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Practice. Fire up Photoshop, and paste in a bunch of designs that are well done. Start picking out individual elements, and then recreate them from scratch. You'll constantly be asking yourself why your redesign comes short, and through this, you'll begin to understand the subtle differences that make a great design.

I've never read a book on web design in my life, and I've kicked out some award winning layouts. The trick, don't stop refining the design, and don't be afraid to take a step back. The only time the design stops improving is when you stop working on it. Continue to refine, and you'll look back tomorrow, and laugh at the layout you once thought was acceptable. Fast forward another day, and you'll do the same. Have patience. Although great designs might look simple, realize they've gone through an endless number of revisions to reach that point.