What advice would you give... (custom design related)

**DEVELISH** · 04-25-2006, 09:08 PM

Hi y'all,

I'm in the midst of selecting a designer / design studio to do a custom design for me - some questions while selecting one arose which made me uncomfortable somewhat on what criteria a designer should be selected by...

What advice would you give to somebody who wants somebody to make a custom design?
What would one have to look out for, tell the designer etc, obey for designer selection?
What were the traps you did fall into in your first custom made design?
What will you do better next time?

I bet the experienced of you can give me some valuable hints on the selection, the process and the aftermath about designs / designers which I do greatly appreciate

:develish:

**Lee** · 04-25-2006, 09:14 PM

Make sure you get ALL source .psd files once you have the work completed.

If your designer 'vanishes' after the work has been completed and you dont have the .psd files you are screwed when it comes to changing single aspects of a sites tour.

Regards,

Lee

**Titanmen** · 04-25-2006, 10:04 PM

And make sure the source .psd files are "layered" and not "flattened". Have each element of the design put onto a seperate layer. Having your designer work in multiple layers gives you more flexability later on.

Get a written and detailed project plan, payment schedule and a signed contract. Do not do verbal or email contracts, make sure they are printed and signed by all parties.

Do not pay more than 50% deposit on the total price. I would suggest 25-30% upon signing of the contract/agreement. And then additional payments based on milestones completed. Do not make the final payment until you are satisfied with the project and have copies of all artfiles created.

To save money you might try and negotiate a non-exclusive design. Hereby the designer can sell additional versions of the design to other customers.

On the other hand, if you are paying for a custom design then you should have exclusive rights to all content created, and the designer should have no rights to sell to anyone else. If this is the case the project should be a "work for hire" contract so that you own the copyright to final product.

The biggest trap we fell into with our early design work was upcharges associated with "changes" to the approved and signed contract of the work order. I cannot emphasis how important it is to do a very detailed and through pre-design needs analysis. The time spent ahead of the project can save you time and lots of money on the back-end. Do not assume anything, be very detailed when writing your contract regarding what you expect and include specific timeframes.

There is an old Israeli saying; "A discussion now is an arguement later on." The more detailed and specific you are upfront the better the outcome.

**DEVELISH** · 04-26-2006, 09:14 AM

Ok,

noted that thing about getting the layered .psd's and all other files necessary for editing the layout later on.

How would I proceed with finding "my" right desinger?

:develish:

**Titanmen** · 04-26-2006, 12:14 PM

Find designs you like and then find out who made them. For example, the frist Flash designer we had came from the Uncle Kracker website design. I found the Uncle Kracker website and loved the Flash design. So I tracked down the designer, who happened to actually live here in San Francisco. I ended up hiring him and he did Flash stuff for us for 2 or 3 years.

Interview at least 2 or 3 designers to see who you click with and who gets you. I've also given the top 2 designers each a small job first to see who performed the best. Better to waste money on a small project before you jump in head first and spend a lot of money!

**Chilihost** · 04-26-2006, 12:42 PM

when you find a design company or designer that you like, do a quick scan of the boards to see what others have said about them. This is good advice for hiring anyone or any company!!!

good luck to ya.

cheers,
Luke

**basschick** · 04-26-2006, 03:07 PM

if you have a good idea of what you want, make sure you explain it clearly to the designer you choose. if there are colors you want used, send samples to him/her. if you want one of the color specifically for the background, let your designer know which one and what you want it used for.

if you really don't have any idea what you want, either figure out what you want in advance so you can express it clearly or find a designer with at least 3 designs you REALLY like - designs where if your site had those layouts and colors, you'd be happy - and tell the designer which designs you like and what you like about them.