other words, Tanda sells light therapy for your face. The site's header has black and shades of dark gray with white text, which I think is a good use of contrast. If you hover over the text in the navigation bar with your mouse, the words are highlighted in orange. This is called a rollover button, and I learned that this is created with a swapImage JavaScript command. I got a chance to learn how to make my own rollover buttons, and I have several in the website I made for my final project. Depending on how pleased I am with the result, I may share the link later. :-) The body of the site is a field of white, and it allows the products shown in that area to take center stage like paintings in a gallery. This is effective since the devices are red and blue at the ends, so they really stand out. The sub-navigation area is a little large, but it's at the bottom with small text, so it's not a major distraction. I'm pretty motivated about web design right now, so you may get more website critiques from me in the next couple of weeks. I don't claim to be an expert, but I hope you will also share your opinions about the websites I talk about. Thanks!

Phew! I've been busy...

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but it got harder to get back here after I started going back to school online in April of last year, and things got even tighter when I was working two part-time jobs in addition to that for a few months. I'm back down to one part-time job, and I just finished a life drawing class last week. I got an A! :) I am going to create a PDF portfolio of my art projects once I decide which pieces of artwork to put in it. After all, I want to be sure to include my best work. When I create it, I'll share it with you. I have been thinking about putting my portfolio on a Web site, but I haven't decided what kind of format I want. Do I want to keep it simple, or should I get one of those fancy Flash sites? I like the sleek look of many Flash sites, but sometimes they can take a while to load, and I don't know if a potential employer or client would feel like waiting for the site to pull up on their computer. The site would pull up faster on a simpler HTML site, but would it be too plain? Hmmm, what should I do? If anyone has any ideas, please share.