

Ask HN: What steps should I take to find a front ender? (And not be ripped off) - montooner

Front end/graphics has always been my Achilles heel. This project that I'm working on (www.mgxcopy.com) is long overdue for a design refactoring, and I want to find someone/some-firm whom will (a) generate programmatically clean code that I can work with and be seo friendly and (b) I may be able to call upon for further work on the site.<p>I want to up the visual quality as well as the usability/functionality of the site tremendously, and I'm new to beauty in the front end. Basically, just graphics as well as cross-browser, seo-/programmer-friendly code would be great. But ideally, I'd get some snappy js-animation to the user experience.<p>I have already checked out Crowdspring, but am satisifed neither by the quality nor the prospect of getting good code. And in my mind the other options are Craigslist, and iterations of Google searches. I'm also considering posting on the 37signals Job Board or the Smashing Magazine Board, but I'd rather not spend the money till I'm sure I have no other options.<p>So: what are some venues you have used to find front end developers or--as a front-end developer--you use to find jobs? And as a bonus question: what can I expect for a budget of $3-5k?
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japanesejay
Start with writing a job description for your deal candidate, post on a few
boards, and start looking at resumes and portfolios. I would advise not
overloading it with irrelevant keywords. you dont necessarily need a designer
experienced with java, php, python who can write you iphone and android apps
while being able to answer how many marbles can fit in a school bus.

I would try posting your job description to design centric sites. there are a
bunch out there. At least you can target your audience. Spend a little money
on it if you have to.

Ive posted on CL and other free sites and i'll get back too many resumes with
a bunch of overhyped nonsense buzzwords.

Have someone who knows design/ui help you look through portfolios. Ive scoured
through hundreds of designer's sites and portfolios over time and i can see
their trends, styles, methods. If they do dev, ask them what theyve actually
developed, theming, js/jquery, etc.

Things to pay attention to: \- the person's education/background in design. if
they're not designers by nature... would you hire them? \- Avoid an
engineering centric person too. Engineers are typically not designers. (please
dont get mad for that statement) \- take a detailed look at their portfolio.
Do you like what you see? do they have a certain "look" that you like? or do
their sites look sloppy, too much like some template, etc. \- if you care
about ux, does their site provide good experience? is it at least usable,
logical and consistent? \- Avoid flash designers. Most flash guys know little
about seo. Content management will be difficult too.

I think you'll have a hard time finding a designer who can design, code and do
seo. There are smaller web shops out there that can help. Make sure you know
what you're buying into and ask for references.

One thing i warn you is to becareful with eye candy. There are a lot of
tutorial mongers out there who will run through psdtuts, create some variation
and add it to their portfolio.

i agree with andres, use a cms. im a fan of drupal.

k. hope that help. -jay

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andreshb
I currently have an excellent front-end development team with an
entrepreneurial background based in Latin America.

I was able recruit and partner up with the best in the region because I run
blogs, communities and events around tech and entrepreneurship and by actually
meeting them at conferences.

My suggestion would be for you to

1\. Network and meet your developers personally OR 2\. Try your luck at
elance.com, freelancer.com, rentacoder.com or odesk.com; be very careful
though, many bidders will say they can do everything by tomorrow, and end up
not delivering. It is very trial-and-error process to find the right provider

Finally for your budget, you can easily have the whole site redesigned and put
in a CMS

If you'd like more help send me an email andres.barreto * socialatomgroup *
com

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montooner
Redesigned to what level? As for CMS, more than willing to do that myself.

~~~
andreshb
You need a visual overhaul

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sushi
I just checked the design and I do think that it needs improvement. For
instance, the navigation at the left is quite old-fashioned and also not good
for usability. It should ideally be pushed on the top.

The edges and border radius of certain elements is just not complementing well
enough with the rest of the page.

Now coming to your problem, I think you can take the help of
<http://sortfolio.com/> which has listing of really good web designers.

On a sidenote, I am a designer myself. Just in case if you need any help you
can reach me at sushaantum@gmail.com

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montooner
Thanks- sortfolio looks amazing. This was one of the things I was looking for.
Also appreciate the tips.

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Cheeese
Find someone that cares about UX... and actually knows what that is. Its also
important to for the designer to understand what it is you are tying to
communicate and what the mechanics of the idea are. What is it that makes
users come back? Who are you focussing on?

I guess I am not really answering you question :) But I find crowd sourced
design very hit and miss. You don't get any real thinking, you also don't get
any solid UE stuff... and that's where it counts. let me know if you need a
hand. oneintenthousand@gmail.com

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mbrubeck
<http://www.authenticjobs.com/> is another front-end/design job board (run by
Cameron Moll).

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montooner
Sweet. I'll add that to my list and start doing the legwork.

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eliot_sykes
Never used it but might help? collabfinder.com

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montooner
Thanks- I think I'll start digging around there to see if I can find anything.

