# What's the best way to learn web-design without going to class? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 23, 2006, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-learn-web-design-without-going-to-class/365732 "2006-07-23T19:03:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gitfiddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-learn-web-design-without-going-to-class/365732/1 "2006-07-23T19:03:27Z")
Last year, for the first time ever, I got my hands on some Macromedia toys (Dreamweaver, Flash, etc.) and I taught myself to make a pretty good web-page (which no longer exists because it was on my account at my old university). Since then, I’ve gotten more and more into it, because there’s some really kick-ass sites on the internet. I’d really like to be able to do design with flash and things like that to make a formidable site, but I don’t really know where to start. Flash was just incredibly difficult for me, but it doesn’t seem like it should be. Has anyone else taught themselves web-design? If so, how did you go about it? Is it just one of those “it takes time” things? ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-learn-web-design-without-going-to-class/365732/2 "2006-07-23T19:08:16Z")
Read the books, practice, make pages and ask for feedback (and don’t get pissed if someone says “Great Og that sucks!”) This is exactly how I discovered that I have no artistic talent, and that lack is clearly evident in my designs. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-learn-web-design-without-going-to-class/365732/3 "2006-07-23T19:59:34Z")
Find pages with good web design and figure out what makes them work. Find pages with bad web design and avoid their mistakes. If there’s anything about a web page that annoys you, avoid it on yours. ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-learn-web-design-without-going-to-class/365732/4 "2006-07-23T21:12:13Z")
Elizabeth Castro in particular has an excellent series of books that will allow you to start from scratch, and build and design web pages. ---
**Author:** ![tashabot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tashabot/32/6250_2.png) [@tashabot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tashabot)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-learn-web-design-without-going-to-class/365732/5 "2006-07-23T23:01:30Z")
Look at other people’s source code. Don’t STEAL it, but use it for reference. That’s what I did, and I’ve been doing Web design for several years. Check out the myriad of “help” sites for HTML development. I’ve never used Dreamweaver or Front Page for my design; I always hand-code. When I was on a PC I used notepad, and now that I’m on a Mac I use Taco HTML edit. If you’re a fast, relatively accurate typer, that’s going to be the best way for you to learn the code, I think. Just fiddle around with it. As a Web designer, I hate Flash. Very few people who run personal sites use it because it’s generally unweildy. Yes, a lot of commercial Web sites use it, and it sucks for anyone unfortunate enough to have a dial-up connection, which the majority of people who are accessing the World Wide Web still use. As a salesperson you want your advertising available to everyone, not just a minority with better equipment, so you should be aiming for the lowest common denominator, so to speak. I loathe Flash. Until they make it easier to load I won’t be using it, although I do know how to use it. If, however, you’re having problems, do a google for “Flash help.” That usually brings up some good tutorial sites, which is how I learned how to use Photoshop. ~Tasha ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2006, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-learn-web-design-without-going-to-class/365732/6 "2006-07-24T01:46:18Z")
Check out [w3schools.com](http://www.w3schools.com). When I need to learn about a web technology, that’s always the first place I look. As far as style goes, take a long tour of [webpagesthatsuck.com](http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/). ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2006, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-learn-web-design-without-going-to-class/365732/7 "2006-07-24T02:53:55Z")
I learned by just doing it. I had a site and wanted to put something on it, so I either read how to do it on one of the gazillion HTML help sites out there, or looked at someone else’s site and saw how they did it. Once I got out of HTML and into ASP (where you can’t just view source) I still just read help sites, and asked people how to do stuff. I’ve been a Web designer professionally for over 5 years now and I still look stuff up (on w3schools like ultrafilter said) when it doesn’t hit me right away how I should do something. Fiddling with web stuff is cool because it’s free. Just do it! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2006, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-learn-web-design-without-going-to-class/365732/8 "2006-07-24T05:20:21Z")
For web page scripting, you may want to check out codes online. There are repoistry for such things, from ajax to css. For web page _design_, as in the layout, usability aspects, I recommend **Web Pages that Sucks** and its sequel for some basic usability lessons. ---
**Author:** ![gitfiddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2006, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-learn-web-design-without-going-to-class/365732/9 "2006-07-24T17:18:46Z")
As usual, thanks for the pointers everyone. I’ve taken a look at those websites, and they should be enough to keep me busy for the time being.