I'm not sure whether to call myself a designer or a programmer (or both or neither), but I have released a handful of web apps/sites that usually end up receivi

I'm not sure whether to call myself a designer or a programmer (or both or neither), but I have released a handful of web apps/sites that usually end up receiving compliments for good design [1]. The funny thing is that I've never read a book or even so much as a blog post on what makes a design good. Here's the most helpful tip you'll ever receive: find something beautiful and copy it exactly, pixel for pixel. You can start as small as you feel comfortable - a button, an icon, even a nice shadow. From there, work your way up. At this point, don't worry about being original. Duplicating existing design will help you in so many ways. You'll become acquainted with the design software of choice. You'll learn about tools and menus that you never new existed. You'll discover neat techniques, and you'll notice details that you overlooked before. As you work, you'll start to understand why things fit together the way they do. You'll see that some elements work together and some don't. Pick out pieces from different designs and mash them together. And here's a secret: nobody gets a design right on the first try. Experiment, experiment, experiment! If something looks a bit off, adjust it. You probably won't know exactly how to adjust it, so tweak the element in every way you can think of. Resize, change the color, adjust the stroke or gradient. Eventually it will look right. [1] http://letspocket.com http://letspocket.com, http://madebyloren.com http://madebyloren.com, http://snowday2011.com http://snowday2011.com, http://boxify.me http://boxify.me are a few of the designs I've worked on recently