Why "Lipstick on a Pig"?

Whenever a group of people talk about web design, someone inevitably voices the adage, "that's just putting lipstick on a pig" -- meaning you can dress up a pig all you want but it will still be a pig. Sometimes, you need to find something better to use as the base.

Of course some pigs (as Charlotte the spider reminded us as children) are worth keeping around, so why not try the lipstick and see if that silences the naysayers? In other cases, you may not have the choice of exchanging the pig; you may be forced to reach for the concealer.

What I hope to collect here are tips and tricks to sprucing things up -- and shortcuts for getting them done fast -- primarily in regards to web media. I hope this will be a useful resource for guerrilla marketers, small businesses, so/ho entrepreneurs, and web designers.

I've been using the internet since its early days and building web pages since 1996, but I am not a professional web designer. Rather, I am always looking for a better shade of lipstick -- how can I quickly but effectively dress up this pig? Whether it's a quick fix, a resource, a new program, or a new way of thinking, I will post it here for my reference and yours.

And, finally, I always welcome input from readers - just leave a comment any time!