what to do next if i'm totally stuck?

[flowers]

sooo i'm struggling a lot on my site, design-wise... i have the site itself pretty much finished but the artsy stuff i want to add to it is where i'm totally stuck and lost for ideas. i've tried to just put things i like it there, but it hasn't helped me at all. i'm very used to just trusting the process in my art and i know i haven't gotten to the point where it's even good enough yet, i'm just not happy with any of my ideas. i'm getting closer but also not at all...

so, i'm looking for advice - what would you/have you done in this position? i've already tried walking away and coming back a LOT and i'm getting frustrated with that advice ngl

if anyone's interested in helping me out in narrowing down an idea, that would be cool but no pressure - i just have a bunch of mock ups... but all of them just made me feel kinda meh and not "omg this is so me and my site" despite being things i like and idk if i have to just start the entire site's aesthetic over or what

[shevek]

Some things that may help you (they helped me at least):

• Scroll the Global Activity Page or the Top Websites on Neocities, and see if anyone did something inspiring and interesting. It doesn't have to be the exact solution to your problem; sometimes, seeing how others tackle their stuff can give us new input on how to tackle ours. How they present their art, what kind of art, in what style, how they arrange it etc.
• Remind yourself that it's the journey that's important, not (just) the result. Going through a lot of different iterations, gathering stuff you like about it and noticing what you don't like is making you understand yourself better as a person, and will help in the future designing other things for yourself. It can feel frustrating, but it's part of the process. Of course we all seek for the shortcut - to just create, and it fits, and we're content. But sometimes, you have to struggle through design decisions to level up your thinking. Realizing this puts less pressure on yourself to have to deliver something final immediately. Less pressure can unblock the block you feel.
• See it as something you add to over the course of months or years, like a growing site. There can be a lot of pressure to treat it like a debut, to not present it until it is fully done and what we consider perfect; but likely, you won't arrive there. Sometimes it is better to put something out there a bit unfinished and keep working on it whenever it fits. No one will judge you for it, and people even enjoy seeing a site evolve over time.
• Journaling about it. What things do you like in general, what things do you like in a website? What is the focus? Maybe you will end up with a few key words like blue, minimalist, dedicated to a game and me, with a little site mascot, in a 2005 look (just as an example!). Maybe you see some sites and you can write down what you like about it and can envision having on yours as well, and stuff that is simply not you.

And just for understanding better - is it about displaying your art in a dedicated page, or using art here and there on all pages to make the website a bit prettier?

[virtualtelegrams]

What tends to help me is honestly just making random pages with different styles, it helps me get a feel for what I want a general site theme (or lack of theme!) to be.
My sites have gone through a lot of theme changes, and I still change it occasionally (though I don't always remember to update or even look at them...). There's been eyestrain city, random tiling nature backgrounds, forgetting to link the stylesheet, GIF backgrounds... Currently it's an eclectic mix of whatever I feel like throwing onto the Web.

[Y2KStardust]

On top of all of the above, sometimes looking into webrings or other community projects can spark ideas! I went from burnt-out and not working on my personal site at all.. to moving a page from it to it's own idea and joining in on a webhosting project I like the sound of :D

[kiki & ayano]

i personally deal with this issue by giving my pages a purpose. i enjoy making things that are functional, that provide either information or interactivity to the user. i find it's a lot easier to think "what can i make for people to read/use" instead of "how do i express myself" which feels a lot more nebulous. my inspiration for that sort of self-expressive stuff comes and goes with the wind and i have a hard time forcing it to happen. i also get a lot of inspiration just from wanting to learn new things, like lately i've been trying to learn more skills to make my websites more accessible, and as usual i'm learning new javascript things because i just find it interesting. the aesthetic of my websites come secondary to that, and usually the look naturally develops once the page's purpose has been served.

that being said, this is pretty specific to how i like to create and it may not be very helpful for you. i do think the above suggestions about looking towards other sites for inspiration are good, though. i also think shevek's commentary here is important:

Sometimes it is better to put something out there a bit unfinished and keep working on it whenever it fits. No one will judge you for it, and people even enjoy seeing a site evolve over time.

it's a hobby, don't turn it into a job for yourself! it's okay to put out things that aren't quite done, or to be publicly experimental and scrap things or change them later. putting too much pressure on yourself can be a fast way to burn yourself out creatively. i do this myself often and need to take that advice more often as well.

- ayano