Create a Personal Website

Personal Web Pages Guide Linda Roeder has a 10 step tutorial on creating a basic personal website. You may have heard or read that designing for the Web is different from designing for print. It is. But there are similarities. If you're considering expanding into professional Web design from a print background -- many print designer already have but others may be holding back -- one way to get started is by designing your own personal Web site.

Looking at Linda's steps it's easy to see the relationship between Web design and print design. For instance, some of the steps:

• In Choosing the Perfect Title she writes, " A good title will make people want to stay on your site a bit longer just to see what you have to offer." That's true about book titles, newsletter titles, ad headlines, and headlines and subheads in brochures, reports, and even greeting cards.

• Layout, Colors, and Design for a Web site involve many of the same considerations as print including the number and arrangement of columns and the choice of colors. There are technical differences in how a layout works on the Web and in print, put those are still decisions you make based on the content and purpose of the project and your audience expectations.

• Linda writes, "It's important on a personal website to write one page that tells your readers who you are." Creating a Biography on your Web site is similiar to writing a biographical blurb for your own brochures and press releases or creating bylines and mini-bios for newsletter articles. It's all about identification.

• The Web is a visual medium so you'll be Adding Photos and Graphics. One of the main differences between graphics in print and on the Web is the format. You'll also have less precise control of colors in photos and other artwork.

Linda also has an email course to walk you through how to Create a Personal Website in 10 Days. And for more Web site building options, consider these tutorials from Web Design/HTML Guide Jennifer Krynin: How to Build a Web Page and Building a Web Page for the Totally Lost.