OT: Website design

Steph

This is very OT, but I know there are some very tech-savvy people in this forum, so I thought some of you might have some advice.

Does anyone know anyone who does website design and doesn't charge an astronomical sum? I want to design a website for the jewelry I make, but I really don't know how to do that myself. I have looked at some web hosts that have easy-to-use templates, but when I play around on them I can't seem to get things to look the way I want them to. I want the site to look polished and professional, not slap-dash.

If anyone has suggestions of someone who could do this for me, I would really appreciate it. Alternatively, if you have suggestions for a website with a template that you think is great (and offers some kind of trial period) I would be happy to receive those as well.

Thanks!

15 years ago

General

7 replies

Latest reply was from Maya

londonkiwi (now back in NZ)

Veteran

Hi Steph,

I don't have any personal recommendations that I can make, but I think that there are some people on Etsy that will design websites.

If there are any sites you particularly like, you could always ask (or find on the blog) who did the design.

I am sure people like Maya and Greg will probably have some good recommendations.

I would love to see your site and your jewellery once it is launched! Are you planning a Facebook or Twitter account as well to market your designs?

15 years ago

Steph

Veteran

Thanks for the etsy recommendation, Fi! I don't know if I'm going to do a FB page or a Twitter account just yet. Making jewelry is something I do as a hobby, but often people ask me if I have a website, so I thought it might be fun to put something together. I have a business name and I registered the domain and even got business cards--which include the web address, so that basically forces me to set something up at some point soon!

15 years ago

Maya

Veteran

Design or code a website? These are two very different skill sets and I don't know too many people who can do both--at least not well. Those that can usually can and do charge astronomical sums.

15 years ago

Steph

Veteran

Hmmm...what's the difference, Maya?

15 years ago

Maya

Veteran

Design is design: Creating the look and feel of the website, and planning the content organization and functionality.

Coding is just programming it so it works.

Since your website is probably going to be fairly simple, straightforward, and small in terms of content, you could probably get away with a template or cutting corners by combining design and programming duties.

I have to admit the idea makes me cringe, but I can see the appeal for smaller personal websites. I always recommend that if you can afford it, keep the designer and programmer separate. There is absolutely no reason to believe that a person who can write code and program things would have any skill at content organization or design. They are just completely unrelated skill sets.

Greg is of a rare breed who is both a good designer and programmer, but in my experience, most programmers are terrible designers. To be fair, I am a designer who is terrible at coding so it goes both ways.

15 years ago

Steph

Veteran

Thanks Maya! This helps. I need a programmer. I have some pretty developed ideas of what I would like the site to look like--I just need someone to make it so. Any ideas of where I should be looking for one, other than random google searches?

15 years ago

Maya

Veteran

You would still need someone to design it, Steph. A programmer needs something to program--they can't just do it out of thin air. Most programmers in my experience do not have enough of a working knowledge of Photoshop to create decent comps. I'm actually dealing with that issue at work right now. My programmer is a genius at what he does, but if I ask him to make even the tiniest adjustment to the design, he can't do it. I have to adjust it myself, and send the updated file to him to code.

What happens is that I will create a file in Photoshop with the design. The design includes everything: The backgrounds, the form fields, the navigation, the buttons, the mouseover states, etc. Every single thing you see on a website is designed first. The comp shows how everything should look, and how it should be laid out, i.e. this button should be 90px from the edge main content area, the headline should be 10px from the top, etc.

Then I send the file to our web developer, who "slices" each element of the comp, and programs it into a functional website. It's hard for me to explain without an example, but hopefully that gives some idea.

The ones that can design and code will naturally charge more.

It's also not just about how the website looks, but how it is organized and how it functions. For example, what is the workflow for the checkout process (assuming people can make purchases)? Is there a biography? Where on the website does it live? Is there a blog? How would that be incorporated? What should be in the top level navigation? These are just examples, of course, but you get my drift.

You'll also need a good CMS (content management system) in place since you'll be updating the website quite regularly and don't want to futz with the code. That will need to be coded separately.

I would start by just posting a help wanted ad on Craigslist explaining what you need. Also, get in touch with the career services center at nearby colleges. When I was a student a lot of people I knew did small freelance jobs like this to make a little extra money, and it was way cheaper for the person who needed the services than hiring a professional.

15 years ago

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