same old, same old

What are you looking for, specific designs or just concepts or what? I too have a problem breaking away from the same old layouts. A lot of myu sites, like gymn.ca, are full width header graphiic with left side nav. It does work really well in terms of filling space and good widths for content etc. One of my more recent sites was for an academic research project which brought a curve into that concept so that's a little more interesting. Belfry Cottage is yet another variation of the same thing... jeesh, i need to get out of this rut!

The HTML version of my personal site is different though (but still not done even though I did the layout ages ago!). That mainly came out of the logo I did for my flash site. I usually like to try to introduce curves somehow - it's easy to get into the boxy look simply because that's how HTML works. It always depends on the site too. The only reason I could get away with this layout for my portfolio site is because there were so few options on the navbar.

so, there nothign wrong with keeping to the same layout? personally i odn't like it because it gets too boring but on the other hand u don't have to think that hard next time u wanna make a site

I think keeping the same style is ok, pretty hard to be different these days. Change is good but I think a lot of it comes down to the sites content.

Like that html version Megan, don't forget to change the link to the forums (you have the .com addy)

Busy, I haven't looked at that site in months (most of the pages are still missing!). If I ever get around to fixing it I'll make sure to change that screenshot.

I wouldn't say that it's a bad thing to keep with the same layouts all the time. I'm sure the users don't care, but I find that it does get boring. I like to try to break the mold by introducing different curves, patterns, or novel colour schemes.

You could also check out coolhomepages.com or others like it to get some ideas...

I find that I come back to the same kind of layouts all the time but when used with different colours and the different company logos they do look different from each other.

Clients are also an issue. Generally, I find that most are less than eager to "break the mold". On the other hand, there is more to "style" than the placement of navigation, logo, and header.

Just play with different colours, fonts, and schemes. Sometimes you nail it the first time, other times the virtual wastebasket will overflow with crap. Their will be times that a simple logo creates the whole site in your mind and others when you stare at a blank screen for hours. Writers don't own the license on "blocks"

Oh - funny story. I had a first meeting with a client not too long ago and they were just raving about how great my portfolio was, and how I had such a great variety of styles and on and on.... Meanwhile, I think that everything looks too much the same and I'm stuck in a design rut and need to get more variety in my work. Other people will look at these things differently than you will.

I suppose its all old to us, but to someone else its new and exciting.

In my logs lately there have been a few people (at least 1 a week) seaching for 60's backgrounds, maybe web design is like fashion and everything will come back worse than ever - oh I hope not lol

lol ok then, so it's back to the "same old, same new" lol hehe