The kind of websets that I made are the old-fashioned kind. Websites made by women used to be of this fashion. Several people set out to teach webset building, though they eventually gave up, declaring that the personal website was obsolete. Rubbish!
To begin with, I choose a scrapkit and sometimes a tube. There are lots of people on the 'net who make the sets and sell them. I bought a tube on CdeoStore and a matching scrapkit. Then it was up to me how I wanted it to look. It's rather like painting a picture but using various decorative elements instead of paints or crayons. Once I've got that made, I pick out the colours I want to use. A pale shade for the tile that is going to be the background for type is the first thing I make. I really do not like white text on a black or dark background as it is bad for my eyes, so I always go with pale colours. Then I create the background tile, a gradient or two, or some other tile. I use Paintshop Pro to make my graphics, though some prefer to use Photoshop. Then I put it all together on a page. I make my pages using notepad, usually using a previous webset, if I liked the look of it. I have my favourites that have become my go-to pages.
I began making my own sets for my first websites, usually copying sets from other sites that I admired. In time and with practice, I learned to make my own and found my own style. Trial and error. There were two webset "schools", Redrose Webdesign, and Juelle's Webdesign. I was just too late to join them, but then the Pink Rose webdesign course opened and I made lots of websets through those "lessons". Today there is the Winni's Webdesign course 1&2. They obtained permission to use the Pink Rose webdesign lessons, and have expanded on them. As I am addicted to scrapkits and tubes, I'm never short of ideas for new designs!
There's a satisfaction from putting a scrapkit together: discarding this, adding that, changing sizes, rearranging over and over. It's absorbing and yes, I maintain that it is creative. No two people will ever make an identical webset, unless they do it deliberately. Would you like to see a coupl of examples? Then follow me.
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