Does anyone know a site which has an objective list of the top web design companies that is not full of ads or commission links. Or can anyone suggest high quality professional firms.
To be honest I doubt you will find one... the true "top" companies will be aimed at corporate clients and the likes of Microsoft/ RBS/ KPMG etc wont be searching for "top design agency" to find the people to do their next site. Also, being realistic, what budget do you have? Prior to forming Astaroth Solutions I worked for a blue chip company and to design a 5 page layout was $140,000 and $30,000 to code the three templates. This was with a decent agency but probably not one that you would call "top". Are these the ball park figures you have?
140 grand is a little out of my budget range. I'm thinking 10-30k range. The reason I posted is that it seems there are a lot of smaller high quality firms who look like they do an excellent job for a fair price and firms that charge up the wazoo for mediocre service. An objective list of firms would be useful.
There are a lot of good people out there who charge a lot less.... the worrying thing about the $140k was that it was to fit within an existing brand's look and feel which is arguably much easier than blank slate stuff as you have colour schemes/ brand guiding lights to fit within, get them to build from scratch including logo etc and you are probably looking at 5x that +. Your better off contacting companies that you feel are creating things in the space you are looking for and talk to them (something not done enough) and talk about what you get for your money etc... lower end design agencies will send you a word document to complete about what colours you like and dont like, higher ones will talk to you, often face to face, about what your customers are like, what is important to them and you and will build up a much larger picture.