Where can I go for free design / templates for a web app?

Question

I have started to code a web app for small businesses, and I have some trouble with the page design. I know the layout that I want, and I can code it fine, but I have always been hopeless at choosing colours / co-ordinating the elements on the page.

I am wondering if there are any sites that provide free templates specifically for web applications (not personal web-pages, these usually have a different style then I am after), or maybe sites where people offer their services to create web-app designs. Could anyone help me out on this?

Note: My problem is not with layout - I have read many of the different guidelines out there for creating user friendly GUIs etc, so I would prefer not to have links to those sorts of pages.

Many Thanks.

Answer 1

This is a good starting point http://www.freecsstemplates.org/css-templates/

Answer 2

Blueprint is a CSS framework, which aims to cut down on your development time. It gives you a solid foundation to build your project on top of, with an easy-to-use grid, sensible typography, useful plugins, and even a stylesheet for printing.

http://www.blueprintcss.org/

Answer 3

Note that the site Robert Harvey suggests is an excellent starting point for the layout and typography of your site. Add on top of that http://colorschemedesigner.com/ to pick a nice set of coordinated colours, and you are most of the way there to having the building blocks to make your own customised site design.

Keep in mind that in most cases not over-designing is the best way to get something stylish together.

Note: Worth a special mention is the 'Simulate color vision deficiency' option at the bottom-left of the colour scheme designer... especially if you have important meaningful colours it pays to check that everyone is likely able to discern it.

Answer 4

Okay, the solution that I ended up going with was a combination of the top two answers - I used http://www.blueprintcss.org/ to implement the layout, and I used the http://colorschemedesigner.com/ to help me decide on colours. The colour designer is especially helpful for determining what colours go together and which ones are the most accessible.