Hello everyone,
I am primarily a programmer, but I was always interested in web design and was trying to design my own websites myself.
The website I want to redesign now was built about six years ago on top of Google AppEngine and is an example of my attempts to wear a designer’s hat. Its main content is information however, so even if it’s not a masterpiece, it is acceptable to some degree. Still, trying to give divs rounded corners (using books from SitePoint) led to solutions that would probably be unnecessarily complex today.
Now I’d like to breath new life into this website, and hopefully, since a major part of my visitors are coming with smartphones and tablets, to make it reasonably responsive. The main tasks are:
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To give the content an optimal structure. Over the years, the website was growing, more content was being added, and now its structure is quite a bit messy and not well thought through. The pages’ layout isn’t efficient either. As one result, some visitors are complaining that it is hard to notice my invitation to subscribe for the newsletter. I am also finding it difficult to figure out where would I add new content.
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To create consistent, attractive, contemporary styling, in an ongoing dialogue with myself. The result should be presented as HTML + CSS (+ JavaScript?) solutions for different pages in the website’s hierarchy. I will build the pages myself using the provided solutions, I will fill them with content, I will host them, and if I’ll ever need a CMS, I’ll create it myself.
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To create a number of attractive stylish banners I could use to advertise on the website my apps, other websites etc. Ideally, it would be great to have some banner templates that I could use to create new banners for any new products.
Why I decided to ask this question on the forum is because my previous multiple attempts to find a good web designer/developer were not successful. The main problems were:
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Mediocre portfolios, usually very graphics-heavy. I have very few graphics, the main value of the website is some dynamically generated textual content. So I need a designer who can present a predominantly textual content in a creative, attractive and efficient way.
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People usually offer “a web design package” for a customer who isn’t computer-savvy. So they include a domain name, a web hosting, a CMS, an ongoing support… I don’t need all that. On the other hand, I’ll be able to appreciate the beauty or ugliness of underlying HTML, CSS and JavaScript, so I would need a web designer/developer who’ll be able to show me a good example of how things should be done.
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I’d prefer to deal with a single advanced individual with whom I could hopefully develop a long-term cooperation. I am not interested in agencies where one person is only drawing, another one is only doing CSS etc, and there is a bunch of various managers on top of that. Their costs are prohibitive while their quality typically sucks.
I wonder if I have a chance to find someone I am looking for? Or am I being too idealistic? Maybe you can suggest me where to look?
Thanks,
Alex
