Hussain M Elius

Yes, I need to write more. And I will! Promise! But this is what I have realized… One, the only opinions I like sharing are usually in short blurbs, and two, I need to build an audience instead of writing about NSU on one post and web standards on another. Without a focus, this will never be a useful blog.

That being said, it’s still hmelius.com. This domain is about me.

So I have a renovation planned which will allow me to link to this site without embarrassing myself. I won’t say coming soon because I procrastinate way too much. But it will come.

And then some.

I have been working on website designing for about 2 years now, and there seems to be a wide interest in the subject. I have received a wide interest on the subject from my cousins, my friends, and even people I just met. So I think it’s time that I point out some resources to get people started.

I will not post resources on how to code HTML and CSS. These links are for people who ask me “how to make websites“. The way I see it, making websites is a two part job – one person visualizes how the websites will look like and puts it in Photoshop. His job is to fix up the typography, layout, colors, pretty much whatever you see. The second person codes up the PSD into HTML/CSS, taking browser compatibility, semantics, and web standards into account. Of course, these two task can be done by one person, one can even skip the Photoshop part altogether and start coding from the first go. Nevertheless, I have separated the following sections into the two aforementioned parts.

How to build a theme in Photoshop. Step-by-step guides.

• Create A Dark, Clean Website Design In Adobe Photoshop
• How To Create a Blog Theme Concept in Photoshop
• Basics: Build a clean magazine and blog theme
• Reading Materials
• Web Design Theory
• The Lost art of Design Etiquette

Inspiration/Current Trends.

It’s not only necessary on how to make websites, it is necessary to know how to make good, modern websites. These sites provide a showcase of the better looking ones.

• SiteInspire
• Best Web Gallery
• Design Shack
• Smashing Magazine Showcase - Focusing on a particular part of a website (footer, navigation, etc) rather then entire ones.

Converting (or not) Theme to CSS/HTML

• Build a Sleek Portfolio Site From Scratch
• How to Code a Blog Theme Concept in HTML/CSS
• Basics: Slicing and Markup + Coding (Part 1 and Part 2)
• Reading Materials - Web Design from Scratch

Blogs to read. Every day.

• Smashing Magazine - Covers everything under the User Interface sun
• A List Apart - Explores web design and development, with special focus on web standards and best practices.
• Webdesign.Tutsplus – and the entire Tutsplus Network. Brilliant tutorials all around.