Web designing is a creative field which refers to the process of designing websites. There are many steps involved in web designing including webpage, graphic design, and creating and publishing relevant content. Markup language used in this process is HTML. It is used to build webpages by utilizing “tags” which define content and “metadata” which explain the web page. Webpage layout is described by CSS (cascading style sheets). Graphic designers create the images for use on these webpages. HTML and CSS create the design and images are created by using programs like Adobe Photoshop. In order to provide a unique and exciting user experience, there is constant need for interesting and unique ideas for web design. The resources available to facilitate this process include Smashing Magazine and Web Designer Depot. There are many different resources or methods available to help in this process. Brainstorming and using online resources are one of them.
Brainstorming
This is a process of randomly suggesting new ideas without giving much thought to them. It is important to give as many suggestions as possible for this process to be successful. In the end of brainstorming, there is usually a big list of ideas available to choose from. It is important to start with a blank canvas and keep building ideas on it. This facilitates unrestricted thinking process. It is very important to get timing right for brainstorming. The team working on a particular idea needs to figure out best time for them to work together and use it for brainstorming. It can be early in the morning, late afternoon after lunch or in the evening. Just make sure it is comfortable for all the members involved.
This can help in yielding better results in limited time frame. All the team members involved in the process of idea generation should know everything about the project. This helps in getting them involved and increasing productivity. It is important to encourage questions from the team members. This step can help in ruling out any misunderstanding about the project, lack of information, possible road blocks or obstacles beforehand and can ensure smoother process at web designing phase.
Inspiration sources
Ideas can come any source. It is important to start looking outside the box and keep an open mind. Simply observing everything in great detail can help and social media can also be used to get inspiration ideas. It is not important to restrict ideas to a particular field but expand research dimensions to get amazing results. Different sites to look for creative ideas include Twitter, Facebook, RSS feeds, and design galleries. There are many online resources available like Galleries (Site Inspire, Crayon.co, BetaList, and The Best Designs), Award Websites (Awwwards, CSS Design Awards, Webby Awards, and Favorite Website Awards), Artist Galleries (Dribbble, Behance, and 365 Awesome Designers) , and other resources (Pinterest Boards, Little Big Details and UI Parade). These resources can help in finding inspiration when required. Trying new apps like MindNode, Moodboard, OmniGraffle, myPANTONE, and iDesign can also help in getting new ideas.
Discussion
Bringing out new ideas can be very difficult. However, if we decide to go with fresh start, putting everything we know to test and try to find alternate solutions to established problems, we may just be able to do that and get unique ideas for Web designing. It is important to encourage free discussion process among team members and giving them all the information they need for project completion. Also, using online resources can help in stimulating creativity and bringing out unique ideas.