Modern design for developers: getting started [closed]

Question

I've been working with web development since 2009 when I've learned HTML, CSS and PHP. By the time, I've also learned about the web standards and started working with them. Then some years ago I've started to work with a designer. He developed the website layout in Fireworks by the time and I was responsible for coding it.

Today I've also learned ASP.NET and Javascript for the development of Single Page Apps, however the designer is not working with me anymore and I didn't find any other to deal with the layout of the websites and applications. Also, today it seems design has got more complex, because we have to think about responsive design, there are lots of devices and so on.

So, my doubt is: what's a good away for a developer like me learn just the basics of design to be able to create layouts for web apps and websites that fits with the last trends? I really don't know where to start, because although I already know how to deal with Photoshop I know that this is very far from being enough to design well.

I am looking for practiced procedures I can follow that will allow me to develop my design skills whilst making use of my current experience.

Answer 1

Web Design is moving away from using traditional tools such as Fireworks and Photoshop, and into a browser-based environment.

As you have gained a lot of experience of front end development you would be very comfortable using a framework such as Zurb's foundation (http://foundation.zurb.com/) or Twitter Bootstrap (http://getbootstrap.com/) to get you started with design.

These have a solid overall style applied, with the benefit of elements that can be edited individually to develop a new style. That way you have a very usable structure and can try your hand at designing different sections, such as headers, navigation and buttons without worrying about learning to do them all at once.

Once you get used to designing the visual side of projects you could try building them from scratch without the frameworks.

Answer 2

In my opinion, learning HTML5, CSS3 (which includes the new media queries for responsive design) and Javascript (for dynamic client-based content) would suffice for fundamental but effective front-end development.