1. find an existing design you like, e.g. the vowsjs website. use it as a starting point.
2. find another existing design you like, e.g. the designiskinky.net - they doesn't have to be related.
3. try to combine them. what do you like about each of them? what do you dislike? try to replace the parts you dislike with your own variations. get inspiration from other sites. also, change some of the basics: color scheme (there are online color scheme generators), fonts and -sizes, spacings, ...
4. cobble it all together.
5. it will look horrible, so change a few things and iterate.
6. it will still look horrible. the color scheme doesn't fit somehow. the font - looking good on its own - is still terrible for headlines. the menu is not where others expect it. you notice that the one cool gimmick you invented is not only useless, but totally distracting. you'll find you took a great website, took all the good parts out, replaced them with other good parts that totally make no sense in this context and that the result is horrible. also, the site will look boring. you'll want to throw it away and start again. you'll start to notice those sites were made by experienced designers and there was a reason their sites were built that way. now your website is ugly, your motivation is gone and also time ran out. you'll put it online anyway because you don't have an alternative, but it wont cost you any money because the site sells nothing and - be honest - it's still better than most of the sites out there.
great, you learned a lot of valuable lessons!
but i tell you as much: you'll never be happy with your designs. they will always look dull and boring - that's because you made them and stared at them for hours. don't worry, just put them online. you can always redesign them in a year.
2. find another existing design you like, e.g. the designiskinky.net - they doesn't have to be related.
3. try to combine them. what do you like about each of them? what do you dislike? try to replace the parts you dislike with your own variations. get inspiration from other sites. also, change some of the basics: color scheme (there are online color scheme generators), fonts and -sizes, spacings, ...
4. cobble it all together.
5. it will look horrible, so change a few things and iterate.
6. it will still look horrible. the color scheme doesn't fit somehow. the font - looking good on its own - is still terrible for headlines. the menu is not where others expect it. you notice that the one cool gimmick you invented is not only useless, but totally distracting. you'll find you took a great website, took all the good parts out, replaced them with other good parts that totally make no sense in this context and that the result is horrible. also, the site will look boring. you'll want to throw it away and start again. you'll start to notice those sites were made by experienced designers and there was a reason their sites were built that way. now your website is ugly, your motivation is gone and also time ran out. you'll put it online anyway because you don't have an alternative, but it wont cost you any money because the site sells nothing and - be honest - it's still better than most of the sites out there.
great, you learned a lot of valuable lessons!
but i tell you as much: you'll never be happy with your designs. they will always look dull and boring - that's because you made them and stared at them for hours. don't worry, just put them online. you can always redesign them in a year.