Work Smarder (Smarter-not-Harder)

I am a developer.  When it comes to Visual Basic, C#, or even Perl, I am the man to call.  The biggest problem with being a developer though is that I am not a designer!  I know what looks good when I see it, but I am sorely lacking the ability to make the transformation from <ugh> to <wow>

Thankfully though, there are several places that help me work smarder.  When I'm creating a web application, the first thing I do is start browsing the interweb for Open Source Web Designs:

1. http://www.freecsstemplates.org
2. http://www.odwd.org
3. http://www.openwebdesigns.org
4. http://www.openwebdesign.org

I can ALWAYS (yes, I said always, not almost always, but always) find a template that will get my project kick-started at the very least.  In fact, I have the RSS feeds of all of the above sites on my FireFox toolbar and I check them every day!  I have a bookmark folder of nothing but open web designs that I like.

When I started forming an idea of a Task List web app I was thinking about building, the first thing I did is start rummaging through my favorite design bookmarks and came up with this baby. 

Using the MasterPage features of ASP.NET 2.0 and an open source web design, I'm 30-60 minutes away from a design that KAFF's (Kicks Ass For Free).

If you're interested in hearing more about how to turn an open source template into an ASP.NET 2.0 Master Page, shoot me an email or leave a comment on this story.