Looking For Great Designer - HTML & CSS Skills Desired But Not Required

[sapphirescales]

I'm looking for someone to design a really awesome looking web 2.0 site for a website in the computer niche. I'd also like the thing coded, but I've had bad experience with that in the past so don't offer to code it unless you know how to do it PROPERLY. I'd rather save myself the headache and code it myself rather than fuck around with shitty code that was coded by an incompetent idiot. Sorry if I sound a bit harsh, but just because it looks okay doesn't mean it's coded properly. I'm having a hard time finding someone that understands the basic principles behind CSS based layouts. It's simple - no tables, no garbage, no shit. Nest the tags properly, write comments, put each section on its own line, etc. Simple stuff. Not rocket science. But you'd be surprised how many people can't do this.

Anyway, so a great design. I want the website to look very modern and simplistic. I already have a site up that I designed myself so you can see all the content I want to add to it. I'm going crazy hiring people that do a shit job then expect to get paid for it so instead of looking for someone, I'm going to let them find me because I'm not having any luck here. I'm thinking of an aqua glass theme or something similar. Nice rounded corners and great hover effects. Drop down menus with awesome looking buttons...I've got some ideas. But I'm open for ideas on your end too. I'm not a great designer in any way, shape, or form. I'm more of the developer than the designer. But anyway, shoot me a PM and I'll show you my site. We can exchange some ideas and the price you're looking for and we can go from there. I'm letting you set the price, but I know what this stuff usually goes for so don't send me some BS estimate of $300 or whatever. It's a small site that really only needs the homepage designed and coded. I can handle the rest so long as the code job is decent.

 

[Kewlol]

You mean to say that $300 is a huge price for a homepage design + code?

 

[pickledegg]

All my code is valid xhtml1.0 strict. Don't get me wrong I feel your pain, but maybe you are having a hard time finding someone cos you sound like a nightmare client

 

[sapphirescales]

You mean to say that $300 is a huge price for a homepage design + code?

For what I'm looking for, yes. It wouldn't take a skilled designer long to make and the code would be fairly simple. Not even any JavaScript would be required. And I don't mean $300 is a "huge" price. But it's more than you should ask for what I'm asking you to do. $200 would be more reasonable - but again it would have to be coded properly. In fact, I'm tempted to just say fuck it and code it myself. I don't want to get into an argument over some fool's terrible coding job. I can code. I'm just terrible at design.

Don't get me wrong I feel your pain, but maybe you are having a hard time finding someone cos you sound like a nightmare client

I know I do, don't I? I just want to scare away the shitty providers. If you're truly confident in your coding abilities I'm sure you'll do fine. I've just had to deal with a lot of shit these past few weeks and I'm through. I just need someone that can do all the basics properly. I think my problem is people are usually either a really good coder or a really good designer. They're rarely both. I was blessed with my old guy, but he died of cancer a few months ago.

 

[Kewlol]

Don't take me wrong, but the reason that you don't find people who do good stuff, is because you don't pay them good. Good prices attract skilled people, at the end, its the price that matters to both. You will find a very good coder in WF, if you are ready to spend the right amount for the quality you expect. WF has a hell of good talent and also losers who do it cheap and get things hard for the real talent.

Just my 2 cents, nothing to go against you.

 

[sapphirescales]

^On the flip side, the truly good providers don't have to charge a thousand bucks because they get a shit ton of orders. Like my old guy, he provided very high quality work and therefore got so much work on his plate that he didn't have to charge what others that had his skill were charging. That's why in total I've had 36 sites designed by him. He was getting 10+ orders a week and coding his ass off. Honestly my projects are really easy because I never ask for anything other than HTML/CSS and design. I'll handle the JavaScript, PHP, ect. I just don't want to have to code up the mundane HTML/CSS stuff. And I only ever ask for the homepage. I'm skilled enough in Photoshop and such to add whatever I need to other pages. I just can't think of the design and implement it myself.

 

[fxresolute]

^On the flip side, the truly good providers don't have to charge a thousand bucks because they get a shit ton of orders. Like my old guy, he provided very high quality work and therefore got so much work on his plate that he didn't have to charge what others that had his skill were charging. That's why in total I've had 36 sites designed by him. He was getting 10+ orders a week and coding his ass off. Honestly my projects are really easy because I never ask for anything other than HTML/CSS and design. I'll handle the JavaScript, PHP, ect. I just don't want to have to code up the mundane HTML/CSS stuff. And I only ever ask for the homepage. I'm skilled enough in Photoshop and such to add whatever I need to other pages. I just can't think of the design and implement it myself.

Apparently he didn't know his true value. If you're good enough, you can make a thousand dollars on a few orders, rather than a shit ton, and do the same amount of work.