Help!!! Design

[TCB]

Hello,

I am currently in Uni studying a Bachelor of Commerce degree. However I want to start a partime business that allows me to make some extra cash and perhaps become an established company in the future if it has potential.

The business I would like to start is a graphics design studio were I start with designing logos, business cards etc then eventually expand into web development, marketing and advertising strategies.

However, the problem is I am not a qualified graphics designer though I believe I have a creative side. Can this business still be done? Also what is the easiest way to learn how to develop websites?

Thanks for advice

[malahverdian]

Just try. Make some hobby websites. You need to learn by doing.

[Yiie]

Start a blog or have a website that will display your designs and work.

Most universities will have an online job board where people advertise jobs targetted at current uni students. Of course, the pay won't be exceptional, but accumulating those little jobs will get you enough money to help you get by.

You can also target small local stores that might need a boost in their web design or logo. If they're interested, you might design some logos for free and the small business would only pay when they proceed with the design.

[TCB]

Thankyou guys for you advice. What software do you recommend to start learning how to make websites would dreamweaver be appropriate?

By the way Yiie Im located in Australia aswell nice speakng to you!

Thanks guys!

[jeremydelane]

TCB,
My suggestion to you is if you would really like to learn to build great websites is to start at the foundation. Learn the bare bones coding such as CSS, XHTML, PHP etc. There are plenty of great tools out there that allow you to work at a faster pace but until you know the reason for why they do the things they do you will often find yourself running into problems if you are seeking to design truly standards compliant websites. Do some research on the web and then start with a free platform that already has some structure to it, dig into the code and start redesigning it little by little. As stated in an earlier reply I believe that the best way is to learn by doing. Crack open a book or a tutorial while piecing together your first simple site so you can see it all in action.

Good luck!

[TCB]

Thanks Jeremy for your suggestion! Ill give it my best shot and see what I can come up with. Ill you guys know how I go.

Cheers

[Yiie]

Hey TCB, great to see another Aussie on the forum!

Have you considered doing inexpensive short courses from places like CAE, community centres or even unis? Some universities have extra curricular courses you can take (the one I'm think of is Melb uni where they have beginner to advance classes on web designs) and only costs $300-$500 for the semester.

I find Joomla a very easy CMS tool to build a website and there are heaps of add-ons such as virtuemart cart for online shopping. The best thing about it is that it's free and fairly easy to pick up. You can design professonal looking websites without the fuss and complications of using Macromedia Dreamweaver or Director.

With web designs, it's definitely a learn as you go process. Class room trainings are great to get you started, but a lot of things you will pick up from a hands on approach.