Are you interested in improving your web design skills? It’s important to remember that no matter how talented the ultra-talented web designers are today, they were once in your shoes. It didn’t happen overnight – they practised and worked hard to achieve mastery.Here are seven simple tips to improve your design skills that will help you implement some of those practices. Instead, I’m looking at higher level concepts that can help you build the foundation and habits needed to improve your design skills.
1. Practice design fearlessly in a sandbox
In order to improve your essential design skills, there are no shortcuts. Even if you follow all the tips in all the blog posts, you still need practice if you want to improve as a designer.A big no-no is practising on production sites. In order to experiment with new design principles, you need a safe space to do so. Creating that space is best done by…
Hosts on local computers.Did you know? Both Windows and Mac users can create localhosts using our guides.
I play around with Divi quite a bit in my role as a writer for Elegant Themes. I break things when I try new ideas. There are a lot. Because everything is running on my localhost, mistakes don’t matter. It only takes 20 seconds to reset everything back to zero.
So, let’s build a sandbox together. It’s a great websitedesignercharleston.com place with new design concepts without feeling intimidated. It’s impossible to break and no one else will see it.
2. Take inspiration from the world around you
That’s right, I know. At first glance, this heading seems a bit trite, doesn’t it? I mean, of course you’ll get inspiration from your surroundings. Art works like that! A good artist borrows, a great artist steals.
But I actually think this concept does deserve a full section in this post. Why? Because there’s a difference between viewing design as a fan and viewing design as An individual who criticises. It’s fine to look like a fan. It will actually benefit you to view things from the perspective of a critic.
How do they differ? Instead of saying “I like that design,” Fans say “I like it.”
Its colour palette conveys a mood that critics like.A parallax effect and full-width image combine well in that design.”
Being a critic helps you learn what makes your designs tick. Your own design work can benefit from incorporating the techniques and effects that make you a fan.
My writing levelled up most with this technique. To find the specific elements that made me enjoy a blog’s writing so much, I actively sought out bloggers I liked. To keep my own voice, I incorporated the specific elements I loved from my favourite authors rather than trying to mimic them.
3. Receiving and giving feedback on designs
A designer’s feedback can be exchanged in two ways:
- Reviewing your own work and getting feedback
- Reviewing others’ work and providing feedback
Part one is self-explanatory. It is helpful to receive feedback on your work so that you can identify areas for improvement. Doesn’t sound mind-blowing, does it?
The most interesting part is the second. You can improve your own skills by giving feedback to other designers.
The Protégé Effect explains this. You learn a skill by teaching others, which is actually a great way to learn your own skill. You improve your own design skills while giving feedback and teaching other designers. That’s pretty cool, eh?
There are many web design forums out there where you can receive and give feedback, or you can join a Reddit subreddit like design_critiques or HH Design on Facebook.
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