I set out to learn html4.01 and 5, css, javascript and perhaps php with a view to developing strong technical web design skills that can be applied to designing websites from scratch. My reasoning is that I'm a bit deficient on the visual creativity side and could perhaps compensate by making use of good power and flexibility in text-editor-based design. I even thought that, if I became very strong on the technical side, I could perhaps even attract casual design partners who do have visual creativity, or even a more committed creative sidekick. I'm not looking to launch myself straight into business in the oversaturated freelance web design field, just create a technically solid personal website that has decent visual appeal as a springboard to anything else I might do in the future.
After having an easy time of it getting the basics of html and css down, but struggling with javascript, however, I'm starting to wonder how realistic my aim is. How much more power and flexibility does text-editor-based from-scratch design offer over the graphical design tools easily available to a creative but technically unskilled person through the average bargain-basement webhost? More importantly, to what extent can from-scratch design proficiency really compensate for weak visual creativity?
I welcome opinions on these issues from anyone, whether your strengths are technical or creative, whether you are a veteran millionaire freelance web designer or someone who has programmed only in binary for the last 30 years. Let's hear from you.
Progz
