

Ask HN: where are the UI designers in HN? - matrixownsyou

Just askin'. It's far easier to find coders than designers.
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peng
I do freelance interface/product design. I hand code everything in Vim (yes, a
designer who uses Vim). I love Sass and use it on every project I can. Some of
my work:

<http://riotactguild.com/guides>

<http://nylira.com/p/2009> (currently <http://nylira.com>)

<http://nylira.com/p/corianderx/>

If you're good, get in touch and maybe we can do something together.

BTW- Designers are easy to find. They just don't frequent Hacker News. =)

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aarongough
Nice work! Mind sharing your hourly rate?

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oneplusone
There are more designers here than I thought. I do some freelance design when
I find a project that is both interesting and well funded. I spend the rest of
my time on my startup. (<http://www.guestlistapp.com>)

Edit: I should add that the reason its easier to find coders is because
designers are typically underpaid and treated poorly. It is rare for a
designer to stay a designer for more than 5 years. Certainly after 10 years
most of them have moved on.

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simonw
What do they generally move on to?

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oneplusone
Mostly entirely new professions. Design agencies has a tendency to suck people
dry for ideas and then discard them.

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koenbok
Quite a few of use here at Sofa read HN, including the designers.

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nailer
Love your work - it must be nice to stare at random desktop screenshots and
notice your Transmission icon in the dock.

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mitjak
Oooh, so that's who made it. I was wondering how an open-source project got to
have such a gorgeous icon.

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flyosity
I'm a UI guy who works on the web by day and iPhone/iPad stuff at night (I
also write Obj-C.)

Usually I post my in-progress stuff at Dribbble:
<http://dribbble.com/players/mike>

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ev9
matrixownsyou - What are you looking for? A roll call of people interested in
UI design? People employed (or self-employed) as UI designers? People who
dabble in the visual aspects of their site/app/software? Are there specific
skills, methods, or types of output you're looking for?

I'm a User Experience Designer by training, so UI design is a pretty big part
of my work. I'm also interested in learning about others like me here on HN.
But if you can, do you mind adding areas of focus?

A couple to start with (feel free to add others): User Research, Visual
Design, Usability Testing, Information Architecture, UI Development

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matrixownsyou
I asked because 1st of all, i believe that usually (but i may be wrong)
"SuperDeveloperX"'s get the most fame and glory for a web project and, apart
the technical side, designing a great and visually appealing UIX is hard, you
have to try it to really understand, i think. So i wanted to send some luv and
hugs, for realz :)

2nd, i have a pet project atm and was looking for an UI and logo for it. I've
tried partenering up with other people (both design and developers) but i've
almost given up (when someone asks you if you'd like to partner up on a
project and you say "yes, i do and i love it" that person is asking for your
help doing it, it's because she needs you to proactive and HELP, not waiting
around to take orders. my 2c) so i was looking for a budget for a one page
layout (what i can afford) and maybe a simple logo.

3rd, it's likely i'll need to do freelance work (there's a chance i'll get
funded for my main project) and was looking for ppl who would like to team up.
I'm a [mediocre :p] developer and atm i'm focusing on Python/Django/Google App
Engine.

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webwright
Partnering with designers (or ANYONE) is tricky. You sound like you have an
existing product that you want "designed and cleaned up". The best UI
designers (unless they LOVED the product idea) don't want to work on someone
ELSE'S baby. Same is true for the best coders.

In terms of hiring designers-- I think it's like hiring salespeople-- most
people who need them don't know how to tell the difference between good ones
and bad ones.

As I hunt around for co-founders (I just stepped down from RescueTime a month
or so back), I'm purposefully AVOIDING settling on an idea because I think
it's best when founders co-author the idea together.

~~~
lovskogen
I don't think it's true us designers don't want to work on someone else's
baby. I love the part of UI design where something is already made, and I get
to go in an make the flow of interaction better and coming up with new ideas.

~~~
matrixownsyou
heh if thats true perhaps we should talk. grab matrixownsyou on skype or gmail

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edave
I do UI/UX/HCI (both full-time and freelance)... it's been my experience that
they're hard to find because almost no one starts out in UI. You're either a
graphic designer or a coder who moves towards designing interfaces.

I think that's mainly because very few university programs with a full HCI
track in their comp sci (or ID or graphic design) programs.

In general, it seems like there is a shortage- I'm constantly asked if a I
know of any good UI designers who are looking for a job.

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Lorin
Perhaps some of us are both? Depends on time of day really :)

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camworld
There are plenty of UI designers out there. Some are good. Some are great.
Some suck donkey balls. Choosing the right one is an art form in itself. Make
sure you ask for code as well as just screenshots. Or better yet, ask for the
mockups they created during their iterative design process. This will show you
how they think about how the UI changes based on feedback from the client.

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bgnm2000
I'm a UI designer working for a VC funded startup in boston. I still love
doing freelance on the side.

Checkout my latest designed (and coded) project at <http://www.liftrr.com>.

and I have more recent screens if you'd like to see more work.

Email & portfolio link is in profile.

~~~
rufugee
Silly nitpick for you. "its" should be "it's" on your frontpage.

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JangoSteve
HN is a stomping ground for startups, so I would have to imagine there are
many of us who wear both hats.

~~~
bullrico
True, true. I design/code UI (Ruby/HAML/SASS) and also design/code my own apps
(<http://mockaroo.com>, a prototyping app and <http://findmycofounder.com>,
cofounder dating).

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sachinag
I am hiring a freelance designer located on the East Coast of the US for
Blueleaf.com to start immediately. (Restriction due to timezone and a need to
have someone familiar with the basics of the particulars of the American
financial services market. Sorry!)

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foxtrot
I just did a quick mock up of a design idea I had on Friday (will do its on
thread about it):

<http://bit.ly/dujjEk>

I like doing UI design, still learning however.

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taitems
I feel a bit silly posting a me too, so, umm, Melbourne, Australia!

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mmilo
amusingly I used to work where you're working now :)

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taitems
Ahh the famous Matt. You'll see I've followed you on to Dribbble as well now.
Hope your stuff with Al is going well?

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mmilo
So far so good; some well received stuff some not so much, but still pluggin
along. Awesome work on the jQuery Aristo port btw.

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lovskogen
I'm moving from regular design work for clients, to UI work at my day job.
Love UI design. But I'm still doing regular design work, doing just UI would
mess me up.

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sudont
Just remember: in some places in America, it’s still very early in the
morning. Just sayin’.

But as a designer, I’ve always thought it was the reverse.

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robinduckett
I'm both, I suppose.

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city41
If you are a UI designer looking for work, my company is looking for a
designer. My personal email is in my profile.

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niyazpk
I am a UI designer and developer.

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earnubs
Me too.

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abrudtkuhl
UI Developer here

I do contract and client work. Prefer to work on B2B apps

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oneten
We're here, just too busy to make portfolios ;)

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lovskogen
Kinda hard with HN, coffee and white chocolate.

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peterzakin
i (current yc batch) may be looking to hire a designer for some freelance
work. my email's on my profile.

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pclark
pointless saying you're a designer without at least linking to one thing
you've designed. just saying. :)

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ThomPete
I'm a ui designer.

Www.hellobrand.com

~~~
babyboy808
Beautiful site

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davidedicillo
I'm a designer (and front-end coder)

