6 Reasons San Diego designers do it better

Posted by Royce | Labels: , , | at 11:36 AM | 0 comments


With so many international Web Designers vying for attention, why should I hire local?


With the internet so widespread, many new opportunities have emerged allowing employers to outsource work literally to the other side of the world. And the other side of the world typically ends up being India. India is a great place with great people, I'm sure, but there are still some great reasons to source locally. Shall I count the ways?

1. Cultural Affinity
Judging a design is subjective and beauty standards vary greatly from culture to culture. A designer living in a similar culture to yourself is more likely to understand and share your personal style and preferences making the design process more efficient.

2. Avoid Time Zone and Language barriers. 
Better communication leads to faster job turn around. Have you ever had to wake up at 4AM and Skype a loved one in another country because their time zone was completely opposite? Its not pleasant, and not a good way to conduct business. The amount of communication necessary to build a great website is not easily done via email and screen shots either.

3. Stimulate the local economy
You are likely to have heard that the unemployment rate is very high, especially in California and San Diego. You can directly influence this statistic and boost our economy by hiring locals which means more money for all of us and a brighter future.

4. Less risk
Its more difficult for a web designer to take the money and run when their client has been to their house or place of business. San Diego firms are help more accountable because they are subject to review by the authorities, and also by crazy online bloggers! Also by dealing nationally, you know that the same laws apply to you both (like copyright laws) and your web designer. Keep in mind many designers require "half now, half later" which can be a risky proposition.

5. Move available for Support and Upgrades
It is more likely that a local designer will be available for technical support and upgrades, especially in those emergency moments when you can wait for an email back from halfway around the world.


6. Face to Face can't be beaten
Really nothing beats good old fashioned face to face interaction. Not even internet social networking has not even been able to do away with it. Meeting up in person will give you confidence in your web designer, be a more enjoyable experience, and you may even gain a new friend.

Did I miss anything? Feel free to comment.

Web Designers, on Craigslist? A Review

Posted by Royce | Labels: , , , | at 11:46 AM | 1 comments

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companies as well as general tips about what you should look for in a future designer. Web design is a big i
I recently searched Craigslist for San diego web designers, and finding the best designers was not the easiest of tasks. I wanted to find a quality local San Diego freelancer to work on an e-commerce website I had envisioned. It was important to me that I find a San Diego local because I wanted to sit down face to face and discuss and develop my ideas. So I decided to post to my favorite local San Diego job posting hub, Craigslist (CL). Here is my basic posting:

Local Web Design Expert
Hello Designers!
I am looking for a local San Diego web designer to create a new ecommerce site for my old brick and mortar shop. We sell clothing and accessories. It shouldn't be a huge deal for people who knows what they are doing. I haven't priced websites before so please send me some quotes because I do have money set aside for this. Also of course send me links to samples of your work. Thanks! 
  The response was both overwhelming and underwhelming. Though I did receive responses from some talented Web design freelancers, I also had to wade through 50+ emails from companies that were neither in San Diego nor freelancers.  It would really be great if CL would require users to type out a CAPTCHA word or two to prevent bots from spamming posts. Some sites were just plain funny because they appear to have been done by a DIY individual, rather than a professional web designer. Here is an example of a site I was not impressed with lol:

 Ouch!

  Anyhow, the range of skills and price quotes were astounding. A couple emails were from internationals who somehow missed the strict "Local" requirement displayed in my add. Some designers were talented, others not so much, and quotes for my basic ecommerce site ranged $250-$50,000. The larger companies typically charge a good deal more than freelancers trying to scratch a living. What I was really looking for was a talented San Diego web design freelancer who had a hip, modern design sense and the ability to program functional websites at a competitive price. Unfortunately, most of the "web designers" seemed to be only graphic designers, lacking any real programming ability. And its imperative that every employer who needs a website built understands the difference.

  Websites have evolved to become much more than just plain static pages with pretty colors. Websites now often house complex code that can save user information in a database and recall it at a later date. When you run a search on a website, you are interacting directly with their database. Websites also need to be coded correctly to load quickly, and they need to be coded effectively to appear at the top of a search engine listing. Eecommerce websites requires a modest level of sophistication. If I was just looking to add information about my business to the web, any local web designer with a slick template would have sufficed. But to integrate great shopping carts, credit cards, inventory, and an easy to use administrative user interface a web developer with some programming knowledge is essential.

  But how can you know if your San Diego web designer really understands the in and outs of web design? Well to start, ask them if they have a technical degree in a relevant field such as computer science. If a designer has no formal degree, you should take a look at their past websites. Do these websites load quickly? Do they appear on searches engines' listings? Do all the links and buttons work? Take a moment to send an email to the website owner asking how they felt about their web designer and website.

  These are some parameters that really helped me find a quality San Diego web designer. Probably the best San Diego ecommerce web designer who replied to my add was Rose Reyes. Here is a little info about her and a pic of an ecommerce site she has designed.

About Unik Motif:
Based in beautiful San Diego, California, Unik Motif is a boutique web and graphic design company that was founded in 2008 on the principle that our most important job is to make sure that everything about your project goes smoothly for you, and that you end up with a shop, logo, or blog that is perfect for you.

Find out more about Rose Reyes and her design company at http://www.unikmotif.com/. Her eccomerce sites will run you about $1500. The websites she has designed are very successful which is a great compliment to her work and skills. Have you had any luck hiring web designers on Craigslist? Please review.

Welcome to San Diego Design Reviews!

Posted by Royce | Labels: , , , , | at 10:00 AM | 1 comments

Thanks for taking a moment to check out my little blog! I will be blogging information and reviews about local San Diego Web Design and Development companies as well as general tips about what you should look for in a future designer. Web design is a big investment that, if done right, can really pay off. San Diego is a great city with many web design needs and web design companies. The benefits of using a local designer rather than someone out of country are many, and I will cover that later. This site will help you find a fair priced, talented local San Diego web design company or freelancer.
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