Hi Kellie, I actually got started in design by doing a logo for a client on the fly, had to learn as I went along - I fell in love with the design process and the whole thing grew from there. Now my husband does the code for all of our sites, applications, and software, I do design...

You'll definitely want to learn CSS, it will allow you so much more freedom than the template programs like Homestead have the ability for. Those sites are ultimately extremely limiting and aren't the kind of thing a serious designer will use to create a site. Learning CSS and continuing to develop your HTML knowledge will allow you to surpass those limits.

The sites you found are great, W3 is a superb place to start.

When I was starting out with my desgn I would just spend hours and hours making sample logos and website templates so that I could have a nice portfolio to offer without giving the work away for free. It was also great for developing my skills!

We're still in the planning stages but we're actually going to start a series of chatroom events to present and teach basic, functional HTML and CSS to members of the forums here. We'll be doing HTML first, but I'm sure you'll find the CSS series very beneficial! Stay tuned for more info on that

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