Who did you get to do the website layout? | Hacker News Reader

Who did you get to do the website layout?

21 pointswumi17 comments

I'm looking to get some logo work and web site layout who do you guys recommend?

I just posted a blog post about this-- in response to a fellow YC Winter 08 founder asking about design resources on the cheap...

http://www.tonywright.com/2007/bootstrap-design-for-geek-pow...

That's for tight budgets only-- if you've got a budget, find a usability/UI god and pay what they are worth. :-)

My nephew is pretty good with computers...

If you don't have a tight budget, I would suggest: airbagindustries.com, happycog.com, blueflavor.com or 31three.com - they are all well known designers / design studios and do great work.

If you're looking for "cheap" work, you could visit FreelanceSwitch.com and post on their job board or get involved in their forum and try to find someone that way. Also SitePoint.com allows you to hold contests to pick the best work, though most good graphic designers stay away from the contests because it is considered unprofessional to submit work on spec.

Are you basing your recommendation on first-hand experience, second-hand experience, or just general reputation?

I am a designer myself, and so I know who they are because they are very active in the design community, I have interacted with some of them, others I have simply heard good things about.

They are all "leaders" in design, many have written books that are widely available in bookstores, etc.

You can look at their portfolios and get a sense of the broad range of products / services they have completed designs for.

Here are some examples of the work we've had done via the contests system at sitepoint.com:

http://contests.sitepoint.com/contests/3313/entries/200711.j... http://contests.sitepoint.com/contests/4358/entries/272610.j... http://contests.sitepoint.com/contests/2241/entries/130440.j... http://contests.sitepoint.com/contests/2275/entries/132753.p...

Each of these designs cost between US$350-$700.

You can judge the quality for yourself... in our opinion they're excellent for the price.

However, the contest process is time consuming and it does take a bit of practice to understand how it all works and manage your contest in a way that delivers the best possible result.

I've used this guy for logo/icon stuff: http://www.iconiza.com/ Don't be put off by the fact that he lives in Ecuador; check out his portfolio. He's inexpensive and responsive.

We work very closely with startups. I would suggest that you find someone who can work with you and who can understand the business-side of what you're doing. A lot of designers can create great looking sites, but that aren't functional in terms of what you ultimately want out of them. There's also the potential to trade with design companies/people if you are a coder as often they need these skills for their own websites.

A recommendation for/against a particular designer is worthless without some kind of description of your first-hand experience with the designer. You wouldn't do business with them again? Why not? You loved working with them and the result made you tons of money? Please say so, and provide a link to the result.

If you can afford her, Mani Sheriar is very good. She worked on the site described here:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=91206

i would not suggest a company called logogenesis. they are cheap, but you get what you pay for.

This is any startup's best kept secret -- Good (and affordable) designers are worth their weight in gold.

I can recommend http://nimbupani.com

http://philweavers.net

hey... if you need a girl that rocks and has done some great startup work - try becky at www.spotworksdesign.com

a super nice chick - fun to work with - and hella responsive. and SF too.

thanks for the help -- any more ideas keep 'em comin

logo work, i suggest logosauce.com

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