One of the constant battles for me as a visual designer has been the attempt to keep up with all of the coding necessary for creating working websites. If you factor in all of the reading, training, and struggling time it would quickly become apparent that I have been essentially paying clients for the privilege of getting them online. That is, until recently.
Not long ago, I discovered Artisteer. It is a drag and drop web design tool that serves me really well.
I don’t know exactly what the block was, but I spent 2 years studying WordPress theme development, and I still couldn’t get it. I’m an intelligent person. I certainly purchased and read enough books to at least get a BA in WordPress, however I would have flunked out. No go. Then I found Artisteer. Voila!
In less than 1/2 an hour, I had designed a WordPress theme with custom graphics I had created for a client. It would easily have taken me two weeks on my own, and I am not sure that it would have functioned. Suddenly, I AM FREE to do what I am truly good at, without the struggle!
Somehow, through the ethers I guess, word got out that I could custom design for WordPress, and I got a new bunch of clients.
Even more exciting, I discovered that I could change into a template for here on Blogger, or a regular html site template with all the good css built right in. (How many hours did I pull at my hair in not so silent struggles learning that?!) Now I use Dreamweaver for the meta tagging and little tweaks that Artisteer may not include, but I develop the Look and Feel in Artisteer.
I have up til now avoided the affiliate thing, but I am sold on Artisteer, and they have a great affiliate program, so I signed up. If you are an artist/designer first, and a techno-geek last, check it out. I think you will be pleased.
Nowadays, I am doing what I love: my art, illustration and visual design!
