I want to hire a graphic designer to create a series of graphics that will be turned into WP themes for ecommerce stores. I tried posting in graphic design and I got a lot of replies, but the prices were all over the place and I couldn't figure out what was good and what was not. I looked at some portfolios, but nothing jumped out at me and said "Hire me!" So I figure that there is someone out there who knows how you hire a designer to make graphics to be converted. That is all I need. I already have a programmer. I'll pay $20 (paypal) to the person who gives me the best advice on how to do this right. Perhaps it is running a contest, and you will help me set it up so I get what I want? I don't have the ideal answer in mind. Perhaps you are going to offer to help me pick the right designer, and you can explain why you can do that. Perhaps there is a formula to this, and you are going to share it with me. Perhaps it is well known to a select community on DP who the best designer(s) at the best price are, and you will tell me. Something else? By best, I mean highest quality, most creativity at the best price. DPer who helps me the most, subjective I agree, gets the $20. PS. I have a lot of ecommerce sites in mind so this will not be a one off job. That is why it is important to me to pick the right person.
My suggestion would be: put up a design contest for a single website with a decent cash prize, select the entry which promises you the most, and hire him for the rest of your designs. Simple as that
Thanks, but I thought of this. I'll illustrate the problem. I have no experience figuring out what a talented graphics designer needs in order to make me the graphics pages for a WP theme. If I set the contest at $10 I suspect that I will not get many, if any, entries, and if I set the contest at $1000, I may be inundated with entries, but it might turn out the that the winner has a set price of $350 for doing graphics designs for WP. I've just over paid by $650. Do you see the problem now? You have to have knowledge in order to begin, knowledge that I don't have.
judging by the current rates of designing going on(here at digital point where I particularly think that graphics submitted are in most cases not relevant to the price as some times mediocre designs get high reward while awesome designs get lesser rewards). I think the ideal price for a single page design is 50-75$ so my suggestion would be that you run a contest for the designing of the front page of your theme for 50-75$ and while you pick one winner for the contest, but at the same time you contact all the participants you think are suitable for your business and ask theme the complete package price of their work for future reference. In this way you will have a bunch of options to choose from whenever you have a new theme to make. and you will also get a general idea of prices.
OK, I like your idea. I am going to wait a few days and see if any one disagrees with your price. If they don't I will take your advice and run a contest for webpage design at the high end of what you suggest, $75. If I get good quality, imaginative solutions and I can pick a winner, so in other words the contest works because of your advice, I'll pay you the $20.