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  • #23930

    Hello friends,
    I am a student and am really new to this web development and designing thing. But I am trying to learn as much as I can and thanks to Chris I have learned a lot in the past few days :). Given below is the link to my web site. As I am not very good at designing things :oops: , so I guess my site isn’t that visually appealing like many of the inspirational sites I have seen out here. I have used JQuery [thanks to Chris for introducing it to me :P] to make all the different sections of my web page in one page itself. Hence, it takes a wee bit time to load in the starting, but once its done, I guess the browsing experience of the site is quite fast. I will try to optimize the images further and use the ‘Lazy Load Plug in’ to see if the page load time reduces considerably. One more problem which I am facing is that I have faded the text on my side bar a bit and because of that the text gets distorted for some people though it comes fine when I open the site from my place. Please, do take a look at the site and comment on it. I am sure suggestions and guidance from you guys can help me become a professional like you all.

    Thanks in Advance :D

    Here is the Link:- http://www.code-pal.com/

    I will hopefully be making more web pages with coming time. So instead of creating new posts for every web page I create, I thought of updating the links here itself so that you guys can comment and suggest improvements.. :)

    Updates :-
    A Green Abstract Portfolio site. Its there in the services section of my site.

    #52974

    thank you guys for the feed back.

    @ rob i will try out that slide feature today itself :P and even I am following you on twitter ;)

    @milehigh- yes even i have noticed that padding problem and i could’t figure out why its happening… it was fine when i started with the site but got messed somewhere in between.. :| i will fix it today.. and as for the animation when i reduce its speed it lags a bit in many browsers. Anyway, i will change the ‘show’ animation as rob suggested and try sum other animation which would look nice and be soft like u said :)

    #52988
    runa
    Member

    Nice logo. Wandering how it is working, because I have deactivated JS. Do something with your typography.

    #52997

    thanks runa :)
    Guys, I have changed all those things which you all pointed out to me :)
    List of changes :-
    1>Changed the animation effect to something much smoother and softer to the eyes
    2>Improved the typography [or at least tried to, you guys be the judge lol]
    3>Fixed the navigation bar padding problem, which actually was a jpeg image problem :P I just changed it to PNG and it got resolved

    :arrow: Check out the site

    #53036
    "TheDoc" wrote:
    Listing your price is generally a no-no, although I guess when it’s this cheap that’s what you’re going for.

    Quote:
    Price: Starting from $100 for a single page design.

    Prices like that say to me "no quality". Granted, we all have to start somewhere, but that seems just far too low imo. It’s prices like that that make clients balk when I give them a quote.

    oh is it that low.. I thought as am starting new I would keep low prices and then later on increase it slowly as i get more work and my port folio increases…Ok then i will just remove that price quote from my site :) hmm the price for psd to xhtml is ok? i have seen many people do that for $65. Is there any guide for "Freelancing for Beginners" ? :P

    #53048
    Rob MacKay
    Participant

    I have to second what these 2 wise guys have said.

    By advertising prices so low, you kinda destroy the industry from within lol

    For a recent job, I was able to charge exactly what I wanted – and the client thanked me… why? Because I gave them alot back.

    When I get some interest in a job, I send out a questionnaire of about 12 questions – this answers some huge design questions, and helps me build a picture of what they will require. I then formulate those answers into about 500 words describing their idea back to them – this shows firstly that you have listened and you care, and secondly gives you the oprotunity to show them what they are thinking, in black and white.

    actually – let me show you my design process.

    My design process is as follows:

    1. Design Brief: Conduct Questionnaire or Interview to get the design brief.
    2. Research: Conduct research focused on the industry itself, on its history, and on its competitors.
    3. Reference: Conduct research into designs that have been successful and current styles and trends that are related to the design brief.
    4. Site mapping: design the functionality and usability of the site.
    5. Sketching & Conceptualising: Develop the design concept(s) around the brief and research and mapping
    6. Presentation: Present designs to the client.
    7. Amendments: Make amendments where necessary
    8. Create final Design: A fully polished Photoshop end product.
    9. Coding & Filling: Slicing and building the site – adding content
    10. Finish: Woohoo – bed time…

    Notice how I dont go near photoshop for a good while…

    this process is always up for review as well, with each project it will change a little, and mould itself to the best working practice I find.

    I feel its very important to give your clients an idea of what is happenening behind the sceans, they then realise a little of how much work goes into making their website perfect, and suddenly your "overcharging" is actually very reasonable… It just takes effort.

    – I hope that helped a little…

    #53077

    Thanks guys for all the information about pricing and all..
    @milehigh, lol its not a long post :D

    @rob
    , i really like your process of building a site..I would love to follow something like that :D
    I had no idea about all this.. i thought the cheaper i would charge the more the clients will get attracted :P
    I have removed the prices from the site :)
    ‘MilehighDesigner’ said that I should contact my friends, their families, but no one i know is that web savvy to have their own personal web site or a personal blog :| and no one has a commercial site because all are college students :P They all use social communities like facebook or orkut.. I am trying to increase my portfolio by learning how to design sites from the web and then convert them into web pages. That smiley site in my portfolio is the first site i designed from scratch [well other than my own site]. What could really help me is , I think, if I can get some psd mock ups and convert them into xhtml/css and add it to my portfolio… But I have no idea where to get them :?
    Good thing you guys pointed out about the price issue.. I was about to start a new post in the other section to ask everyone to contribute tips and suggestion for Beginners to freelancing. As in how to promote the site, how to get that very first client, what price to charge and all the things which could matter to a new comer :roll:

    #53068
    Rob MacKay
    Participant

    What I would recomend is:

    http://freelanceswitch.com/

    For practice I would get set up for themeforest and get some templates/themes produced, and then sell them. It will make you learn fast.

    Freelancing is a strange game – "freelancer" websites are pretty pants, as most of the jobs are asking for someone to redesign their business’ brand for a $50 maximum… and people ACTUALLY go for these jobs!

    Also have a look around here:

    http://www.sitepoint.com/

    and their attached "marketplace"

    http://marketplace.sitepoint.com/

    #53069

    Thanks rob for the links, i will check them out right now.. we can sell our templates on those sites? lol i thought they have their own designers who design them :oops: silly me! Ok first of all i am gonna convert that smiley template which i created… hope i do justice to it :P

    #53099

    yea am doing research now… visiting many sites with great inspirational designs. I have also just converted one of the templates i designed into html. Please check that out too :) Its in my services section, or here is the link Smiley Site
    Now i will be starting on a new design hehe

    #53104
    Rob MacKay
    Participant

    Also – here is good idea of how to value your work… or bill if you are working by the hour…

    http://estimator.astuteo.com/

    remeber that the average webdesigner charges about $55 an hour…

    #53107

    thx rob :) its a very useful site to give me an idea of how much to charge… but to charge, i need clients! :D
    The thing at which i am strong [comparatively to my other designing skills] is converting a psd to xhtml/css. I am kinda weak in designing because I never learned anything in designing. But am trying my best to create some good designs and then convert them perfectly into xhtml/css for my portfolio.. I am also working on setting up for theme forest and sell templates there so that I can start earning some cash to invest in my freelancing. But i still don’t have any idea where to get the clients from :|

    #53115

    hey thanks for the link doc.. Chris’s podcast were the best in teaching me! :D I will go through them though. I have improved a lot in converting psds to xhtml/css i think. The problem which I am facing is, how to get clients for psd to xhtml conversion. I am trying to design on my own and convert them into web pages to include in my portfolio. :|

    #49879
    Rob MacKay
    Participant

    yup this is where you need to get your SEO nice and lively, get yourself in forums, get themes up on theme selling websites…

    here is another good resouce link
    http://freelancefolder.com/i-really-nee … verything/

    My friend used to sell themes on sitepoint – he was aproched by a large company asking him to make quick templates for parked domains – about 50 sites I think… lets just say he made alot of money on that…

    You have to get out there in the area you want to focus in. Write a useful blog always get hits… that kinda thing

    #53147

    Thanks rob for the link. That site is really helpful to me. Even I am working on a template to sell it on theme forest. That sitepoint site needs me to subscribe to it for selling templates :| The thing is that I am a student, and i have this weird aim of earning from scratch! :? I don’t wanna take any financial help from my brother or my parents :oops: though they are always willing to help me out.. So lets see how my first self designed site [i.e. widout any tuts :P] comes out :| And obviously you guys are going to be the judge of that hehe


    @TheDoc
    , yes I am working on my designing skills too.. I think i can merge my programming skills, which is my main strength, with my designing skills to create some very nice designs.. But I have to improve my designing skills first :D

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