Learning Web Design

I just started learning modern Web Site design roughly 3 weeks ago. I see a lot of people struggling in this forum. There are a lot of great tutorial videos available through Adobe Media Player.

I see a problem with the way the training videos are presented from a right-brain dominant person's perspective though. The videos are out of order, which is counter-productive to learning an efficient workflow.

Knowing whether you are dominant right-brained or dominant left-brained is critical to efficient learning. This isn't a bunch of New-Age psychobabble.  Check out the links below, take the tests and see whether you are right-brain dominant or left-brain dominant.

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,22492511-5005375,00.html

http://www.web-us.com/BRAIN/braindominance.htm

If you test right-brain dominant, I believe I can help you eliminate some of you Web design learning frustration.

I come from a family of right-brainers. My grandfather was an artist. He was born in Scotland and could draw and paint very realistic looking people as well as paint beautiful landscapes. My mother-in law was an artist for the FBI and my wife is an art teacher (ceramics).

My fourteen year old daughter is right-brain dominant. She does well in all of her subjects except math/algebra. Public schools take the one-size-fits-all approach to education and pretty much universally adjusts teaching styles toward left-brained students. In the US, public education is apparently a low priority. For example, in 2002, Nintendo spent over 140 million dollars on research and development. Contrast that to the US federal government spending less than half that much on research and innovation in education.

We unfortunately have to pay for a math tutor for my daughter. She is smart. She just needs to have things explained in a certain way. For instance, my daughter told me recently that her math tutor was able to successfully explain in one hour, what her public school math teacher was unable to explain in two weeks.

Another thing that’s nuts… An organization will get a multi-million dollar government grant to research effective methods of education when all that’s needed, is half a day researching teaching legends on the Web. One such legend is Jaime Escalante. He inspired the Film “Stand and Deliver”. He was able to teach calculus to students who were otherwise thought to be un-teachable. The students did so well that his entire class was accused of cheating.

During a parent-counselors meeting, regarding my daughter’s struggle with math in public school, I suggested they study Jaime Escalante’s Website and utilize his strategies that have a proven successful track record. No one at the school I spoke with even heard of Jaime Escalante.

Back to Web design. You right-brainers need to realize that we learn from the top down. We need to see the big picture first. What does the finished page look like?  Stop trying to design your Web pages from within Dreamweaver!

As stated in the Adobe Web tutorials, nearly all web design begins in PhotoShop. If you are only using Dreamweaver, you need to get PhotoShop CS4 and Fireworks CS4. If you’re just using trials, I recommend Adobe Creative Suite Web Premium.

As I mentioned, we right-brainers learn from the top down. Modern Web site work flow begins with PhotoShop, then Fireworks and then Dreamweaver.

Look at the tutorials in Adobe Media Player that cover jump-starting design with Fireworks.

Within a couple of days after studying the tutorials, I was able to create a beautiful, complex test web page with graphics and real text (not graphics OF text) that required only minor tweaking in Dreamweaver. The code passed with zero errors, and the page looked great in all of the browsers.

Right-brainers, stop beating your head against the wall. Don’t try to build a site within Dreamweaver. Design your site first with PhotoShop. Open your PhotoShop design in Fireworks and follow the tutorials that show you how-to, for starters:

Visually create div areas.
Expanding “y” based backgrounds so text can expand without breaking your design.
Slicing your design.
Exporting as images and CSS.

Dreamweaver is where you add many of the final touches and code based tweaks. Stop trying to build your pages from the bottom up.

Remember, Albert Einstein and Leonardo Da Vinci were both dominant right-brainers. We excel in creativity. We have a creative edge over the left-brained Web designers. We just need to acquire their skill by working our way down from the top to the lower level elements.

Learning Web Design

I see your point.  But it may surprise you to know that Functional MRI tests have shown that most people flip-flop, back and forth several times per day as they tackle  different tasks.  The Author of ''Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain'' which championed the notion of hemispherical differences between right and left brain processes, realized  6 months after publication of her  original book that drawing was in fact a 'global skill.'  I think Web Design is  a global skill. too.

Look at this link to an animated Gif. Is the dancer spinning clockwise or counter-clockwise?

http://alt-web.blogspot.com/2007/10/left-brain-vs-right-brain-test.html

If you look at her for a while, you may see her spin  BOTH  ways as I do.  But the  gif is really only spinning in  one direction  (and I won't tell you which).

I think it's important to appreciate diversity and remain  open to different tutorial styles.  As you say, there are many ways to skin  the proverbial cat. And one apporach might penetrate better in the morning while another approach sinks in better at night.  Understanding both may lead to greater understanding of the  'big picture.'

Cheers,

Nancy O.
Alt-Web Design %26amp; Publishing
Web | Graphics | Print | Media  Specialists
www.alt-web.com/
www.twitter.com/altweb
www.alt-web.blogspot.com

Learning Web Design

Nancy Wrote:

''Look at this link to an animated Gif. Is the dancer spinning clockwise or counter-clockwise?

http://alt-web.blogspot.com/2007/10/left-brain-vs-right-brain-test.html''

For me, she spins clockwise about 80% of the time. I can make her spin counter clockwise by adding numbers in my head.

Nancy Wrote:

''I think it's important to appreciate diversity and remain  open to different tutorial styles.  As you say, there are many ways to skin  the proverbial cat. And one apporach might penetrate better in the morning while another approach sinks in better at night.  Understanding both may lead to greater understanding of the  'big picture.'''

The tutorials I've watched have all been good. A huge amount of knowledge is required for great Web design. I learn quicker when tutorial videos are presented in an order that syncs with an efficient start-to-finish visual workflow.

The new technologies are interesting. For instance, I like the concept of ''editable regions'' on a web page where text changes can easily be made from a browser. I don't know yet, how well this actually works. I'd like to give it a try when I re-do our company's site. Any of you using editable regions in your Web design? How well does it work?

great wear