Pros and Cons of Package-Based Pricing for Web Design
Published April 28th, 2010 in Marketing - 44 Comments
Pricing services is one of the most challenging parts of being a designer. Most designers have an opinion of what their time is worth and what they want to make on an hourly basis, but accurately estimating everything that will be involved with a project and how much time it will take can be very difficult.
In attempt to simplify pricing for both the designer and the client, some designers and agencies use package-based pricing with prices listed on their website. While offering proposals or quotes for each project is more common, package-based pricing is used frequently enought that it warrants consideration from the designer or agency.
In this post we’ll take a detailed look at both the pros and cons of listing your prices publicly. It may be worth noting that Vandelay Design does not use package-based pricing, although this has not always been the case. A few years ago packages were listed on the site before deciding to price projects on a case-by-case basis.
Pros of Package-Based Pricing:
1. Gives Visitors a Clear Picture of What to Expect
Many visitors and potential clients really have no idea what to expect in terms of how much they will need to spend for web design and development services. In some cases this is a result of a lack of experience in dealing with the subject, but another contributing factor is that prices can vary so drastically. If a client is looking simply for a low-cost provider, regardless of the type of project there will always be someone who is willing to take on the work (not necesarilly qualified) for a fraction of what most of the competition would charge. This variance in pricing can make it difficult for clients to know what is included at that price, what quality of work and customer service they will receive, and how this compares to their other options.
Clients like to know what to expect, and package-based pricing can give them the general information before they even contact the designer. If the pricing is out of their budget they can move on to another designer, or they can re-consider what they are willing to spend. Clients can make comparisons much easier with package-based pricing, assuming the details and any potential add-ons are clearly provided.
Adobe Illustrator Brushes: Best of
Published April 27th, 2010 in Design - 16 Comments
Photoshop brushes get a lot of attention from designers and bloggers, but quality Illustrator brushes are a little bit harder to come by. In this post we’ll feature more than 40 of the best sets of free Illustrator brushes, totaling over 1,700 brushes.
Brush Strokes:
Multi-Colored Paint Brushes (57 brushes)
Free Travel Icons from IconShock
Published April 23rd, 2010 in Site News - 22 Comments
Our friends at IconShock have designed another set of free icons especially for readers of the Vandelay Design Blog! This set includes 10 icons in PNG and .ai format. These can be used in your personal and commercial projects.
Showcase of Die Cut Business Cards
Published April 21st, 2010 in Marketing - 26 Comments
Last month we published a post that showcased letterpress business cards. Today we’d like to share another showcase, this time focusing on business cards that use die cuts to stand out. Die cut business cards allow for some creative ideas to become a reality, and these cards are certain to be noticed when they are handed out.
Learn Web Design: Educational Resources for Beginners
Published April 19th, 2010 in Design - 69 Comments
In recent weeks we have published a few posts that focused on graphic design basics: Learn Photoshop and Learn Illustrator. Both of those posts generated a lot of interest from readers, so today we’ll continue with a third post in the series, this one focusing on the basics of web design. Here you will find categorized resources and links for learning HTML, CSS, typography, the design process, and more. If you’re just getting started or looking to brush up on your skills, you may want to bookmark many of these resources.
Introductory Information and General Learning Resources
General resources for learning web design
The sites listed below are excellent places to find loads of content aimed at people who are looking to learn more about web design and front end development. Much of the content is free but some of it is available for a membership fee, which may be worth the cost to save yourself some time in tracking down the right resources.
25 Impressive Design Portfolio Websites
Published April 14th, 2010 in Galleries - 43 Comments
The portfolio websites of designers are often excellent sources of inspiration. Portfolio sites frequently demonstrate exceptional creativity and attention to detail. In this post we’ll feature 25 outstanding portfolio sites that are worth a look. You’ll find designs from a variety of styles here, including minimal, illustrated, nature-inspired, textured, and more.
30 of the Best Websites for Online Photo Editing
Published April 12th, 2010 in Tools - 33 Comments
Designers and photographers have a number of options when it comes to photo editing. Of course, Photoshop is the most popular software, but there are a number of websites that allow you to edit photos online. Depending on your needs, the full version of Photoshop may not be necessary. In this post we’ll look at 31 options for editing photos online.
Leading Options for Free Online Photo Editing:
Picnik
With Picnik you can grab photos from your Flickr, Photobucket or Facebook account easily. Picnik includes advanced controls and effects in addition to basic options like cropping and re-sizing. A premium version is also available with more features for a little over $2 per month.
25 Outstanding Photoshop Lighting Effect Tutorials
Published April 7th, 2010 in Design - 19 Comments
Photoshop allows designers to create amazing things with their creativity. Lighting effects can be done in Photoshop a number of different ways, and the results can be quite impressive. In this post we’ll feature 25 tutorials from various designers that teach how to create amazing lighting effects. If you see something you want to learn, click through and follow the steps of the designer.
How to Enhance Your Subjects with Striking Lighting Effects in Photoshop
Trends in News and Magazine-Style Web Design
Published April 5th, 2010 in Design - 17 Comments
News and magazine-style sites tend to follow some specific trends. In this post we’ll take a detailed look at the design trends of news sites with plenty of examples, and the end of the post includes a showcase of sites.
If you’re working on designing a magazine-style site or blog theme, taking these trends into consideration may help.
White (or Light) Backgrounds
Like most content-heavy sites, news and magazine-style sites tend to have white or light-colored backgrounds, which is generally better for readability. Of course, there are exceptions to this, but especially among the major news sites, white backgrounds rule.
Free Finance Icons from IconShock
Published April 1st, 2010 in Site News - 21 Comments
Our friends at IconShock have designed another set of free icons especially for the readers of the Vandelay Design blog. This set includes 6 icons (in PNG format) that can be used for personal or commercial purposes.
