Cost for custom design blog

It really depends on what you need.

A good web designer can charge $100 an hour. I've paid $75 just for a logo.

-- Leva

$425 doesn't sound that outrageous. As stated, some of the going rates are $100 an hour.

Marilyn have you tried doing it yourself? What sort of customization do you have in mind?

Marilyn, my sister-in-law has very reasonable rates and is looking to build up her portfolio. If you like the look of my site, you can find her contact info on the 'Contacts' page and shoot her a question about what you're looking for.

I should add that my blog is a non-commentary one, but that was a choice I made (and am rethinking based on a couple of notes I've received) and she can do other things.

I'd look for blogger templates, and find one you can modify.

I generally charge between 50$-100$ an hour for this type of thing.

But you can do this yourself. You'll graphics software, and html tutorials. You can find these on web for free or low cost.

i'd suggest gimp or paint shop pro for a regular user. For html that's take time but you can do it. All you need is text editor.

Since you use blogger you need to look how to customize it. It's a bitch and takes some beating to do. You have limited space to do such a thing and can't get too fancy unless you have someplace to host the images.

Power Point? :shutter, shutter, drool: It makes me feel awful just thinking about it.

You don't need high quality for the web. 600-800 pixels with is fine unless you want it longer for some reason...but a lot of folks still only see that much of the screen.

72dpi is standard for web.

Marilyn Braun said:

Hi Jamie, thanks for the info, I've sent her an email.



I was just thinking of using, say white minima as a starting point. I think it's mainly wanting the three column, logo, vector image and navigation bar at the top. The three columns wouldn't be difficult, I've found instructions for expanding/widening templates, so that's not really the issue. It's the design of the logo (I used power point to create it and I saved it as a jpeg but that probably wouldn't be good quality on a blog). And putting the image in the top left of the header. Customizing it to look more like me might be nice too - mainly the hair. Note: I don't look anything like Dame Edna!

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It sounds more like you want a custom-designed blog, which is really a website. Yes, a truly custom one can be quite expensive, especially if you want to embed interactive features, have a podcast, etc.

About the image, the highest ppi you would need is 96 for PCs, 72 (I think) for Macs. Web browsers do not render images at high resolutions.

Wow, custom design is really expensive. Marilyn, I am just curious to know that exactly what you wish to achieve by going for custom design for your blog?

Marilyn Braun said:

I want something different, something that stands out from the crowd. Blogs in my niche seem to be popping up left right and centre. And I can't seem to accomplish that on my own. Right now my blog is horrible looking. The price for the one place I spoke to quoted $425 for a custom designed blog. Is that expensive?

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Not really, but you want to stress that you need to be able to update it yourself.

The Gimp is free graphics software.

Marilyn, if you are still looking to customize your blog, here's an option I highly recommend:

www.acornglue.com

It is run by an Australian lady named Sharnee. She has some blog templates up on her website, and they run anywhere from $15-$25. So you choose one that you like. They are great-looking, but if you want to customize (like button links or 3-columns or color changes), ask her for a quote. Check out that link, and you will see what I mean. She has lots of helpful info on her website.

The thing I loved about her is I started emailing her and within three days I had changed my template (It is my Pink Ink blog - see the link below) painlessly. She is very accomodating and super to work with. (I was amazed that I worked with someone across the world so quickly than I can get ,say, a local business to show up at my house)

If you are interested in anything customized, and I mean anything, ask her, and she will be upfront about what she can and cannot do. Also, once she makes a design for you, she takes that off the list, so you have your very own unique-looking blog.

PS The only thing is, she is in the process of moving and might not be available (no internet) for a week, but if you still need the work done, I definitely would check her out first before parting with $400 or so dollars.

Hope that helps!

I paid $500 for FWJ's redesign and it was worth every penny! I'll be happy to recommend the designers too!