SS Web Designers ?

Mr_Lee_PHD

So I recently became a freelance web designer after being made redundant from a job I was doing for 10+ years.

I was wondering if we have any SS web design dudes, and if so what kind of sites do y'all visit on the regular for visual inspiration, web based design tools etc.

I recently discovered cssmania.com which is a decent resource and colorschemedesigner.com comes in handy.

Oddly, being a record digger has paid off in web design.. LP covers are hugely inspiring for layouts, colour schemes etc

Peace.
Lee.

Grandfather

http://www.reddit.com/r/web_design/

lots of stuff there

RAJ

http://www.designfridge.co.uk/

SPlDEY

I like to look at some of the bigger agencies to see what they're capable of pulling off.

http://hi-res.net/

http://www.bigspaceship.com/

I mostly do programming and coding for graphic designers though.

- spidey

Meep

Personally I'd like to get a more broader perspective on design as a whole, so I rarely frequent web-specific sites. Here's some stuff I check on a daily basis:

Illustration & (mostly print) design:
http://grainedit.com/
http://www.underconsideration.com/quipsologies/


Typography
http://ilovetypography.com/
http://typeverything.com/

General inspiration (NSFW at times but worth it)
http://ffffound.com/

z_illa

I find inspiration, for the completely uninspiring work I do, to be distracting. Like the last thing I want to do is look at a good website while my clients are tearing apart my design and asking for absurd, uninformed changes.

I am bitter. Good design doesn't sell unless you're selling it to a designer.

Mr_Lee_PHD

Thanks for the links. Some real good stuff.

I've become a real font geek of late (occupational hazard?), so it's nice to czech some Helvetica rivals.

I'm wondering what you dudes do when you're negotiating a job. I've been getting half the money up front just to gain some commitment from the client, and (touch wood) I've had friendly and co-operative clients so far so it has been fine.

Anyone else do this ?

I guess at some point I'm going to come across a major hassle client and then have to develop a spidey sense for which jobs to turn down to steer clear of future problems.

Meep

I'm not a freelancer so I have no experience there but the common practice is to make a quote / estimation based on an hourly rate or a total price (depending on the project or your own preference) and set up a contract from that.

For this type of practical / work information I can't recommend this book enough:
http://www.amazon.com/Graphic-Designer-Without-Losing-Your/dp/1568985592

bennyboy

Yes, I'd recommend that Adrian Shaugnessy book, a good read.

One important thing to try & do, apart from upfront payment, is sort a contract - then if you do run into difficulties with a client, you can simply refer back to the contract. At the very least, when quoting for work, try & stipulate how much work you would reasonably be expected to do for that cost, ie number of revisions, meetings etc. Worth having that info in place if client starts pulling moves.

I like Site Inspire, good for inspiration.

And [email=http://www.designerstalk.com/forums/index.php]this place[/email] is a great resource for info - good place to go if you need to ask a question, get some ideas, find out stuff etc. Lots of freelancers on there, lots of [email=http://www.designerstalk.com/forums/business/62978-business-essentials.html]good tips for business[/email], not just design.

What kind of area are you working in - front end stuff, or development?