In need of a website...

mr tommo

mr tommo

mr tommo

Soldato
Joined
13 Dec 2004
Posts
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Location
Stoke-on-Trent
Just started up my own business as a photographer (models, events, commercial, interior photography) and Im in need of a decent looking website.

Problem being, Im in a bit of a rush for it. I did an event about 3 weeks ago now, and because Sven Goran Eriksson was there, the photos are being publish in 2-3 magazine in Nottingham.

Ive purchased the domain its just a case of getting the ball rolling. Ive got a couple of quotes so far, one for £150-£200 and one for £800-£1000:o

Basically I want something along the lines of this...
http://www.alexander-moore.co.uk/site.html

I like the idea of flash, and all the site really needs is 4-5 gallerys, about us, contact us pages. Its just somewhere to show off the portfolio and to give people a way of getting in touch.

I think I was kind of spoilt with the first price to be honest so is it realistic to expect a website for no more than £200?

Obviously with events work, I will be needing to update the galleries every couple of weeks or so, and will need the site up and running by atleast the middle of september.

It needs to have an upmarket/stylish feel to it.


Are there designers on these forums who are looking for some work ?:o
 
Yes, you could expect a website for £200.

However, it'd be by a student. You may find one who's great, but the majority will take a while to do anything and be very bad at communicating. You're also unlikely to get a Flash site for that price and if you ever want updates or changes you may be hard pressed getting back in touch with them.

Just like anything else, you get what you pay for.

Also, you're not allowed to advertise your services here so you won't get many people pimping themselves out.
 
people on here aren't allowed to advertise them selves i'm afraid.

£200 is unrealistic, £800 is closer the mark.

I like the layout on that website but I hate the way it is forcefully slow, especially when changing photos, it's very annoying.

If it was me i'd use html, css and javascript instead of flash. faster, better seo etc

errmm that's about it really. :)
 
£1000 is what I would personally budget for such a site. I don't think people quite realise how complicated web design is.
 
rghjones said:
Yes, you could expect a website for £200.

However, it'd be by a student. You may find one who's great, but the majority will take a while to do anything and be very bad at communicating. You're also unlikely to get a Flash site for that price and if you ever want updates or changes you may be hard pressed getting back in touch with them.

Just like anything else, you get what you pay for.

Also, you're not allowed to advertise your services here so you won't get many people pimping themselves out.
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I see, I think the price we got for £150-£200 was a youngish chap (22 IIRC). Thanks for your input, I think I'll probably drop the flash idea. :)

Edward01 said:
people on here aren't allowed to advertise them selves i'm afraid.

£200 is unrealistic, £800 is closer the mark.

I like the layout on that website but I hate the way it is forcefully slow, especially when changing photos, it's very annoying.

If it was me i'd use html, css and javascript instead of flash. faster, better seo etc

errmm that's about it really. :)
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Yeah I did notice the speed was an issue on those galleries. It was more the stylishness and the way they come across as high end photographers that I liked.

I understand Im on the low end of the market but at 21 and my first business venture with a friend, the budget isn't incredibly big after buying equipment etc.
reflux said:
£1000 is what I would personally budget for such a site. I don't think people quite realise how complicated web design is.
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The problem is, people don't understand what it takes to design a site, therefore are shocked at the amount of money they cost. Like photography, to people who don't know, its just a case of pointing and shooting :p
 
Tripnologist said:
Well, that's because everybody's neice/nephew/kid/cousin's dog could make them a site if they wanted. ;)
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Indeed - there's a huge difference between "a site" and "a good site".

Like all things; designers who do good work owe their superiority to the greater time they've invested in getting their skills and aesthetic values*, and deserve to be remunerated accordingly. EDIT: As you will know yourself, of course!

Additionally, rush jobs tend to attract premiums, don't forget.

So yeah: The £1000 quote is more realistic.

Ask both of them if they'll be writing up a contract and workplan for the job. Any professionally responsible designer will do this as a matter of course; from your point of view it's a reassuring yardstick of their commitment :)



* E.g. Someone with ten years' experience as a designer is more likely to know what constitutes "upmarket/stylish" than someone with less experience.
 
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If money is going to be an issue finding a student isn't a bad idea. They'll be able to do it cheaper and if they're at lest reasonably good they should be able to do you a site like that one demonstrated.

You're biggest problem is going to be finding a good / reliable one.

With regards to speed and style, You could achieve all those effects with javascript and html and see a speed improvement. (but maybe i'm just biased cause I hate flash).
 
From a student web designer perspective, for £200 you'd get a fairly basic XHTML and CSS based site, with some pretty basic SEO and maybe a little bit of PHP, and a lightbox based gallery.

If you want a Flash based site that's high quality, IMO, you need to go to someone with more experience.

Not advertising myself, just adding my view.
 
One thing I would like to point out, if you were to go with a student, I'd do it now, they are all on holiday and I'm sure you could find one who would do it.

Find the right sort of person who knows a little CSS and XHTML, will set up a fair bit of ground work, then add in some jquery for a gallery and your set. What I would say is that you have to bare in mind though that once a student is at University, you will find it hard to get them to do follow up work because they will be busy with Uni work.

However as soon as they are back on holiday, try to get them back in, this is what I do with a client of mine at the mo. I gave them a cheap rate because I wanted to do a lot of trial and error work with them, but always ensured they had a working site, which they were happy with. I wouldn't agree that you won't get good communication from them, I always set out a deadline and contacted them regularly, never had any problems. Main thing you have to bare in mind though is that their design may not be as nice as a profession web designer, so try and keep it simple :-)

But either way, congrats on the start up
 
http://www.drastikdesign.co.uk/


they host my site there pretty well informed and really easy to get help from ! and hideously cheap! :)

I must say I design my own site however i am contemplating paying to have it re designed as my current one Im working on is getting way to complex
 
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You will get what you pay for.

If you need a website where you can upload pictures, tag them, categories them etc then you will/should be paying good money for it otherwise you will be back in here in 3months time saying the website you paid peanuts for isn't working properly.

Photographers charge thousands for a days work at a wedding so you of all people should know how specialist professionals can and should charge for their skills as finding someone to do the job right is worth the money. Imagine paying £200 for someone to do the photographs for a wedding, tragedy waiting to happen.

edit:

Knowsley, no wonder companies like that offer half price for first time customers, only way to get them in the door going by some of the work!
 
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Really, you want something pretty simple. You want a site which draws attention to your photographs and lets them do the talking. A Flash-based site will not only be less usable and harder to update than a standard HTML/CSS site, but all that extra pizazz is likely to distract attention from your photos.

Finding a student to do it might not be a bad idea, so long as they have some evidence of decent work. What you're after isn't going to be complex, but nothing is going to make you look unprofessional like a gaudy colour scheme and rubbish typography. You need someone who can make something that's minimalistic whilst not being basic.
 
You're an expert in After Effects and you charge from £30 per website? Uhuh.

I agree with "you get what you pay for". Your customers pay little and get awful looking websites - where's the argument?
 
He has a point really, it's like anything else in life. You do get what you pay for. Their work isn't that bad, but personally I think design is worth a lot more time and dedication.
 
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