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Vijay Rangan
7,543 PointsHow long does it take!
Hey guys,
I've been learning a LOT of stuff on Treehouse, mainly Web Design and Development. I've been on treehouse for about a month, gone through most of their Website courses.
I was wondering, is it just me, or do most beginners have a tough time actually implementing what they've learned. Don't get me wrong, most of what I learn, I'm able to implement, but there's this "mental block" that makes me feel like I'm not moving forward as fast as I should. When I look at awesome websites and try to mimic them(at least to a certain extent), I find it a little bit of a challenge.
I guess what I'm asking is, how long does it generally take for someone to get comfortable with web design. I appreciate any and all feedback
4 Answers
Jah Chaisang
7,157 PointsVijay,
I'm not sure what you mean by mental block. But I guess it's like when you first learn to play pool or tennis. It's awkward as hell to put your mind and body through something you have never done before in your life. In our case, the processes are "coming up with what to create", "turning your vision into reality", and not to mention "using all these tools which you have limited experience with". All these things are not trivial. I think every newbie (including myself) has a tough time.
How long does it take? It's hard to answer. My philosophy is to forget about the end goal (momentarily), create what I love, and enjoy the process (no matter how troublesome the bugs are, how long does it take, and how imperfect the outcome is). This kind of attitude keeps me in front of the screen until 4am in the morning. And the more time I spend practicing the faster I get there. Sometimes you just have to stop thinking about the goal to get to the goal, isn't it ironic?
Steven Schweibold
7,742 PointsBy looking at your profile it's plain to see that you've been taking a lot of different courses and topics at Treehouse, which is fantastic! However, I think one critique I would make is that if you're interested in learning web design that you try to focus in on the subjects that fall within that particular discipline. I would take in all of the CSS, HTML, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Design courses on Treehouse and if you're a Gold subscriber check out the videos like "CSS Best Practices" and "Exercise Your Creative". Use the "Become a Web Designer" learning adventure to help guide you through the process.
Start putting those tools into your toolbox and once you're ready to start building something amazing you'll have all the necessary skills to implement your ideas.
Vijay Rangan
7,543 PointsHi Steven. Yeah I realize that. But if you look at the statistics in my profile, you can see that I'm only concentrating on web design and android.. The 2 things I'm most interested in presently. But yes, I understand what you're saying.. I should probably focus on one at a time
Noah Cooke
2,608 PointsHello Vijay, I just started a few months ago and was feeling very much the same way. I didn't feel super comfortable for a while. You probably are better than you think. I decided to make a website( for my father) to test myself. It felt awkward/hard at the beginning but it got easier and I could look online for help. Just ask around to ask if someone wants a website and have them give you an outline for what they want it to look like. You can see my website here: http://www.open-mfg.com/index.html. Its pretty basic but I think that its pretty good for the limited knowledge that I have right now. I dont even know if I answered the question or what im even thinking about right now but thats all I got. lol. ok bye
Vijay Rangan
7,543 PointsI'm actually a fan of minimalistic design. I like your website BTW.. And yes you kind of did answer my question.thank you
Nicholas Inverno
5,430 PointsI've just started and am about a month or so in and am now getting comfortable with the course work. I feel as though it depends on how much time you are putting in to it.
Vijay Rangan
7,543 PointsVijay Rangan
7,543 PointsI really liked your reply Jah :) makes sense.. I guess what I mean by mental block is that, I (and probably newbies in general) feel like I'm not making progress. Another thing is that, most of the time I'm stuck on what to do, as in, coming up with a design is pretty hard.. is that something that you face also?
Jah Chaisang
7,157 PointsJah Chaisang
7,157 PointsI'm not a web designer (more focused on the back-end programming). But I have to design a bunch of things since my project is a one-girl operation at this point :). Yes, I do have difficulty coming up with design. I often think of myself as a client. Like when I design my personal website, I think "What impact I want this home page to have on people who land on my website?" I list those requirements to get a general feel. Then I take out a piece of paper and just doodle each component. I indicate roughly the color theme and whether the font should be playful or serious or standard, according to the purpose of the page listed earlier. Then I have a sketch of the layout and some incomplete components like header/footer/buttons etc. Then I scrape and do it again, until I get finished product. Often times I scrape 4-5 different versions until I actually get something I like. And when everything is somewhat clear, I start coding. Once you streamline your design process, add purpose to your design, it should progress more naturally, I guess. You just have to nail down a workflow that really works for you and stick to it. Someone on this forum suggest asking family members and friends to be practice clients. That sounds really fun! Playing the freelance game works in terms of keeping up my motivation as well. I feel like I'm learning things that are relevant and my product will eventually get out there for the whole world to see.