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How To Hire a Web Designer

Posted on March 27th, 2010 by admin in Domain Development, Domain News | 2 Comments »

This is the second post in our series of Domain Development posts following the How to plan a website post we did last week.

Unless you go with an expensive full-service package from a web company to develop your website, you will have to split your website development process into a number of manageable, outsource-able steps.

One of those steps is website design.

Sure, you can choose a template from the vast pool of available free and commercial templates out there, but if you are like me, you will want your website design to be unique and for that you need a custom design.

Why not do the design yourself?

I am sure you will agree with me when I say that not all of us are blessed with the ability to design and craft beautiful websites. Website design is a skill, much like any other skill, acquired through years of practice and hard work and influenced by natural talent.

Even if you had the necessary skills to do the job satisfactorily, as a domain owner you might find that your time is put to better use elsewhere as managing your time productively is key to online success.

Knowing what you want is key

Before you outsource your website design work, make sure you know exactly what you want to gain from the process. This will help the designer understand what’s required from the outset.

To help your designer understand the task at hand, it is also a good idea to draw up a wireframe or sketch outlining key areas of your website. If subpages will look vastly different to your main page, draw up a sketch for each subpage.

If your website will target a specific user demographic, make sure you specify any styles, patterns and color preferences as part of your sketches. It might even be a good idea to show the designer example sites and designs you like to help them with their task.

What to look for in a designer?

Here are some things to consider and ask about when hiring a designer:

* Ask to see a portfolio of previous work to judge at first hand what the designer has done in the past. Make sure you ask whether they did the graphic work themselves.

* It might be a good idea to even contact past clients of the designer to get an idea of how smooth the process was. Did they leave a good impression with past clients?

* Do they only draw up a design or do they also convert it to XHTML, CSS and Javascript? Certain designers only draw up designs in Photoshop, Corel Draw or some other program and don’t convert them to code. If this is the case, you will have to look for someone else to convert these drawings into XHTML, CSS and Javascript code.

* Do they code XHTML, CSS and Javascript manually or do they use Dreamweaver, Frontpage or some other software? Very few professional web designers use tools like Dreamweaver or Frontpage to put together XHTML code. Writing XHTML (and CSS/JS) code in a text editor by hand usually shows a thorough understanding of the medium.

* Ask the designer whether they use royalty free images in their designs and in case they use commercial images, make sure they purchase them legitimately.

* Ask how many design concepts do they create? How many revisions do they provide?

* Does the designer create XHTML code that looks good in all major browsers? A good designer will create XHTML code that looks good in all major browsers and is even backwards compatible with IE6.

* Discuss intellectual property ownership with the designer. Make sure the designer understands that any work they do for you will become your property once you pay for it. In some cases you might even need to get a lawyer to draw up a Non Disclosure Agreement if you don’t want the designer to make public any work they did for you.

* Stress the importance of meeting deadlines. Make sure you let your designer know that meeting deadlines is key to a successful working relationship.

* Depending on what you are after, you can discuss an ongoing work relationship with your designer. Many designers are open to working for you on an hourly basis if they know that they will get regular work over a prolonged period of time – this might even help bring the cost of design down.

* Ask about and agree on costs up front as otherwise you might find costs spiraling out of control.

Where to find good designers

There are a number of places where you can find and hire good web designers.

Sites like 99designs.com, hatchwise.com, logomyway.com, logobird.com.au etc all work based on the same concept – the client submits design requirements and specifies prize money in a contest and designers compete by submitting revisions until the client is satisfied and picks a winner.

Besides having the opportunity to create a contest and get lots of revisions before you decide on a winner, you can use these sites to hunt for talent – you can contact designers whose past work you like by private message and start your interview process.

Similarly, domaining forums like NamePros, DigitalPoint.com and DNForum.com all have forum sections dedicated to design contests.

Another great source of good yet affordable web designers is craigslist.org. Believe it or not, a single “web designer wanted” ad placed on a localized Manila (Philippines) Craigslist.org page will get you more than 50 responses from designers looking for work.

Finally, browsing through design review sites like SmashingMagazine.com will lead you to design portfolios of some of the most talented web designers you can find.

Whether you are looking to get designs for a single domain or multiple domain names, I hope the steps above will help you save time, money and get quality work done for your websites.

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