looking for inspiration

Everything related to the visual and coding aspects of websites.
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earthy
Posts: 50
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2012 3:59 pm

looking for inspiration

Post by earthy »

Heya! So I know we have an awesome resource masterlist (thanks, dubiousdisc! ♥), but I'm curious to know where you guys go for more basic layout inspiration when you're having trouble getting something new off the ground. Do you check out other Amassment members' sites? Wordpress templates? Other collections of nifty web design? Some other website or book resource? Art you particularly like? Start with a drawing/screencap you like and just mess around till something decent happens? <.< >.>

I find lately I'm really frustrated with my layouts (the Iroh one in particular still looks ugly and amateur-ish to me, UGH >.<), and I'm not sure how to get inspired with new ideas so all the content-y things I'm writing up will find appropriately awesome homes....
Destinie
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Re: looking for inspiration

Post by Destinie »

I struggle with layout block on and off pretty frequently. It took me about a year to come up with something I liked for my Meowth shrine, and I think it's probably the best layout I've ever made for it! I usually look at CSS galleries for inspiration:

http://webcreme.com
http://cssheaven.com
http://cssmania.com
http://www.csselite.com/

Those sorts of things. I will sometimes look at other Amassment member's sites or will take screenshots of pages that I like and save them for when I need some inspiration. I also find that thinking about color pallets and contents help motivate me, too. Sometimes, I get stuck because I am trying to do a specific design and have it work for the content, so I focus on the content and try to make a design that would be work with it. (If that makes sense?) So if it's a smaller site, I think about having a skinner layout and if it's bigger, I focus on wider layouts. I just find that helps.

Also, time and proper relaxation helps refresh the creative juices. :)
SnowRayjah
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Re: looking for inspiration

Post by SnowRayjah »

If i have trouble making a layout, I stop. If I keep going I end up frustrated and having to scrap everything. One thing I do is go look at my sister's sites or go for a walk. If I'm working on something very specific I'll take a break from the layout and go reacquaint myself with whatever I'm trying to work with (having trouble with a Vincent Valentine Layout, go play FFVII).

Sometimes, talking to my sisters helps. And I'm slowly talking to more and more Amassmenters. I tend to browse through sites a lot more than I used too, so that helps a little too.

I'll also turn on music or get a snack, try to revitalize my energy and see if that helps. The best thing for me is usually a break.

The only other thing I've found effective is making a layout for someone else's site if I've had creative troubles with my own. I've made some for my sister, Cherri, when I was stumped on making stuff for myself. It helped me break out of my slump. I think in part because I was more focused on doing something nice for someone else versus trying to be perfect for myself (I..can be over obsessive when it comes to layouts for my site, I rarely like them.)
My dear, the truth is simple. We're all mad here.
dubiousdisc
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Re: looking for inspiration

Post by dubiousdisc »

I check people whose work I like! In fact, I have a folder of screenshots of cool layouts, many of which are by you guys. :P I try to analyze how is each layout built and what makes it attractive to me, and eventually I will go, hey, this layout's positioning of the navigation bar would fit well with my project, this other layout is using an interesting cut of the top image that would also work well applied to the image I currently have...
When I look around, I try to keep in mind what are the things that are specific to my own project. For example, if I have a picture that's very horizontal, I try to look for layouts that also make use of pictures that are very horizontal, and analyze how each one dealt with that. I also keep in mind that just because something looks nice in someone else's style it won't necessarily apply to mine - for example, as much as I like Sofia's layouts, I know that I would never be able to pull off something with that many textures and images because it's not "me", so I try to think of them less in terms of what they actually look like and more in terms of where things are positioned, globally, and what is their function.

In other words, I am a very analytical thief. :P
Mikari
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Re: looking for inspiration

Post by Mikari »

I usually just take a screen shot I like and play with it. Start with a wide area on gimp and add colors and shapes. If the site is text heavy then I pay more attention to where I'm going to put it, but if it's not, I'll just let the layout fall into place as it goes along, creating an image I like rather than thinking "layout" through the process, I'll turn it into a layout later. I tend to take colors from the picture itself, or use some of my favorite colors.
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