Inspiration.

Da_iMac_Daddy

Da_iMac_Daddy

Not-so-Neo-DumbA$$
Hey guys. I'm in a web design class at school and I really need some inspiration. I can't seem to find any thing good to do. Most people are designated to certain web pages and I really need something creative to do. Check out the Dover High Web Page.

I'm dieing I need some grades for this marking period.
 
Welcome to world of design! Most designers get to where you're at at least a couple of times a day.

Good designers never settle, I always say.

You should constantly be looking at ways to improve your site.

Here's what I would suggest:
Look at your current site, see what small things you could do to improve navigation, appearance and general ease-of-use. Simple changes, if you will.

Now, is that going to be enough to make you happy with your current site?

No?

Good, then consider looking for inspiration intelligently. For example, don't visit other websites and pull an exact copy of what you liked, only to simply duplicate it on your site. That's piecemeal designing, and it doesn't work.

Consider looking at the objective of your website, i.e. what is it trying to accomplish. Write this information down before you go looking for inspiration. Then smartly think of ways of accomplishing those design/usability goals. In other words, have a game plan.

Once you decide what it is your site is trying to do, and what types of improvements you would like to make, then start looking on the web.

You don't have to look for websites that are in the same field as the site you're designing for. For example, I was attempting to find a good form of navigation in a "non-flash" site I was working on, but I found the answer in a "flash-enabled" site. Completely different approach, but the inspiration came from the flash site.

I tend to lean towards the professionally designed (or mainstream) websites out there.

Check out:
Apple
GAP
Banana Republic (which won't work in Safari BTW)
stereotypography
Motown Records
Sony Style
2Advanced
Crate and Barrel
ikea

That should get you going. And there are a million others out there, keep looking and don't settle for mediocre.
 
If you want to spice up your current HS web site, I suggest adding rollovers to the links on the main page that will display floating divs containing the links to the various subsections in each category (for graphic example, see www.macmall.com).

If you want to create an entirely new site, come up with some product you want to pretend to sell and design a site around promoting and selling it, as Twister did. You can then post it for us to give you feedback on.
 
You have to make a mouseover that changes the "visibility" from "hidden" to "visible." Look at my site (in my signature) to see how. Or, check the source code at Mac Mall.
 
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