Before even writting one peice of code it is important to design a website by graphics package or pen and paper.I use Photoshop, it is easy and you can generate results within half an hour. But what happens if you can’t afford expensive designer equipment? Here are a few alternatives on different packages which are not only cheap, they are free.
GIMP (open-source) http://www.gimp.org
This is probably the best free graphics package. While not as easy to use than Photoshop it is a great alternative.
Paint.net http://www.getpaint.net
This is a free windows package that allows simple graphic manipulation. Not tried this myself so do some research.
It is important to set out a template, I tend to do with fixed width design instead of fluid design. They are easier to design because you do not have to deal with expanded widths which could mean extra whitespace. Anyway, a template is required so you can create the design within the bounderies of the site. Designs I go for are around 980 this seems to be standard in todays browsers.
So here what a sample template would look like…..
Still needs some work but you get the idea on how it is constructed. A header section, body, menu if the design is multi-column and a footer. There is no footer design yet.