[galadriel]

well after spending a few months fighting with both photoshop and flash.........i am ready to take the big step of designing my first menu........

only one small problem........

i have no idea how 2 design........

no idea what looks good.......

which is probably why i am a programmer not a designer.....

so where do u start.......

with the restrictions?........

size......usability.....no of menu items required.....

mwaaaaahhh u know after spending nearly 3 solid months of learning to use the software(actually watched the x-files tonight)...this is just sooooooooo unfair.....

mind u no one ever said life was fair :)

any tips or advice would be appreciated

galadriel

[galadriel]

of course tip no 1 would be.....

going 2 bed and getting a good nights sleep.......:)

galadriel

[tsmoke]

I would have to say that an idea of good design comes from looking at how other web pages are laid out. You will want to look at web pages that you think are great and also at pages that you think totally suck. This way, you will have an idea of what types of things you will want to integrate into your web pages.

I noticed that you didn't mention HTML. If you want to design awesome pages, then learning HTML is a must. Granted, there are programs that will help you to layout a web page/site, but they are limited in what they can do. I'm sure that as a programmer, you just hate being limited.

Anyhow, that is my two cents. if you have any more specific questions or otherwise, just post and I'll reply back to it.

Tsmoke

[objekt404]

here is an idea.  some of the best 'new' designs in interfaces are in winamp/realjukebox skins.  that & the html, but dreamweaver would probably be enough

[Sonic]

design is half aesthetics and half functionality.

i think you were on the right track when you said you should start with the restrictions. knowing what is 'allowed' in the design is the first step in building it.

believe it or not, but the menu is the most important part of your site; even more so than your logo/banner. users don't regularly click on the banner, they -should- always use the menu. since this is your first design, a good menu should be intuitive and straight forward. worry about making cutting edge pages after you get the fundamentals down. trust me, it'll come.

so:
1. list out the limitations on the menu
2. sketch, draw, or imagine the -shape- of your menu and menu buttons within the overall context of the site (forget about colors, textures, etc. right now). make sure the menu -fits- with the site design.
3. after you've settled down on the shape and position, start playing around with colors, textures, and depth. personally i like subtle uses of all of these things. i prefer monochromatic color schemes (like dream.in.code) with one primary color and shades of black and white. you, of course, will have your own preferences.
4. last but not least, make sure the font you choose for your menu matches with the rest of your site. fonts are often overlooked in site design, but are central to the over-all look.

Hope that helps. :)

[Lord Manimal]

Spoken like a true designer. Also, another.... unethical manner of getting a good layout when you're first starting out, and one I'm guilty of myself, is to find a site that you like, and pour over it's code. Take it down in notepad, and play with it from there. Is it unoriginal? Yes. Is it a crime? Maybe, depending upon how closely you mimic your original. Just use it as a learning tool as I did, and pretty soon, you'll be pulling websites out of your buttox. LOL

[supersloth]

manimal means that litterally in his case.... j/k

[Lord Manimal]

You just wish you were the cat in Mini-Me's lap. ;-p LOL