Savvy Literate

How to ... learn basic web design

One of the ways to stand out at any job is to learn new skills. It's one that's never failed to serve me well. My degree was in reporting, but self-taught design skills propelled me into a different segment of the print industry. Having those writing skills combined with the design skills has opened new doors for me. This is the first in a weekly series of "How to" articles - skills that you can learn to expand the knowledge you already have in the print and web industry.

As you look for a new job, you'll find a lot of emphasis being placed on web design. For designers used to Photoshop, Illustrator, QuarkXPress, and InDesign, this might something that's completely out of your comfort zone. You're confident in your print work, because a good bit of the time it will come out as it goes in. The Internet is a different story. Throw in a bunch of HTML and CSS coding and somehow your graphic has turned into a Picasso.

I am a huge fan of the TUTS tutorial sites offered through the Envato Network. VECTORTUTS taught me Adobe Illustrator far better than a book ever could. It changed Illustrator from an extremely intimidating program to one that is very pleasant to use.

Their flagship site, PSDTUTS, is offering a week-long series of web design tutorials that will teach you how to build web sites using Photoshop. The list of tutorials, provided by the site, will be as followed:

Monday - How a Turn a Texture into a Seamlessly Tiled Background
Monday - How a Simple Layout Can Be Mixed 'n' Matched with Patterns, Photos and Backgrounds
Tuesday - The 3 Components of Good Web Design
Tuesday - 7 Interface Design Tips to Make You a Better Web Designer
Wednesday - Designing a Textured, Paper Web Design
Thursday - 7 Interface Design Tips Every Web Designer Should Know
Friday - Cliff Notes on a Website Redesign - Tips and Thoughts from the Creattica Inspire Design
Friday - 20 Killer Portfolio Templates via ThemeForest
Saturday -  8 Ideas, Techniques & Tricks for your Web Design Toolkit
Sunday - Best Photoshop Templates on ThemeForest So Far
Monday - $25,000 Giveaway, Score ThemeForest Cash by Commenting

Source: PSDTUTS

And if that isn't cool enough, designers are now able to sell their raw Photoshop designs through the network's ThemeForest site, a marketplace designed to sell all sorts of Internet-related design. While the entire event seems geared to promote the new aspect of ThemeForest and the company's giveaway, this is a great introduction to learning an new and invaluable skill that doesn't involve buying a $50 book.

Peeking off the edge of a steep cliff

About two weeks ago, I was wandering around the apartment with a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth.

A call went out for donations to save News Page Designer - the designated home of most all things related to newspaper design. My former paper, the Sun Journal, would stop hosting the site after six years and it would be transferred to the Society of News Design. The catch? They had to raise $2,500 in server costs to prevent any of the pages from being lost and to keep the site running.

They raised the money, and then some, in 24 hours.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of NPD. The site first came online in 2002 and I was just starting to teach myself beyond the basics of moving Quark boxes around on a monitor. I was just out of college, and the site was a godsend to me. I worked at a small newspaper in Selma, Ala., and NPD made me realize I could do so much more with a bit of work and ingenuity. It also made me want to work at the Sun Journal so badly that I was willing to hock one of my then-baby kittens for the privilege. I would get my wish two years later.

But, I couldn't help think of what $2,500 means to someone who is out of work. According to Erica Smith's "Paper Cuts" blog, nearly 14,000 journalists have lost their jobs this year - myself included. While NPD is a tool used in helping to get new jobs, I couldn't help but wonder why couldn't money of this type be thrown at a program to really help journalists get started in finding a new career.

Two days later, I got an e-mail from TypePad/SixApart announcing the bailout program.

It's a fantastic idea and an incredible gift to journalists trying to find their identity in a world of Flash, SEOs, and podcasts. I'm familiar with SixApart, having utilized their former blogging software, LiveJournal, since 2002. I've seem criticism levied against them by LJ users, but I'm gladly singing their praises now.

So what will this blog feature?

• First and foremost: It's my personal portfolio. You will find work here spanning from interviews with former boxers in Selma, Ala. to photo essays of balloon festivals in Lewiston, Maine to alternative presentations designed in Tucson, Ariz.
• You will also find other kinds of writing including book reviews, the occassional geek post (after all, the next Doctor will be announced soon!), the nature of working for newspapers, and how to broaden your skills to take on new tasks both in the newsroom and out of it. It's not as hard as you think.
• And finally, this site will be offering critiquing services. I first began critiquing over at Visual Editors back in 2004 and did so off and on until company policy at my last job prevented me from doing so. If you have a portfolio you would like to have critiqued, please send me a link to your site at savvylitblog@gmail.com. The resulting blog post will feature one of your pages, with a link to the rest, and constructive criticism about your work.

Please enjoy this site! If you would like to see anything written in particular, please let me know as well.