I have always been worried about why we lag behind in design innovation even though we have very good coders. We are improving, but we really need to be on the cutting edge with 11 million Internet users.

I think we are about 2 years behind or more in webdesign tech. If you have something to say, I am listening or go to
http://naijastartups..com/2010/04/nigerian-brand-websites-need-to-be-on.html

Where I give my complete argument.

[size=28pt]Nobody wants to learn "further"[/size]

There are a few of them tho. But they are being overshadowed by the crappy ones. And the crappy ones make the most mouth.

e.g of good ones:  spiraltek.com (creativity), unotechmedia.com, webworkstudiong.com (creativity) & techimpactwebs.com

and as for the developers, the believe only in functionalities. as long as u can search, F*** GUI. thats what is killing them.

what do u think of this www.fotomumu.com

You see all the ads on the street inviting people to learn web design for 8000 Naira.

Go figure.

@NEO Spot on. The truth is nobody wants to learn further. I must say, I am really impressed by the links you sent. If you read my post at http://naijastartups..com You would see that, I meant Nigerian designers have talent but still Nigerian brands don't use the web to send the right message. I mean they feel like just putting up a site is good enough. ( that still falls under the "nobody wants to learn further" because most don't bother. The truth is GUI is really really important and it is what made Facebook Facebook.

@FOTOMUMU nice design n concept/idea. Its good, I would try tho to focus the fotos more on Nigeria (the white pics r interesting too) and add geo-tagging to the whole system. (just my 2cents, I may be wrong)

@Incarnate 8k to learn web design,  haba no wonder.

Webdesign business in Nigeria is now a bend-down-select or crayfish buisiness. What edge do you want sites that are built at 10k and by people with no experience to cut? The pricing isnt really the problem but the people giving these prices.

what do u expect no one tries to master the art of css and photoshop,everyone uses dreamweaver and trust me dreamweaver will screw ur designs up.the best way to always style is go notepad.and get inspirations from other nice sites.

Dreamweaver is just a tool. Its output depends on the user.
I dont use it but I am not against good use of it.

Last week when I started work on mslnigeria.com I was considering doing it in a totally different environment from the usual np++. Ah when I thought of the stress i'll have to go through to set up access to the local server and site definition. . . i just boned the things and did everything entirely in NP++ accessing the files directly from wamp's www directory. I still respect DW for that inheritance-tab thingy, that feature that keeps all included files (php, js, css) in tabs. I havnt seen any other IDE or editor that does that so well and I am furiously looking for an NP++ addon for it, any help?

AfricaMars:

@FOTOMUMU nice design n concept/idea. Its good, I would try tho to focus the fotos more on Nigeria (the white pics r interesting too) and add geo-tagging to the whole system. (just my 2cents, I may be wrong)

Thanks. Actually those fotos are for test. In the end, I want to focus everything on Nigeria mostly. Geo tagging? Definetely a nececity these days.

Learning to handle the code is very important. There are things with CSS that you need to know and not to rely on dreamweaver to do. As for photoshop you can get someone very good to do it if you are ver down with your code.

@ FOTOMUMU, is it your first project? I would love to see how it turns out.

AfricaMars:

@ FOTOMUMU, is it your first project? I would love to see how it turns out.

No its not. Been around for some time. Am currently working on 2 other projects (more serious stuff) targeted at Nigeria. fotomumu is just a side fun stuff.
I also have 2 other completed sites (focused on the country I live) that have been around for sometime.

What else in sites do you wanna see,

In terms of Layout skill and Functionality Nigerian Developers can stand toe-toe with developers anywhere and our sites does not lack any flow,

Honestly, been thinking in layout, we even overdo it, foregin sites have simple layout partern no much scripting, Like JS.

Or am i missing something here. Only thing that is lacking is powerful concept like that of Facebook and the likes, But we will soon get there.

@Donpuzo Facebook is heavily Scripted esp with JS,if u use firebug look in the NET->XHR and u'll notice it's all ajax and sheet, the best sites are those with minimal graphics and nic colour blend like twitter,

@Donpuzo I will have to agree with @pc guru about facebook being heavily scripted with Ajax and so on, especially now that they are more real-time.
Once you talk of twitter and facebook, they have a simple idea and approach, but they have to be well built for performance.
Good design does not need to be overdone for it to be good. simple does it. Again I have no doubt in Nigerian designers ability to code or work with graphics. but the purpose of design is all about sending the right message to the user and make the user take the action you want. And in that field my friend, most (remember not all) Nigerian brand websites have failed.

I wrote my detailed observations here http://naijastartups..com/2010/04/nigerian-brand-websites-need-to-be-on.html

The standards have fallen. But it is not every client that jumps at 10k sites. Many of them do not even know what a site is supposed to contain and will just give it to the lowest bidder. But those that know seek out professional web developers and pay them properly to get their job done.
And i know quite a number of company that specialize in doing 10k jobz, because they try to outsource to me atimes (without success most of the time). The only times i ever collect them 10k/20k jobs is, if i am not going to do any hosting, and if i can do the site properly in only a few hours. Because i hate doing rubbish even if the client is not paying much, and i will not stress myself too much to do a very small site, and i will not destroy my ranking because i made a small site.

A lot many naija site are crap because they depend too much on manufactured code - joomla!
Show me one website designed from the ground up. Show one website coded from start to finish with a a nice appearance. Its all joomla plus freely available templates. Others have resorted to copying run away success stories like NL. Every single site wants to have "naira" in the site name. Other will add "naija" this or "naija" that. No creativity! Its disgusting. Far more annoying is the green white green hue on every single naija website. Cant someone tell them blanket green background is irritable to the eyes?

Well, ehm, my website is joomla - www..com plus some touches of drupal.

Those cms have alot to offer. But the problem is that, as a professional, you need to learn the in-depths of the cms and be able to make reasonable
stuffs out of it, and make the best out of it.
How i work is that, i create the template of whatever i am building in macromedia fireworks or photoshop, slice it out, and convert it into a drupal or joomla template. And i even made an online application that can make those conversions faster.

And i can develop extensions in those cms as well, and get things done the way it out to be done. I can create complete professional websites without using those frameworks like www.mybusinesspals.com and some others too like www.cwlgroup.com (computer warehouse group). But when i use those cms, i use them to work faster and get more precise and faster. You will never see me use any downloaded template on any website i develop.

Same with dreamweaver, i mean, i am an intermediate dreamweaver user, compared to some other folks here like webdezzi. But those other gurus too know how to code, so if me and an amateur use dreamweaver, there will still be difference, same thing with drupal and joomla.

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based on personal experience, cutting edge website where built with AJAX, and 70% of our so called Design/developer don't even know it.

I know enough foreign website that are not cutting any edge(LOL) so it not a Nigeria thing, is just that the number is alarming in Nigeria.

- SAFE

well @quadrillo u are confusing web designers for web developers and also the ones u know don't know AJAX cuz the one i know use it a lot i do to some point but i hate using it cuz it messes up History and Navigation. not every technology should be used anyhow unless it is applicable.also i believe the work of one will differentiate them from others.i have seen many nigerians that are very good in design.it's the 5k web designer that makes othrs look unprofessional, ps building a site from scratch is safer at least u know where the problem might lie.but also why do that when tools are available also

I love your question. Same thing that pushed me to be different.

I'm an exception to that.

pc guru:

well @quadrillo u are confusing web designers for web developers and also the ones u know don't know AJAX cuz the one i know use it a lot i do to some point but i hate using it cuz it messes up History and Navigation. not every technology should be used anyhow unless it is applicable.also i believe the work of one will differentiate them from others.i have seen many nigerians that are very good in design.it's the 5k web designer that makes othrs look unprofessional, ps building a site from scratch is safer at least u know where the problem might lie.but also why do that when tools are available also

@pc guru, am not confusing anything for anything, the poster said "Why Are Nigerian Websites Not On The Cutting Edge!" and to my own interpretation it means in all part of the website from design down to functionality.

I never said that we Nigerians doesn't use AJAX, I know enough Nigerian Web Designers/Developers that are very good with AJAX. I even gave a percentage to that effect.


- SAFE

in terms of design and layout, try

www.tgcdirectltd.com

am sure ur mind will be changed!!

@pcguru, Na today u don confirm say u be my man 

Use of Ajax does not necessarily make a site cutting edge, Guess we overhype things here, Its all about the target audience and the nature of the site.

I bet a shopping cart site must use Ajax, while Ajax no dey neccesary for normal static sites or even coporate organisation site,

Ajax has a meaning and has its uses, I saw one nland dude site who used Ajax just cause he feel he know it, At the end, my browser got stock when he was trying to achieve something i did without Ajax,  I click close tire e no close for me, had to lauch task maneger and terminate the i.d.i.o.t's site,   

ajax is part of dhtml, and is the driving force behind some site interactivity such as facebook. So it can make a site cutting edge if used properly. But it is also true that without ajax, a site can still be cutting edge. So ajax can fall in both directions.

I'm a professional website designer / web application developer. Check out www.fos86.com and you'll know what I mean. Grin

@Chazy. That work no speak of what u claim u are, I never see site, where text will be pixelated , Na urs i first see am,

2. The site is not well aligned, Those elements suppose to come to the left more. There is much more space, than to be scrolling Horizontally in order to see other stuffz in the Category,

This no be review section, but that's my hubby, Second to coding

@Donpuzo
OK, thanks. maybe I'm not 'yet' a professional website designer. That's my first website design EVER, and i did it without receiving any training.

Now you are talking, And i am impressed,

Hey, let me let you to something you should know, I can analyse any system built on the web, From Applications to sites to even banking applications, i am trained,

I even know what you used in creating the site

Honestly since it's ur first work, Na thumbs up all the way!!! Even some dudes here wey dey make noise never good reach you!

Just follow the favorite quote of one of my mentors. "Coding is just another puzzle. don't be afraid to ask for help when you are stuck."

And another by one other code master "You need to be ready to see your nose with your eyes to learn how to develop smart things"

lol

If you cant design without dreamweaver, dont design at all. Dreamweaver sites are clogged with crappy inefficient and clogged code. Anyone can move boxes around in a user frendly software environment and call themselves a professional. Dreamweaver was not designed for professionals but for people who would rather make a small home site rather than hire a pro. There are also the web developers who can't design as well as they can code. The back end might be good but a bad UI is simply disheartening and usally gives an air of unprofessionalism. My suggestion is leave UI to website designers and back end programming to web developers.