Webmaster forum - How to find a web designer

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How to find a web designer - problems!

Deany

2007-04-13, 10:19 pm

Hi,

I need a homepage redesigned and coded up but I am having several
issues finding someone to do it.

Everywhere I go seems to have a portfolio which looks like a series of
templates you can go and download for $60 , rather a site they have
designed from scratch.

I have had people come back with offers, again only to look at their
portfolio which looks like templates.

Can anyone advise me on the best way to go about it ?

Many Thanks

Jason

2007-04-14, 6:20 am

> I need a homepage redesigned and coded up but I am having several
> issues finding someone to do it.
>
> Everywhere I go seems to have a portfolio which looks like a series of
> templates you can go and download for $60 , rather a site they have
> designed from scratch.
>
> I have had people come back with offers, again only to look at their
> portfolio which looks like templates.
>
> Can anyone advise me on the best way to go about it ?

As a web designer, this is my pet peeve, too. There are a lot of
people out there advertising web design, but for the most part all
they do is download a template, plug in your information, and then
sell it back to you at an exorbitant rate. I don't consider it
"design" if you didn't actually design it; that's just development.

Of course, I'm old school, and believe in working with code from top
to bottom. I could never imagine a pro using Frontpage or Dreamweaver,
either, but maybe that's just the elitist in me! LOL

Like Jeff said, this can be a time consuming process. Find a site that
you like (note that big firms will often build it in-house, so you're
not going to find a web designer for hire there), then go to View >
Source to look at the HTML code. 9 times out of 10, you can spot a
template in the first 10 lines; if the META tag doesn't say template,
then sloppy, impossible-to-read code is usually a dead giveaway. If
it's not, then if there's not a footer with the designer's name, there
might be a meta tag with the company credits.

Also, be upfront with those that approach you with a proposal. Before
you waste any time with them, tell them that you're only interested in
a unique site, and not a template. Even better, tell them that you
need a custom program designed; template designers wouldn't have the
first clue on how to do this, so that will filter them out in no time.

Best of luck, Deany. We're out there, you just have to look for us ;-)

Jason

Chaddy2222

2007-04-14, 6:18 pm

Jason wrote:
>
>
> As a web designer, this is my pet peeve, too. There are a lot of
> people out there advertising web design, but for the most part all
> they do is download a template, plug in your information, and then
> sell it back to you at an exorbitant rate. I don't consider it
> "design" if you didn't actually design it; that's just development.
>
> Of course, I'm old school, and believe in working with code from top
> to bottom. I could never imagine a pro using Frontpage or Dreamweaver,
> either, but maybe that's just the elitist in me! LOL
>
> Like Jeff said, this can be a time consuming process. Find a site that
> you like (note that big firms will often build it in-house, so you're
> not going to find a web designer for hire there), then go to View >
> Source to look at the HTML code. 9 times out of 10, you can spot a
> template in the first 10 lines; if the META tag doesn't say template,
> then sloppy, impossible-to-read code is usually a dead giveaway. If
> it's not, then if there's not a footer with the designer's name, there
> might be a meta tag with the company credits.
>
> Also, be upfront with those that approach you with a proposal. Before
> you waste any time with them, tell them that you're only interested in
> a unique site, and not a template. Even better, tell them that you
> need a custom program designed; template designers wouldn't have the
> first clue on how to do this, so that will filter them out in no time.
>
Well yes, but as others have already said, you should not really mix
the two.
If you want a custom online aplication developed, then you should
hire both a web designer and a programmer and a graphic designer to
make a mock-up layout if your really stuck.
Another good thing to check for at a web designers site is if the HTML
validates as it's a shore sign that they at least have a good grasp on
what they are talking about.
The next point might be a bit debatable but they should also use a
Strrict document type (as it shows they understand good moddern web
design principles.)
--
Regards Chad. http://freewebdesign.cjb.cc

Jeff

2007-04-14, 10:15 pm

<snip>

>
> Well yes, but as others have already said, you should not really mix
> the two.
> If you want a custom online aplication developed, then you should
> hire both a web designer and a programmer and a graphic designer to
> make a mock-up layout if your really stuck.

Most of the best sites are designed just that way. With seperate
programer(s) and designer(s). It's really asking a lot of a one person
to do both really well.

> Another good thing to check for at a web designers site is if the HTML
> validates as it's a shore sign that they at least have a good grasp on
> what they are talking about.

Well, it's a nice thing if it validates but that says nothing about
whether the site has any aesthetics. Out of all the things I've heard
clients ask about (I've been in this since '95) I've not once heard
anyone ask if the html validates.

> The next point might be a bit debatable but they should also use a
> Strrict document type (as it shows they understand good moddern web
> design principles.)

You can use strick with the URI just to get you out of quirks modes.
Web browsers are amazingly fault tolerant. Now an XML feed, that's a
different matter! You know you can have perfectly valid html and css and
still have html and a stylesheet that is a mess.

From the programmers standpoint, which is where I fall, I'd rather
have relatively clean HTML to work with than perfectly valid HTML.

Jeff
> --
> Regards Chad. http://freewebdesign.cjb.cc
>

Paul Watt

2007-04-15, 6:17 pm

> Of course, I'm old school, and believe in working with code from top
> to bottom. I could never imagine a pro using Frontpage or Dreamweaver,
> either, but maybe that's just the elitist in me! LOL

I consider myself to be a pro (well ish anyway), and I use dreamweaver. So
long as you use dreamweaver as a HTML editor is code view, you can't go too
far wrong.

--
Cheers

Paul watt
http://www.paulwattdesigns.com
http://www.amnesty.org

SpaceGirl

2007-04-18, 6:16 pm

On Apr 14, 11:13 am, "Jason" <jwcarl...@XXXXXXXXXX> wrote:
>
>
>
>
> As a web designer, this is my pet peeve, too. There are a lot of
> people out there advertising web design, but for the most part all
> they do is download a template, plug in your information, and then
> sell it back to you at an exorbitant rate. I don't consider it
> "design" if you didn't actually design it; that's just development.
>
> Of course, I'm old school, and believe in working with code from top
> to bottom. I could never imagine a pro using Frontpage or Dreamweaver,
> either, but maybe that's just the elitist in me! LOL

Web Design has nothing to do with coding. Web Developers code. Now
sometimes a Web Designer may be forced to do a little coding, but if
you approach a project from a code point of view rather than a design
point of view the results are likely to be less effective. What's more
important, good code or good design? Do end users care about code?

Chaddy2222

2007-04-18, 6:16 pm

SpaceGirl wrote:
> On Apr 14, 11:13 am, "Jason" <jwcarl...@XXXXXXXXXX> wrote:
>
> Web Design has nothing to do with coding. Web Developers code. Now
> sometimes a Web Designer may be forced to do a little coding, but if
> you approach a project from a code point of view rather than a design
> point of view the results are likely to be less effective. What's more
> important, good code or good design? Do end users care about code?
I would say both are important and the end user does care if your site
does not work as they hoped it would and that has a lot too do with
the code running it.
--
Regards Chad. http://freewebdesign.cjb.cc

Matt Probert

2007-04-19, 10:17 pm

On Wed, 18 Apr 2007 20:10:46 +0200, Els <els.aNOSPAM@tiscali.nl>
wrote:

>Matt Probert wrote:
>
>
>In much the same way that the Queen will probably appreciate the look
>and design of her palace. She probably doesn't know the tiniest bit
>about fundation and construction, and does not want to know which
>walls are supporting the structure and which are only for decoration.
>But would you buy a house without knowing whether it's built properly
>underneath all the fancy paint and wallpaper?

I think that to compare a web site with a domicile is rather
facetious. A house might cost in the region of 150,000 pounds and take
25 years to pay off, a web site might cost 150 pounds and be paid for
cash. To compare the two is tantamount to trolling.

Matt

Els

2007-04-19, 10:17 pm

Matt Probert wrote:

> On Wed, 18 Apr 2007 20:10:46 +0200, Els <els.aNOSPAM@tiscali.nl>
> wrote:
>
>
> I think that to compare a web site with a domicile is rather
> facetious. A house might cost in the region of 150,000 pounds and take
> 25 years to pay off, a web site might cost 150 pounds and be paid for
> cash. To compare the two is tantamount to trolling.

By no means I want to compare the importance of a website with that of
a building, I just meant to show that construction is needed before
decoration. The better construction a site has, the better it will
support the fancy look that appeals to the visitors.

So, compare it to a magazine then. You can make it as modern and
appealing with all the nice photography and imagery as you like, if
the paper has toilet paper quality, it will fall apart way too soon.

--
Els http://locusmeus.com/

Tom Miller

2007-04-19, 10:18 pm

>. What's more
> important, good code or good design? Do end users care about code?
>

That could start a "religous war" but what I am for is both the most
use-able as well as "pretty" website that loads and renders quickly.

End-users do care about the code if it slows down the website or makes it
behave badly. This where the "bloated page" arguments show up and the "is
this website layout/design pleasing" arguemtns show up.

I'm still learning to be a website developer while trying to learn enough
design to do at least the proto-typing of the design portion.

Thanks,
Tom

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

sig

2007-04-21, 3:17 am

On 18 Apr 2007 05:08:39 -0700 SpaceGirl said
> On Apr 14, 11:13 am, "Jason" <jwcarl...@XXXXXXXXXX> wrote:
>
> Web Design has nothing to do with coding. Web Developers code. Now
> sometimes a Web Designer may be forced to do a little coding, but if
> you approach a project from a code point of view rather than a design
> point of view the results are likely to be less effective. What's more
> important, good code or good design? Do end users care about code?

If you're talking about a simple site, I won't argue. If we consider a
moderately sized site, with interesting navigation requirements, credit
card payments, membership signup, and constant changes and expansion due
to the nature of the client or of the world, I think it's a different
situation.

Obviously, you want a stunningly beautiful site that works perfectly. But
perhaps you compromise - and it seems that compromise (or worse) is
common, since I find few sites that are either stunningly beautiful or
work perfectly.

Which would you choose between a reasonably good looking site that works
perfectly, or one that is beautiful and mostly works?

Sig

--
http://koiclubsandiego.org/comment/?r=8
d7ef95bef7c2e30bc3024d8b7938be38
9c312cfe3017e8927978e3e040f75c0c

SEOwebMarket.com

2007-04-21, 10:16 pm

On Apr 18, 7:08 am, SpaceGirl <nothespacegirls...@subhuman.net> wrote:

> Web Design has nothing to do with coding.

I totally agree. Design has more to do with aesthetics,
functionality, and marketing.

> Web Developers code.

I consider "web development" to be the act of evolving or improving
anything online, specifically a web site (even creating a site from
scratch).

Web PROGRAMMERS code. Good web programmers write dynamic code that
VALIDATES and complies with web standards.

- Brett (www.SEOwebMarket.com)

raleigh

2007-04-22, 1:01 am

hi still lookin for a web designer
here visit my website http://eyedesign.e3p.biz/portfolio.php
and you can contact me also

E-MAIL:
baphomet_design@yahoo.com

Yahoo Id:
baphomet_design

quote:
Originally posted by Deany
Hi,

I need a homepage redesigned and coded up but I am having several
issues finding someone to do it.

Everywhere I go seems to have a portfolio which looks like a series of
templates you can go and download for $60 , rather a site they have
designed from scratch.

I have had people come back with offers, again only to look at their
portfolio which looks like templates.

Can anyone advise me on the best way to go about it ?

Many Thanks

Matt Silberstein

2007-04-25, 6:18 pm

On Thu, 19 Apr 2007 16:34:09 +0200, in alt.www.webmaster , Els
<els.aNOSPAM@tiscali.nl> in
<7e5cs1fq8mes$.15todhl8dqgsx.dlg@40tude.net> wrote:

>Matt Probert wrote:
>
>
>By no means I want to compare the importance of a website with that of
>a building, I just meant to show that construction is needed before
>decoration. The better construction a site has, the better it will
>support the fancy look that appeals to the visitors.
>
>So, compare it to a magazine then. You can make it as modern and
>appealing with all the nice photography and imagery as you like, if
>the paper has toilet paper quality, it will fall apart way too soon.

The problem is that people buy (based on) design and decoration.
Sometimes they ask a few questions regarding construction, but only a
few and they don't understand the answers.

--
Matt Silberstein

Do something today about the Darfur Genocide

http://www.beawitness.org
http://www.darfurgenocide.org
http://www.savedarfur.org

"Darfur: A Genocide We can Stop"

Matt Silberstein

2007-04-25, 6:18 pm

On 18 Apr 2007 05:08:39 -0700, in alt.www.webmaster , SpaceGirl
<nothespacegirlspam@subhuman.net> in
<1176898119.105088.261710@e65g2000hsc.googlegroups.com> wrote:

>On Apr 14, 11:13 am, "Jason" <jwcarl...@XXXXXXXXXX> wrote:
>
>Web Design has nothing to do with coding. Web Developers code. Now
>sometimes a Web Designer may be forced to do a little coding, but if
>you approach a project from a code point of view rather than a design
>point of view the results are likely to be less effective. What's more
>important, good code or good design? Do end users care about code?

End uses don't care about code, but they do care about the results of
good/bad code. That disconnect is the problem.

--
Matt Silberstein

Do something today about the Darfur Genocide

http://www.beawitness.org
http://www.darfurgenocide.org
http://www.savedarfur.org

"Darfur: A Genocide We can Stop"