how to create great looking web UI and designs ?

Question

is there a good book or set of online tutorials that will let me produce high quality templates on like themeforest.net ?

Answer 1

I love Steve Krug's, Don't make me think. It's about usability and web design. He analyzes the most popular sites and compares their design and usability.

Very recommendable! http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&index=blended&field-keywords=steve%20krug%20don%27t%20make%20me%20think&tag=smtfx1-20

Answer 2

You'll probably be able to learn to produce decent looking sites, but unless you have a good eye (which is harder to learn), you'd be better hiring a designer...

Answer 3

One thing that a web design prof I had hammered into us is that there are very few "original" ideas on the majority of web sites out there. Peruse the web, see what you like, and incorporate some of the good ideas into yours.

I'm not advocating stealing the format completely mind you, I'm just saying to build off of other's good ideas.

Another good idea, Smashing Magazine usually produces great lists of various types of website layouts. Be sure to check those over as well! Here's one for portfolio websites, for example.

For producing the templates, you're pretty much going to want to mock it up first in something like Photoshop (tutorials abound on the web for doing web layouts in PS), and then create your HTML/CSS code, either by hand or with software like Dreamweaver.

Answer 4

I'm the type to teach myself things and because of that I've learned a lot about websites (and design) simply by cruising around online. As long as you have a sense of what's quality info and what's not you can learn loads! And like you I think copy and paste are the BIGGEST tools. I understand HTML and CSS and can usually parse bits together. Is it perfect? No. Can a designer/developer do better? Absolutely! But its all about learning for me!