Inspiring Layouts.

[Dal123]

What's everyones favourite style of layout. I performed a search on here and noticed that this subject has rarely been discussed in great detail.
I'm at a block with my layout; it's very poor and "it's my first site" is my poor excuse at the moment lol (attached thumbnail).

I've had a look at sites I like and find it hard to pinch bits that I like and fuse them with other parts and my design. Also I want my own original idea, though I'm at a complete block and my two years at college studying graphic design was a complete waste of time lol.

Maybe everyone post their favourite style/ site. :)

[Greedo]

simple, bold, highly typographic. lacking in gradients, bevels, flares, shiny bits.

http://www.designcrit.com/

http://www.vsapartners.com/

[angelwatt]

The CSS Zen Garden (http://www.csszengarden.com/) always seems to give people some inspiration. I really don't have a favorite layout. I just like text to be readable and not have my eyes hurt from looking at the design.

[Not Available]

Apart from what has already been written, I'd also recommend DeviantART (http://deviantart.com) and CSSPlay (http://cssplay.co.uk), although the latter is not exclusively about layouts, but CSS.

By the way, instead of writing some crap as a text, I'd suggest using dummy text. Here (http://lipsum.com) you can generate one. I'd also suggest creating a high-resolution layout (think about 1280x1024, or 1600x1200, and so on).

Web Designer's Wall (http://webdesignerwall.com) has also got some awesome posts and stuff on it.

[adamfishercox]

To me, if a layout occurs often enough to become favoritable, it's not a favorite.

[Dal123]

Thanks very much for your input guys. It's really helped. What do you think of this sort of style:

[arkitect]

Thanks very much for your input guys. It's really helped. What do you think of this sort of style:

Please don't think I am just being gratuitously negative, but how much time did you spend on the design? :o

1. The logo you worked on for so long in Illustrator is uncomfortable. PRECISE FORMWORK LIMITED is far too close to the bottom of the steel edge ruler.

2. HOME CONTACT US etc… too big.

3. The address and numbers at the bottom is just a train smash. The puke-yello-lite™ is unreadable and then you switch to black… just keep to one colour.

4. Get some Lorem ipsum dolor at least. ;)

Go have a look at some of the sites suggested above, or if all else fails — and in this case recommended — use iWeb or similar. There are simple templates that would help you a lot.

Good luck! :)

[Dal123]

Thanks for your criticism. I'll raise up the text on the logo, I spent about 20 minutes on it. I just can't figure out where to put the stuff on the page.
I'm using dreamweaver 2004, do you think I should use their pre formatted css sheets.
Don't want to spend any more money on programs, Thanks again for your input well appreciated.:)
It's only a rough sketch of the sort of layout. I was planning on tweaking sizes in dreamweaver; I would do exact layout but photoshop does not size in pixels.

[Not Available]

I'm using dreamweaver 2004, do you think I should use their pre formatted css sheets.
Don't want to spend any more money on programs, Thanks again for your input well appreciated.:)
It's only a rough sketch of the sort of layout. I was planning on tweaking sizes in dreamweaver; I would do exact layout but photoshop does not size in pixels.
No, do not use the preloaded stylesheets, they will annoy you.

I don't know how much money you spent on programs, but I think that web site is doable with TextEdit alone. It does not have any images, except for the picture, and the logo... I'm sure we can work it out with some CSS proprieties.

And yes, use the Lipsum (apparently I've wasted my time writing that...). Right now, it looks like a joke with that text.

[Dal123]

Thanks for input people. I've spent a few quid on programs, just bought Quark Xpress, Illustrator, Photoshop, Ind-Design, Dreamweaver, Flash, Bridge, Version Que. All that stuff.
The image is actually a google ajax feed (slideshow). This is the very first quick little drawings I'm doing to try to figure out where to place everything. Input is much appreciated::D.

[design-is]

I'm not commenting on the other stuff right now, but just letting you know that Photoshop can size things in pixels :)

Set it here:

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/2952/picture3ady.jpg

Or right click on the rulers and choose a unit of measurement.

/Doug