When asked, “How do you find a great designer for your website?” Marc Sampogna, Founder of Canopy, had this to say…

When it comes to finding a great “designer” for your website, it’s crucial for you to understand the varying definitions of the term first. There are front-end and back-end designers. You need to find a person or team that can understand and marry the two. It starts with a deep understanding of the space you’re in and your end user. The ability to grasp the emotional and functional experience you’re trying to deliver is critical for them to understand. It starts with making sure they understand branding, and the strategic position your company/business is trying to own. That then can be translated through the design and user interface. Once you’ve checked the above off your list of criteria, then it comes down to budget and timing. If you want to think big for your business, you have to make an investment here. You don’t want to develop something on the cheap, and then have to start from scratch a year later (trust me, you will). I believe firmly, that in the digital space and for websites in particular, you get what you pay for. Having a digital division for years in my agency, we’ve learned that clients that want to cut on budget, typically on the online experience, which is very inefficient. I’d look to hire a smaller firm that will appreciate the nature of your business, and look at the work as something that aligns well with their particular niche of industries they work within. This may come in the form of a team of two people or twenty. Nevertheless, they need to understand your goals, be passionate about what you’re trying to accomplish, and absolutely understand the notion that digital and web is about delivering on an experience where behavior meets emotion, and usability meets design

Good luck!!