FrankenStein Web Design
One of the most common reasons that designers will shun the use of website design templates is because they can't find "just the right" design or layout for their client's needs. In addition there is the specter of having a design which someone else on the web might be using. Nobody wants to have a copy cat website. But the solution to these problems are easily solved with only a small additional investment.
Have you ever watch one of those TV shows where a bunch of mechanics build a "super car" out of bits and pieces from other vehicles? Or maybe they take an already existing eyesore and then "pimp it out" with the hottest accent parts from other cars. Well, web design templates are no different. Don't let the template designs available limit the site you create. You can easily use the individual parts of several template to put together your dream website.
The first step is to find a template that has the right basic structure for your content. Don't worry about the actual graphics or animations at all. First things first, just like building anything in life, you start with the foundation. Choose a template with the dimensions and layout that is similar to how you envision the site. Try to visualize the content which you are going to include in the site and see how it would work within the template's structure. Is there enough room? Do you want to use a "teaser" approach? Are the site dimensions suitable? etc.
Once you have your base template, then you want to look for the appropriate header for you site. This would be the area at the top of the web design which usually carries some "eye candy", animations, business logo and navigation. Here you can dig around ignoring all aspects of the template designs and focus only on the header and navigation. Keep in mind that you can always change out specific imagery in a Flash header so more often than not your main concern will be the navigation itself. Do you like the navigation rollovers? Does the navigation allow you to fit all the pages you need? If not, can the navigation be expanded with drop down sub menus and the like?
Finally, you want to "pretty up" the body of the site with just the right look. So next on your list is to look for a template which has body graphics that you like. By "body graphics" I'm referring to things like bullets, teaser boxes, titles, fonts, accent objects and even CSS code. Integrating these graphics into the body of your site is just as easy as using the original objects which came with the base template.
Now! you not only have exactly the website you wanted but you essentially have a completely original work which you can present to your client with pride. Since most web site templates only cost about $40-$60, you are still looking at an incredibly small price to pay for getting the perfect website.
