Wanted: Domain Where have all the good designers gone?

[tylercruz]

*Note to mods: I could not find a suitable place to post this, so I hope this area is fine. If not, please feel free to move it.

Where have all the good designers gone? I used to create and code all my sites myself, but recently I've been hiring others to do it, as I am too lazy to do it myself, and I lack the skills to receive the quality of work I want.

I've tried Elance.com and Guru.com various times, hiring freelance web designers and developers. I chose the best of the bidders, but their work was still very low quality. I've searched online through various web designers, and I keep seeing extreme poor quality work. Usually their site is a site taken from TemplateMonster.com, which makes fresh tears crawl down my cheeks.

So where have all the good designers gone? Have they disappeared? Have dot com corporations hired them all and snapped them up? Do all the good ones charge $300 an hour now?

Right now, I spend around $1000 a month on outsourcing work. I found a good backend programmer - he is not cheap, but does a good job. I've probably spent 3 grand on him since I met him a couple years back.

What I NEED is a good designer. One who understands clean commented HTML and CSS. One who understands cross browser/resolution compatibility. One who understands usability, layout, design, and creativity. One who understands that Photoshop is not meant for basic bevelled buttons and lensed flared images.

Is this too much to ask? Am I too greedy? Perhaps I expect too much?

I am looking for these lost good designers. I don't pay generous salaries, but I pay fairly, and more importantly - I give continual work.

If anyone knows of these hidden good web designers - please let me know!

 

[Mr Webname]

Personally I like this guy's work but I don't know if it's the sort of thing you are looking for:-
http://www.forzamedia.co.uk

 

[Anthony Ng]

I've tried Elance.com ...

Do all the good ones charge $300 an hour now?

I don't pay generous salaries, but I pay fairly ...

Of course, there are good designers out there. But yes, money IS the problem. You probably won't find top-notch designers hanging out at Elance. Why would they when they've got more than enough jobs to work on? To be serious, you will be able to find very good designers for less than that ($300/hr), but it also depends on how you define "pay fairly". I would say if you are willing to pay at least $3 - 5k (for design, not incl. backend programming), and allow 3 - 4 weeks, you'll get some decent answer. Don't look at me, I'm not one of them.

 

[LeeD]

I am very happy with the guy that develops all of my sites. He isn't the cheapest, but I don't want the cheapest. Check a couple of my sites out and see if you like the work. He is excellent and design, writing, etc.

www.projectprotect.org
www.eatmyflames.com

 

[tylercruz]

Mr Webname - Not really my cup of tea...

nameslave - That's fair enough... but I find it strange how the difference between 'good' web designer and 'decent' web designer is small, but the difference of their costs is large. Do you know what I mean? I could hire a 'good' web designer for a $3k template, or a $500 'decent' designer for a template, and the end result in quality would not be that much better for the 'good' designer.

So this creates a problem - how to hire an affordable web designer with talent.

 

[izoot]

Hi Tyler...
Someone turned me on these guys awhile back..I haven't used them yet but their work sees very nice and the prices very affordable for what they offer.

http://www.sosfactory.net

 

[Vivvy]

man... i'm billing out at $75 an hour... someone should have told me that the going rate is $300!! which probably explains why i have more work than i have time....

Vivvy

 

[JMJ]

I look at designers like artists. Each have their own style, techniques, and vision. If I'm looking for something designed I get an idea of what I want to do or the customer and start looking around at designers work on the forums. Alot of times they are "starving artists" and you can get good work done for minimal cost. Very rarely will I have one person or even two for that matter do one site from start to finish.

Also I have found a few real artists locally who believe it or not don't know a thing about computers and trade off what I know in exchange for what they know.

On another note. I've steered away from spending money on "design" and focused more on content, ease of use, and SEO. You don't see the likes of MSN, Google, Yahoo, etc with pretty graphics, and stylish colors dazzling visitors it's all about content and lots of it.

Think of it like a car. You can have a real nice looking car with a crappy engine, and no stereo. Might not get you where you're going but it sure looks good. You can have a real nice looking car, real fast engine, and boomin system but you'll never be able to get what you have into it out or likely somethings going to get stolen. Or you can have a decent looking car, reliable engine, a stereo that won't get stolen, will pretty much hold its value and might even make you a few bucks.

A design for me these days atleast for my own sites equals a header $25-50 and a color code chart.

 

[tylercruz]

That's a good point, and it reinstates the fact "Content is King" - but it's also an excuse, don't you think? The fact is, or at least what I've found myself, is that quality designers are disappearing at an alarming rate..

I look at designers like artists. Each have their own style, techniques, and vision. If I'm looking for something designed I get an idea of what I want to do or the customer and start looking around at designers work on the forums. Alot of times they are "starving artists" and you can get good work done for minimal cost. Very rarely will I have one person or even two for that matter do one site from start to finish.

Also I have found a few real artists locally who believe it or not don't know a thing about computers and trade off what I know in exchange for what they know.

On another note. I've steered away from spending money on "design" and focused more on content, ease of use, and SEO. You don't see the likes of MSN, Google, Yahoo, etc with pretty graphics, and stylish colors dazzling visitors it's all about content and lots of it.

Think of it like a car. You can have a real nice looking car with a crappy engine, and no stereo. Might not get you where you're going but it sure looks good. You can have a real nice looking car, real fast engine, and boomin system but you'll never be able to get what you have into it out or likely somethings going to get stolen. Or you can have a decent looking car, reliable engine, a stereo that won't get stolen, will pretty much hold its value and might even make you a few bucks.

A design for me these days atleast for my own sites equals a header $25-50 and a color code chart.

 

[darrenl]

Geezzzzzz you guys pay alot. I pay $40 per design unspliced from and Indian designer.

 

[tylercruz]

I tried hiring some Indians via elance and guru - but man they are horrible..

 

[theparrot]

I too have a hard time finding what I would consider a good web designer. Maybe our standard have gotten higher rather then the quality available gotten lower?

I think most web designers are stuck thinking as a print designer, and think splicing is the way to go. They really do not even see what is wrong about it.

 

[tylercruz]

I don't know.. I do have high standards, but I feel I pay fairly for what I want...

All I know is that the web is getting uglier and uglier.. I'm not a gung-ho Flash or heavy graphics guy - but seriously, the quality of sites is really going down if you ask me..

 

[dmyre]

I've used and like http://www.designoutpost.com/forums/.

 

[Theo]

Where have all the good designers gone?

Some of us are 1) employed full-time 2) already swamped with side projects and 3) spend all the remaining free time on domain brokering :-D

If you want to see my portfolio, send me a PM.

 

[domaintalk]

www.nexus-creations.com
My site 100 % unique

 

[GT Web]

I do really simple designs, although I'm sure if this is what your looking for: www.Toucans.info (not my site anymore, but I designed it)

 

[wistow]

http://www.wisnetdesign.com

I also just completed http://www.clockworkhosting.com. Please contact me for more information if you are interested.

Kind Regards,

Craig