Posts from — February 2009

The other day I was looking through my Google Reader for a tutorial on jQuery navigation. After 30 minutes of pouring through an endless array of post, I found a nice tutorial over at Build Internet.

Zach Dunn, the tutorial author, does a great job of taking you step-by-step during the creation of the menu, not missing one beat. As usual, you can download the source files to see exactly what a working demo looks like, and so you can tweak the menu however you want.

Here’s my example. I just needed something simple and gray.

Have fun and if the tutorial shows you something that you didn’t know before, make sure you show Zach some love.

As a creative professional (specifically a web designer and front-end developer for me) being asked how much I charge or how much a website is going to cost is usually the first question most prospective clients ask after they’ve gotten my name and gave me their spill about the type of web site they are looking for.

My short answer: “It depends. How much does it cost to build a car?”

The long answer: Luckily for me, other creative professionals have already taken the time to answer the question in many articles around the web.

Here are links to articles I found interesting and insightful pertaining to web development pricing and cost, and what to expect from a designer (and me) after you’ve asked them how much they charge:

How Much Does A Web Site Cost?
Another insightful article by the people over at Webpage FX, a Pennsylvania based web site design, web development and Internet marketing company.

What Does A Web Site Cost?
Here is another insightful article by the people at Atilus, a Internet marketing and web development company based out of Naples.

How Much Does A Web Site Cost?
This one is a little old, but the content is still relevant. This article also offers project budget recommendation, which can be pretty handy.

I hope that helps and provides a sense of clarity for those who were wonder how much a web site cost. Whether you are looking for a sexy web site to promote your latest film or a basic web site to promote your product, one thing to keep in mind is that each project is unique and has it own set of parameters. So instead of asking how much does a web site cost, a better question to ask is “How much will MY web site cost?”

About two weeks ago I found a great networking opportunity for Los Angeles based creative professionals. The group is called Kernspiracy and they meet every two months near Downtown L.A. at Barbara’s Bar. I had been looking for a creative group for months, and was ecstatic when I found this one. Spencer Cross is the founder of the group and is pretty cool himself.

Kernspiracy also has a email list that you can sign up for that allows you to talk, share, and network with the people in the group in between meetings. You can find out more about the email list and Kernspiracy by visiting their info page. In today’s society as freelance creative professionals, we have to take the proactive approach to getting work. And Kernspiracy is a great start.

I hope to see you at the next meeting!

It’s official. I’ve finally upgraded my web site to Wordpress, which was much overdue. I plan on using my journal as a resource for information related to web design and development, as well as anything else that happens to come to mind. So stay tuned. More to come soon!