Shopping for a website designer should be like looking for a good restaurant. You might be able to find a restaurant with great food but the service may be lousy. Or maybe the service and food is great but portion sizes are measly for the price. So using the restaurant as a metaphor let’s walk through a typical meal in a restaurant and the factors that determine if your experience is a good one or not.

First, you walk into the restaurant and take in the overall decor and atmosphere. This can be compared to looking at a designer’s portfolio. Take a thorough look and see what it is you like about the designer. It may also compare to initial contact with the designer. How do they respond to you? Do they get back to you right away? Are they personal or automated? Chances are if they don’t take the time now to help you then they won’t care much later either.

Next, you’re taken to your table where you’re greeted by a server. I personally get annoyed when I have a question about the menu and the server can’t answer it. Make sure your designer is knowledgeable in their field and can explain things back to you in terms that you will understand. They should be able to answer basic questions easily and be willing to find the answer should your question stump them.

Timing is everything when it comes to your meal. If the kitchen takes too long you’re sure to be in a bad mood by the time your food arrives. Make sure your designer can give you a clear timeline of the project before you get to work. This will keep you both on the same page and will result in both a happy designer and a happy you.

Once the food arrives there are a bunch of factors to weigh in on. Is this the type of restaurant that serves huge uninspired (dare I say cookie-cutter) meals? Or are they serving you a work of art on a plate that tastes out of this world while leaving room for dessert? Well if its the former chances are they are cutting costs by not using quality ingredients. This is fine if its quanity you’re after and not quality because assuredly the taste of your meal will suffer. Then there’s the other end of the spectrum, the restaurants that do use high-quality ingredients but act as if you should pay just for the honor of eating their masterpiece. In some cases, you should…you’ll probably never taste anything better. In other cases its just an egotistical chef at work. I’m sure you can understand how this can compare to choosing a designer. You want a balance in everything.

So this leads us to getting your check. Everyone’s favorite part of the meal. Well, you wouldn’t walk into a Diner and expect to pay $50 for your dinner just as you wouldn’t walk into a 5-star restaurant and expect it to cost the same as fast food. So the same goes with a designer. The old saying holds true…you get what you pay for. I think the hard part is knowing what it is that you should expect to get from a designer in the first place…hopefully this article will help you come to that conclusion.

Recently I launched an e-commerce website for a new company called Miles in Style. My client, who is an avid cyclist, had some ingeniously witty ideas for some custom bike jerseys and socks and came to me to help bring her ideas to life. Check out the site and buy something, or spread the word to your cyclist friends!

Before developing the website we of course started with the logo, which I brought in my friend and Illustrator Matt Cahill to bring the company mascot Miles the Duck to life. Once settled on the illustration I went to work on incorporating it into the logo and came up with this… (more…)