Ask HN: Good UI designer?
Does anyone here know where to find a good and reliable UI designer (and S/he should be available to work now)?
I need someone to re-design homepage of a startup I have founded. Any help, or suggestion is much appreciated.
P.S.: Please don't refer me to dribbble, or other sites since I tried them already. Good ones must be very busy since they don't even reply.
Email: ucar@stanford.edu
6 comments
[ 4.7 ms ] story [ 22.3 ms ] threadCheck out my portfolio at madebyargon.com
You can email me at inlith@gmail.com if you like my work.
Maybe your problem is the message you send them, you have to make them feel interest in your product. The better the designer the more difficult is to make them feel interested and work with you.
1) They probably are busy, especially the good ones. A lot, if not most, of the requests I get from Dribbble are from people who need someone yesterday. I mark myself as "hireable" even though I work a full-time job in case someone comes to me with a project I'd really like to take on, but even if I were freelancing entirely, I'd probably have other projects on the docket that yours would need to wait for. While I realize sometimes you can't help when you need someone, I can't with good conscious take on a new project right away that's expecting an equally quick turnaround time.
2) I've gotten messages that have said anything from "Hi I'm so-and-so, and I saw your portfolio and wanted you to make me a website. Please give me your rates," to the way it should be done:
"Hi, I'm so & so with Project X and I am looking for a UI designer to do some visual work on our website with HTML/CSS. At Project X, we're _mission statement_ and I believe your skillset would really amplify our appeal. We have this project scheduled to start in a month, lasting 3 months with the possibility of contract-to-hire. You would have the ability to work from home or in our beautiful office downtown. Reach me at _contact details_ in the next two weeks if this is something you're interested in. Thanks!"
The latter a) tells me who you are and what you do, b) tells me exactly the work I'd be doing, and where I can do it c) gives me a little ego boost, d) sets hard project dates and future possibilities, e) gives me a deadline by which I have to reach you so that you're not waiting and wondering.
The former forces me to take time to Google you, your company, your mission statements and your products so that I can get an idea of what I can do for you. I also don't gather anything from "make me a website" - do you need PSDs? Do you need a designer and a front-end dev? Do you even know what you need? And ..
3) Also never assume a designer has "rates" outside of any designer-as-consultant fees. Every project is so different and designers wear so many hats, it's pointless to try to put something in stone. You have a budget, tell them how they fit into it.