Hi,

I am starting a new web hosting company with a partner and need a design for the website. I have given another job to Greg @ Dark Project and he is still doing it, but he just seems very very busy.

Does anyone else know any good designers that are affordable (under $500)? If you don't mind telling, what are some websites that your designer has designed for you?

Karthick

templatesbox.com

or your best bet is to look at sites you really like and the link back to who made them. Sometimes the best designers arent the mass producing stock template makers, but the quality unique template small businesses.

If you want a customized good looking web layout, US$500 may be quite hard to get these days unless you purchase templates and do it by yourself. However, you can find some handful web designers at www.elance.com who are willing to take tis project.

Have a nice day

Terence L

for custom i say threeboy hes good

$500 is a pretty tight budget to get something nice, just setting the right expectation.

I have paid marengo (Nathalie) to do the design. Let us see how this turns out. Looking at her portfolio, I trust her work will be of high quality.

The best desicion with $500 budget is to go for a template. See Freewebtemplates.com

Regards
D.

The best I can get with $500 is a template? Are you being serious?

What exactly are you looking for with your final product? How complex a design did you have in mind, and can you give some specifics? What types of functionality? How important is accessibility/usability to you?

I consider $500 for a custom designed, thoroughly tested, SE optimized, standards valid, 508/ADA compliant site to be charity work, but I've been known to do this from time to time when I have breaks in my schedule.

Just one main page and one internal page, both same design.

try postin it in the advertisin forum here. there are many great designers here

See above. I already paid someone to do it.

The best I can get with $500 is a template? Are you being serious?



More than serious.

If you want a fullsite making x by at least 7 and a real developer won't laugh :) (no offence intended)

I don't quite agree on x7 factor, however, the company I used to work for would charge from $3,000 to $5, 000 (if site is heavy on flash) for custom made design + programming. I truly believe that for some works we've done this price is a steal.

Depends on the project, but if you get an individual web designer like myself, or Marengo (who is very good btw) you will get a good deal, tbh, I would have considered $500 for a complete site ample. Saying you need $3,500 for a project to be designed is just crazy, some individuals are willing to do it for alot less, myself included.

At the end of the day going to an individual who does the work specifically and very much with your involvement is sometimes alot better than going for a company to do it, sometimes the personal touch is what makes a client come back, individuals can offer this, companies, on the whole, cannot.

I wish you luck with the project.

Regards m@

Originally posted by Karthick
See above. I already paid someone to do it.

Yep, nat (marengo) is an awesome awesome designer. If you ever need anyone else in the future (though you'll probably just want to stick with nat) I'd recommend microvisuals.com (MVAnthony) - I used this guy recently and was very pleased with the results + I'd also recommend p3pl3xity.com (p3pl3xity) I like their work (httptalk.com for example)

Templates are cool, they allow you to save money and buy something more selfish.
Does a template effect profit margins?
Answer: no
consumers can't tell the difference.

consumers can't tell the difference

Perhaps. But sometimes when client agreed to use a template (in my past experience) he came back to us three months later crying out loud that he's site looks just like hundred others. The result - custom work that costs more then $50 template, customer's satisfaction, referrals and more clients for us. Interesting fact though - no client who purchased a templated web site had referred us any clients. Just a thought, sure it could be different for others.

I've made a healthy portion of my living from people who've come to me and asked that I redesign their previously templated site. I had to laugh when one customer contracted me for a redesign, and two weeks later another customer (unrelated to the first) came to me with the exact same template as the one I was working on!

I'm not going to say templates can't be used, but I will say I've never, ever seen one employed universally in a way that was functional for all visitors regardless of personal browsing needs or preferences. Templates are a crapshoot, and an online business is not the place to roll the dice with design work.

WHEN I use templates, I use them as a base for a simple design .. usually cheap or free projects ..

But is still looks like template in oh, so many cases. Not saying yours are, MALdito, but that happened a lot. If you try hard to get rid of template "feel" you either fail, or end up creating a really good design that appears to be underpaid. :)

absolutely .. but then again, I don´t do it that much.