DreamStar StudiosWeb, Graphic, & Identity Design Studio (Delaware) | Photoshop, CSS, xHTML, & Web Design Blog

I would say that in my experience as a web designer and developer, deciding on what is a “fair rate” to charge for my work ranks as one of the most difficult aspects that has taken me a long time to get a handle on.

I wanted to post a little discussion on the topic of “fair rates” for web design. It is my hope that this video is a help to web designers who are just starting out and also people who are currently shopping for a web designer and are unsure of what to look for and what to expect in terms of skill, price, and a number of other factors. Hope it helps!

A discussion of fair rates…

Since the release of my new site with its “magick” theme, I have been wanting to write a blog post about the supernatural, magick, and what it means to me. Let me start off by saying (perhaps to the disappointment of some of you) that I don’t actually practice magick and actually I never have. It’s not that I have a problem with people who do, I know lots of nice people who do and I understand that their motivation for doing so often stems from an interest in the supernatural, an interest I share and a subject very near and dear to my own heart.

I think when I speak about magic and refer to it on my blog in…

I love the culture that surrounds the web design industry.  Creative, free-spirited people who often work from home or freelance and work weird hours because they can and they feel like it.  Love it.  But I feel like there is alot of burnout and frustration because that same freedom often leaves people wandering about confused and purposeless.  I’m about to lay out some ideas that may seem like sweeping generalizations, however, I think if you consider them carefully they will bring a greater clarity and sense of purpose and direction to your work as a web designer / developer.

I am a freelancer, and like many other freelancers I have a fairly regular interaction with other web professionals through Twitter. As…

If this is your first time stopping by, I probably don’t need to be prophetic to guess a certain question which is likely on your mind.  It goes something like this… “Bellydance?  Why Bellydance?!” Allow me to explain.

First of all, as a designer, I have always had a weakness for all things sparkly, shiny, glowing, etc.  I share this weakness with most of the bellydancers I know, so we get along well.  Also, my wife has been bellydancing for a few years now and it was the exposure I got to  photography, web design, graphic art and similar visual arts mediums through helping bellydancers that ultimately helped me decide to make a living at this stuff.  That’s the history of how…