very true. @pipes i would definately say go with a designer who does both designing and coding as that is the best option .. many times people decide to get a psd from one and get coded by someone else, than it just becomes a product of two different people like sand castle and water ends up to be (mud) does it look pretty ? i doubt it. Stock images, while they are good and many times can make a impact on the look, but i think you should not limit your designer by saying use this (Specific) stock image as it gets very hard, but if you show them the design you like and say you would like a good clock in stock image or a good arrow or something like that... than it is fine. I have no problems with vertical navigation as a matter of fact i prefer it because with horizontal navigation you can only do *so much*. I recommend is get the most important pages on the horizontal for example like images and such and use the rest on the sidebar .... www.idk.in << is a good example of what i am talking about. http://www.gtag.idk.in/ << this as well... i hope you get the idea. I dont know if i can help any further .. if you have any more questions feel free to pm me and i'll respond accordingly. Wish you good luck with your designs... by the way Mike dont recommend "Serg (aspidov)" to anyone until he clears up all the disputes which are going on right now ...
Yes thats a good point about keeping both parts of the design job together, i know what you mean and it does make sense rather than having it coded by someone else. Very true, theres some awesome stock images out there but i agree and can see that it may stifle a designers flow, that is something i wouldn't want to interfere with. I looked at your 2 examples smub, i think thats a good idea, as you point out, the important nav links being along the top but the option is still there for vertical navigation, that i like. Thanks smub, im appreciating all of the advice, ideas and suggestions from yourself and the other guys in this thread.