Graphic design is a trick. I've found it's easier to look at images that resemble what I want and create them in photoshop (or
gimp) than to assemble the images from scratch. I guess this comes with practice.
I've also learned a bit about structuring the site. Thinking about design as an experience rather than a picture is a bit more productive, I'm finding. As the user travels through the website, what do you want them to do? What would be a good action for the user to take and how can we make it quick, easy, and intuitive?
I tried a flowchart of sorts, earlier today. Basically, I grouped my users into two groups, then imagined what each group would need to get out of the site to have an enjoyable experience. This peice is important because if they aren't enjoying themselves, they'll leave before they start!
Once the user is doing what they'd like and beginning to find the site useful, we must prompt them to create an account; this should be effortless. Perhaps some javascript to display a signup form in the middle of the screen, gray out the rest of the page, register them via ajax, and return them to what they were doing would be least obtrusive. Once they're returned to their content and finish that experience, they should glide into the next experience all lined up to preform a new action.
Every step of the way they should be comfortable and feel welcomed. Every action a user takes that contributes to the site (submits a review, buys a product, invites a friend, etc...) should be quick, easy to find and accomplish, and immediately rewarded. Something friendly like a thankyou and a visual reward like a smily or a direction which they might find enjoyable to pursue.
How can we make anyone using our site happy while still having the purpose we attracted them to the site for fulfilled?
