Web Designer – Findable Blogs

Web Site: http://www.findableblogs.com/

Location: telecommute

Job Description:

I'm a blog developer with too many projects and not enough time. I'm looking for someone who can create beautiful layouts that I will turn into blogs or websites. You don't need to have any coding skills, but if you do, I may be able to send more work your way.

I am currently developing an average of two blogs/sites a week. However, demand has increased and I need design help if I'm going to turn the projects around more quickly.

Versatility is very useful for this position; all of the designs will be for blogs or websites, but they'll range from business-oriented to tech to personal expression.

I'm hoping to find one or two freelancers who I can work with regularly for the foreseeable future. My number one priority is the quality of your designs. My number two priority is your turn-around time.

This isn't for everyone. I'm a mediocre designer, and I don't have anything against mediocre designers, but I probably won't be picking one to work with (honestly, I wouldn't pick me!). I'm throwing out some (very vague) guidelines below to help you know if you're a good fit.

What I like:

• Clean, modern design with a lot of attention to detail.


• Sites that get featured on CSS Beauty and the like (of course!).


• Creative, unusual layouts.

What I don't like:

• Flash. I've seen many great sites created with Flash, and you can certainly show me some of the Flash sites you've made to illustrate your style, but I won't be using any Flash for these blogs.


• People who don't read the directions. :) If you send me a form letter that doesn't address my needs at all, I'm definitely not going to work with you. Copying and pasting a list of sites is fine; completely ignoring the details of my project is not.

How each project generally works:

1. When a new client signs on, I send them a design questionnaire covering things like target audience, style preferences, colors, etc.


2. I will send you the completed questionnaire.


3. You will design and send me one to three (it varies by client) potential "comp" layouts (graphical only, no coding, front page only).


4. One layout is selected for refinement.

What I need for each refined layout:

• A blog or site design. The complexity is up to you, but I'm going for "polished" (even if it's grunge-style!), meaning that you've through all of the aspects. If you need to know exactly what elements make up a blog design, let me know (I'm open to designers who have done static sites but not blogs).


• The design needs to be deliverable to me as a layered Fireworks PNG (preferred) or layered PSD.


• I will also need any non-standard fonts in TTF.

Note:

Sometimes a design might not work out for the specific project, but if I like it, I will often turn it into a free blog theme to distribute on my website. Of course you get paid no matter what (whether it gets used for me, the client, or not at all) but it can be a nice opportunity to get your work out there. I don't mind at all if you tell folks you created a design (in your portfolio, for instance) as long as you include that it was work for hire for my company.

If you're interested, send me:

• your fee to create a layered blog design as described above (three one-page comps plus a refined design)—a ballpark figure is okay; I actually prefer an hourly rate with a general idea of how many hours you'd expect it to take


• a link to your portfolio, and links to any blogs you've designed


• your availability and turn-around time (this is crucial!)


• if you have references, send those along (if not, don't worry about it)

Please note: craigslist requests usually result in a TON of replies, so in the interest of time (and having a life away from my computer), I'll only be replying to those I want to work with.