Replying to Web Design: Templates Or Start From Scratch?

hello all .. i think all of free web templates are sux becouse i can`t never find a web nice template for me and i tried a lot of sites(over 1000 templates) i think the solutions is to hack the proffesional templates or to download from torrents. this is my opinion ... keep going guis ...

I'd like to create my own designs from stratch as you receive more sense of accomplishment and orginality but I'm still learning so they don't come out as I expected them to. Instead, I go for pre-designed templates/layouts and, if possible, redesign them to my liking although I'm looking more into designing them for myself now.

Having your own certainly is more flexible and I will definatley do that.
As others say, getting another template and changing it a bit is also a good way and I'm currently migrating to that system as it is easier and in some cases you can't get nailed for compyright!

Compuccino

Designing your own is definitely the ultimate goal. Templates are too rigid and inflexible. The internet should be a place where creativity flows. If everyone uses templates, then the internet would be a boring place.

That said, it takes alot of skill to truely design a site that is of your own. For myself I am not able to reach the level where I can design a website of my own. What I do is to gain ideas from different sites and design something which I think is nice.

Well, until recently I have been creating my own designs. Once you create your own design from scratch, you get the true feeling of creativity in the end, and feel good to look at your website time and again.

Just being good with a image editing tool isnt sufficient. In the end it comes down to creativity. Look at the Astahost front page that looks so elegant than other websites. Incase it had been a template, you would have never got that feeling for it.

Templates are good in case of rapid design tasks. You can immediately download one and customize to your needs. Yahoo! Site Builder comes with some of the best website templates... and its far more easier to configure than a one you download. So for those using templates, i say give that software a try. its free.

But recently for my WorldAviation.info website i moved on to a CMS, since this site was a Content based site. Although ofcourse Mambo has the option of creating customized skins, which we can do, but as of yet i am using a tonned version of their default skins. The control over content and integration is wondeful with a CMS.

depends.....if i get a template with the effect and looks i conceived then i would readily use it, or take it modify it a little to suit or enhance it to what i want.

if i none of the ready made templates capture what i imagined....time to sit down and put on your designing cap then!


i dont agree that it depends on the skill of the person concerned....even if you are highly skilled but what you need is already excellently done and ready for you to use, then why not?!




cheerz!

shiv

Heh. I go outside, gather up some dirt, and smear it into notepad. j/k

Ok. So I really like making layouts. Go to www.xanga.com/nehm4 to see my latest one.........

I always made my own designs, since day one ( even when they were really really awful ), but at least they were mine. And i found no other way to learn photoshop but making them so, it is a 100% winning situation. Also, when you make them and you make the code too, it is easier to change them, because you know it as your own hand.

Well, it depends upon the skill level of the developer ....
If u are an advanced user and an expert in Web Designing than u should go for ur own Design ...
The reason is that with ur own designs u can add any kinda Creativity to ur Website ....
U can add any Design, and u can also add any relevant script, satisfying ur needs

Templates is no Doubt very easy system, all u have to do is to take the Template and make minor editing ...
However, u cannot Modify a Template as per ur Needs. U just have to use it as it is ....

Well, I try to use my own Design as far as possible ....

hmmm ....
Now for CMS .... I cannot add any comment, because, I have not used any Content Management System yet ....

I will POST again if I used one in my AstaHost Website, once it is made ...

*** All Criticisms and Appreciations are welcome ***

Regards:
Samya Khalid

When you designing one from scratch its much better than a template that is given to you. My reason is because for one you made the site with your own creativity, and another reason is because you will further progress your skills in web development if you do it from scratch. And each webpage you make by yourself, your production of webpages will be of better quality ten folds then the template that you find else where...

What I meant was I got skills and I can make any page I see from ready-made templates. But hwat I can't do are the ones I can see in my mind. I can't project it through my own made templates. I think that If I continue to copy those ready-made templates, I will be just a copier and have no original creation, but if I use those templates in order to let my creativity grow, then I'll learn how to project my own from my mind.