Returning to the point, I feel somewhat responsible for the design…or lack thereof…for our entry.  Instead of tossing a pity party though, I’ve been trying to improve my skills as a designer.  I figure my desire can only be realized in a 2-fold attack:

1. Learn more about color theory
2. Learn more about layout  & user interface  design

The most helpful link I’ve found for color theory has been from PoynterOnline.org (http://poynterextra.org/cp/colorproject/color.html).  Simple disregard the line “in News Design”.  It’s a fantastic tutorial in flash that walks you through standard concepts in color theory in a well organized way.  While reading & working through the examples, i’ve put together this color theme (http://kuler.adobe.com/#themeID/288007).

Here some other links that I’ve found to be really helpful on my mission:

Color:

• http://www.slash7.com/articles/2006/12/30/6-things-you-need-to-know-about-color
• http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/wcolor.html ( lots of broken links, but the ones that work are great)

Layout and UI:

• http://psdtuts.com/tutorials/designing-tutorials/9-essential-principles-for-good-web-design/
• http://psdtuts.com/articles/7-steps-to-developing-originality-in-your-design-and-illustration-work/
• http://psdtuts.com/articles/7-principles-of-effective-icon-design/
• http://psdtuts.com/tutorials/text-effects-tutorials/using-light-and-shade-to-bring-text-to-life/
• http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/11/05/strategic-design-6-steps-for-building-successful-websites/

(In case you can’t tell, i really like psdtuts.com)

So if you’re in my boat (a dev that want stuff to look better be functional) hopefully these links will help you out too.