Every designer has his own process: some prefer to sketch first, some use photoshop as their sketch tool. When people watch me use Photoshop, it's very much aki

Every designer has his own process: some prefer to sketch first, some use photoshop as their sketch tool. When people watch me use Photoshop, it's very much akin to hacking because I've got all the keyboard shortcuts memorized like the back of my hand. That being said, I tend to start with PS because I'm faster and it's more eco friendly. If you really want to be a designer, then you need to teach yourself the basics. Photoshop suffers from being too accessible, so a lot of amateurs tend to ignore the basic universal rules of design. For starters, learn the basics of grid design, information architecture, and typography. There are a lot of great books on Amazon, but you should be able to get a strong grasp of the basics just by googling: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/03/26/grid-based-design-six-creative-column-techniques/ http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/03/26/grid-based-design... http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/design/resources-grid-based-design/ http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/design/resources-grid-based-d... Here's another link that went around Twitter, a lot of simple things (but not obvious to a developer) I think you can apply to ss5u.png such as proper white space / padding, etc.. http://wefunction.com/2009/04/quality-within-web-design/ http://wefunction.com/2009/04/quality-within-web-design/ Like all crafts, you can't expect to be a design god overnight... it takes practice, studying other's work, reading, etc. I think it's admirable that you are learning to design, and if you really love it — keep doing it!!! But from a professional standpoint and as a business owner, don't practice on your company until you're absolutely confident you're up to snuff. If you were B2B product, I think design can be a much lower priority to an extent.