Final Draft Design

How Much Should a Web Design Cost?

GREAT READ for those who want to get a better understanding on why web design can be expensive, or don’t believe that our prices are more the reasonable. Maybe too reasonable.

Every week, I get emails from potential clients who all want to know one thing: How much for a design?

Nine times out of ten, my answer causes them to run for the hills. Scary thing is, based on industry buzz, my prices could actually be considered totally reasonable by comparison. Don’t believe me? Well, today you get the whole scoop - my prices, their prices, and my always-priceless editorial commentary on the subject

My Prices
For the sake of argument, I’m going to constrain today’s post to blog design only.

When people email me and ask for a quote, I always follow the same process. I visit their current site and determine the following:

The current CMS platform (WordPress, MovableType, Drupal, etc.)
The scope of the site - how many unique styling elements will be required for specialty pages?
The perceived complexity of the re-design. Does this person want a graphical masterpiece with all kinds of bells and whistles?
Generally speaking, there’s not a whole lot of variance in these areas from blog to blog, so after checking out the site in question, I usually have a good idea of how much to charge. Now, to answer the question you all want to hear…How much is all this gonna run ya?

At this time, blog designs start at $1500. This price is for a blog that has minimal graphical complexity, no customized icons, and no logo production. What you do get at this price is rock-solid, hand-crafted, browser-tested CSS, XHTML, and simple (but striking) graphic design.

In most cases, bells and whistles like plugin support, unique page designs, and extra graphics push the price up into the $1800-$2000 range. From there, the price is largely dictated by page-specific CSS/XHTML production and custom graphic design. It’s totally conceivable that a pimped out blog could run as much as $3000. Rest assured, though, that it would be totally badass, and the recipient of the design would receive mad props for having such a killer online abode.

Full Article

The web 10 years ago

Wow. Its still hard to believe that the World Wide Web isn’t that old. Its feels like it was just yesterday when I was introduced to Prodigy and AOL. Then came Yahoo, Google, Myspace, etc. And don’t forget the ones that are barely still with us. (Excite.com )

But we can all remember when Yahoo was just a directory of words on a page. We’ll they’ve come along way. Through the advancements of web browsers, companies and designers are able use different web technologies and languages that obviously didn’t exist and weren’t supported years ago.

It is interesting to see how web design has developed over the years. 10 years ago web design was a basic form of delivering information in an organised way with tables and the odd animated gif to catch the users eyes. Now it has become an art.

In this article I will look at how 3 of the biggest websites (Microsoft, Yahoo and Apple) have developed over the past 10 years.

Read Full Article here

Website updates

I’ve made a few minor updates to my website.
1. On my blog, I’ve added all the social networking sites and links to me profiles. So feel to add me, follow me, be friend me, etc.
2. And I now the rss feed installed on my homepage. So now clients can stay up to date with the latest Final Draft News and just see what I’m up to.

Wow….1st entry since Dec. 07.

I’m back. So you can now look forward to design/industry news, Final Draft updates and news and just things that strike my interest! Talk to you soon.
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20 Horrible Habits of Clients

I stumbled across a great article that I thought I’d share. Here are a few items that I found most interesting. The full list can be found after the jump, or by visiting youthedesigner.com.

Below is a common list of issues designers have to deal with while working with clients on projects and how to avoid or solve those issues in a professional manner.

1. Wanting Great Designs for Cheap Prices
3. Slow Payments
4. Not Planning out the Project Upfront
5. Not Giving you all the Copy and Images Needed up Front
7. Forcing you to use Poorly Designed Logos and Other Elements
9. Asking for Way too Many Revisions
10. Asking for Additional Work on top of the Original Agreement
14. Canceling Projects
15. Returning Many Months Later for Login Information
16. Asking for Files Years Later
20. I Know Everything

Read the rest of this entry »

I’m back

Hello all. I’ve decided to start blogging again. I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t really had the time to. But I’m back, and ready to talk about everything from industry news, new apple products, be even some things that interest me. So make sure yo leave comments, save me as a bookmark and subcribe to the feed.

The 10 Biggest Mistakes Freelancers Make, and How to Avoid Them

No freelancer is perfect — not me, not you, not even the best of us. We all make mistakes, all the time, and if we’re smart, we learn from them.

Let’s take a look at some of the most essential mistakes that freelancers, new and old, often make, and how to avoid them.

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Productivity Tips for the Home Office

Write Goals down - If you work from home, you have to do this - There are just too many distractions and no boss breathing down your neck to get you to meet deadlines. On my desk I have two lists - one I write down for the whole month what I need to achieve, I then break this down at the start of each week into a smaller list which I must do that week. My motivation is a weekend off - If I don’t finish everything on the list I don’t go out friday night.

Get up Early- Set a time to get up each day and stick to it, I used to start work at 9 when I worked in an office - Now I start at 7.30 so I’m gaining an hour and a half in the morning to get extra work done and once you’re in the routine of getting up at certain time it becomes second nature.

Turn Off Phone and IM - Constant interruptions are no good - Its ok when Im mocking up designs in photoshop but if I’m coding html and css I can’t be interrupted so say goodbye to the phone and IM for an hour or so at a time and get your head down!
Exercise - I find going to the gym in the morning gives me so much more energy and motivation for the day, if you don’t regularly do exercise, try it for one week and see how you feel. Will not only improve your productivity you might shed a few pounds along the way!

Tidy Office - Working surrounded by piles of papers and month-old to-do lists will only drag you down - have a big tidy up once a week and you’ll feel so much better.
Music - Not for everyone but I find music really helps me along while I’m working, I often forget to actually put in on in the first place though and only realise half way through the day.
Daily Schedule - Even though you are working from home and don’t have to follow the usual office rules, try and set out a daily plan for yourself - start at the same time, have lunch at a set time etc - I find it helps to have a daily routine.

Just Start - If you’re like me you have certain jobs that you try and put off because they’re dull or take ages - I make sure I tackle these jobs first thing in the day, that way it feels like a weights been lifted off you and you can tackle the more enjoyable jobs for the rest of the day.

Outsource - Even though you can do a job doesn’t allways mean you should do it - Why not outsource that boring coding job which will leave you free to concentrate on more important jobs or jobs that you enjoy doing more.
Close your door - If there are distractions at home, like people calling round or noisy kids, make it a rule to not be disturbed when your door is shut.

http://tutorialblog.org

FDD’s new site launches today!!

Final Draft is at it again. Check out the new exciting design and features to our website.

• Our interactive Client’s Section allows clients to request a quote, submit a job, and/or make a payment.
• Browse our new policy section.
• Stay tuned for updates on our latest projects and client announcements as well as industry news with our new company blog.

Forward this link to anyone who may be able to use our services.

Thank you for your continued support throughout our journey.

How To Develop A Great Business Reputation

Yesterday I wrote that having a great business reputation leads to more profits. I said today we would talk about practical ways to develop your business reputation. However, I’ll write about that next week. I think I should first lay down two principles before giving practical tips.

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