[dsarosh]

Hello guys,
I was always interested in being a freelance webdesinger, but was afraid that I would never get jobs even if I was good.

I wold like to ask you guys what software would you guys suggest I should use in the long run. Some like dreamweaver, but some say that dream weaver does not render pages properly.
Which software would you guys recommend I should use?

Also, I tried looking on the big freelance sites such as guru.com, elance.com, getafreelancer.com etc and I find that big companies have entered there too. The big companies pay the website a yearly fees to get a preferred status, and there is not much scope for single individuals for me.
Any feedback from you guys would be much appreciated, and also please let me know the minimum software I need to get started.
I alreayd know the basics of html, a bit of css and also played with php too. I now need to learn how to make good webistes.
Thanks very much to all in advance,
Sarosh.

[Geenius]

I guess software wise dreamweaver is my weapon of choice, but i rarely stray from code view, i'd get learning CSS inside out. Not only in terms of styling fonts but also for layout.

Flash is worth learning for promotional purposes (use it wisely) or in some cases smaller niche markets may require an entire website built from flash.

PHP/.NET is great if your happy learning code, theres always business for someone who knows what they are doing with a database.

Im not really sure what else to say its a very broad question and to be honest there are so many areas within the web as a medium for which one can design for that I can only point at vague outlines, still hope this helps.

[dsarosh]

Thanks for your reply,
I'm going through css tutorials and unerstanding the concepts, but I have to use dreamweaver to generate the css code.

My main concern is what are the chances for a single individual freelancer like me? There are so many experts out there, and so many web design firms, make me doubt if I will ever be accepted to work on any project at all.

I am working on my current website (which I am not allowed to post here) but I have hardly got any contacts through my site. I am going to complete the website anyway and add more examples of the graphics work I have been doing.

Hearing from you guys is great, and if you have any thoughts about individual freelancers like me, please do share them. It is kind of a depressing thought to think that I might put in many hours learning web design on my own, and I wont get any benifit from it in the long run.
Thanks
Sarosh.

[austers]

My weapons of choice when it comes to web design are photoshop, illustator and smultron. I hate dreamweaver, i prefer to hand code everything.

The only advice I can give you is to stick at it. Don't let others put you off. Do some free or low paid work to build up a portfolio and then start to charge higher.

[RaelRode]

OK ok. So its Photoshop, Illustrator and PHP designer 2007 personal. :p

[vannova]

the best software for web are Photoshop, dreamweaver

[dsarosh]

sarosh.8m.com

[dsarosh]

Hello Guys,
I thought I would show you my above site.
I just remade the navigation menu on the left.
I made it in photoshop and used slices.
I found it really easy to make that menu in photoshop because I have been using photoshop for a long time now, but learning CSS is more difficult than I thought, although CSS is a great way to locate objects on a page.
Let me know if you guys have any opinions.
Thanks,
Sarosh.
PS: Please add the http part before the website if it does not load.

[2Dfruit]

I hate being rude, but that is crap. sorry.

[Larixk]

ad-free hosting is probably the next logical step.

[dsarosh]

Originally Posted by 2Dfruit

I hate being rude, but that is crap. sorry.

Is the website with the ads crap or was the menu I made on the left crap?
Thanks,
Sarosh.

[samuelcotterall]

Seriously, forget everything you know about web design and start again from scratch.

[Snowshiro]

Everyone's being a little brutal, but much as it pains me to say it, in this case they're right. If it was your personal homepage and you had no real understanding of design, it would be par for the course. The web is littered with this kind of site, and there's nothing wrong with people having a go at building themselves a few pages. However, if you're promoting yourself as a designer, it just makes you look ridiculous. It's a random mishmash of fonts, colors, layouts and... honestly it couldn't be much worse if you'd used comic sans for the body copy.

[pgo]

Please learn HTML and CSS properly. Professionals don't let Dreamweaver generate the code.

[dsarosh]

Originally Posted by pgo

Please learn HTML and CSS properly. Professionals don't let Dreamweaver generate the code.

Hi,
I thought I had mentioned that I used photoshop to generate that menu. I made the image in photoshop and simply added slice boxes aroud the text item. I really didnt do any web desing in that, but just thought to show it anyway because it was the first coloful navigation menu I made.

I did get into lot of things. I learnt the concepts of css too, and made simple forms with php too. I registered on my websites, I applied for jobs which up suitable for me; making business cards, post cards, etc, etc.
But havent got a single offer yet.

Anyway, I understand that menu has nothing to do with webdesn or dream weaver or html code. I made it all in photoshop and dragged slices around it entered the url, thats all.
Its good to know that photoshop has enough features to make atleast a start page.

[Snowshiro]

Originally Posted by dsarosh

I applied for jobs which up suitable for me; making business cards, post cards, etc, etc.
But havent got a single offer yet.

I'm a little confused by this. Are you suggesting then that all the examples of work on your site, are in fact not your own? If that's the case (I'm guessing it is because they're all American and you're in India) it's considered very bad form to put someone else's work in your own portfolio.

[dsarosh]

This is what I have been doing for the past year.
But I want to do more. I have been using only photoshop/illustrator to make all those cards you see on my website. All the orders come through only one agent in USA, but I have never been able to get contacts by my self individually because I dont have the profile for it.
Every item you see on the website, including the cool penciils, is made by me. It does not look good on the site, but all the clients are happy with their cards.

[Snowshiro]

If that's the case and it's all your own work, then I apologize without hesitation for implying that it may not be.

I think you have some potential as a designer further down the track, but right now your style of design isn't really what a lot of people are looking for, particularly in western countries. To a degree I think it's perhaps a little unfair to be too 'snobbish' about your work, and perhaps I was a little strong with my earlier comments. Having visited India, the style of design that you use is certainly very common on practically every storefront, pamphlet and elsewhere, and highly colored work with a range of fonts doesn't seem to be much of an issue.

However, in some other countries the type of design you produce is not really in demand right now, except (perhaps) for very low budget direct-mail.

As a starting point, can I suggest you take a look at a few sites that embody some of the current popular design trends. Here's a useful URL for you to look at:

50 Beautiful CSS-Based Web-Designs in 2006 | Smashing Magazine

Most of these sites are designed in a style that's become commonly known as Web 2.0 (if you're not sure what it is, have a look around these forums - there's plenty of discussion about it). Try to find other good examples of design -there's also an area devoted to it on this site- and see what other designers do that you can learn from.

Although we've had a bit of fun bashing your site, I think it's fair to say that forums like this should also try to provide help and assistance for people wanting to get started, no matter what their current level.

[brendan hart]

Im not sure if this is your style, but i know in india or places around there they have bollywood, which is really really GREAT art. I personally not a drawer or painter of that calibur but that is a great style. anyways keep at it, you got some talent in you, you just gotta learn that css/html, then once you have mastered that move onto php, coz its easier then asp.net and jsp.

but html and css for now, try make sites without images for now then move onto adding images, i personally dont like using images that much because my talents in photoshop arent to great

[Snowshiro]

Great words from the Guru

Actually, shouldn't you be out chasing women?