I'm wondering if it's possible to download ship designs from somewhere. I'm aware of a folder in the My Games section where ship designs are kept but is there a site where I'd be able to download other (more talented people's) designs?

On the official site http://library.galciv2.com/index.aspx you can already download a few ship designs other people have made (but not many).

Forum member, Supreme Shogun, has mentioned in another thread http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=163828, that he is involved with a website 'The Galactic Core', which is dedicated to the (modification of the) game. There you can download several ship designs.
Link: http://thegalacticcore.com/

Check it out :thumbsup:

heh thanks :)