Practice, practice, practice! The same way it took you time to learn programming is now the same for design. I'm a big fan of themeforest.net and graphicriver.

Practice, practice, practice! The same way it took you time to learn programming is now the same for design. I'm a big fan of themeforest.net and graphicriver.net - as much as the assets are for sale, they provide huge galleries to gain inspiration from. I'll also spend hours just looking through the app stores for design ideas. Also, look at your competition - look at their design. Step back and don't look at things from a programmer point of view. Look at them from a strait up user point of view. What do you like? What's confusing? What's ugly? Feedback is key also - you said your working with your brother and someone else. Show them what you design and listen. Show it to friends, so it to strangers you meet at the coffee shop. Any input (good or bad) is input.