I had a client come to me at the last minute concerning issues with another designer she contracted to design/code a website. I will start by outlining her issues with the designer and then sum up some of the key rules to remember when sourcing a designer.

Initially I was contacted at Honey Graphics to quote on a web design and coding for an online t-shirt store, needed a complete design, working shopping cart, contact form, payment system etc. We quoted 500-600 GBP +VAT.

After quoting one of the designers the t-shirt printing company uses for t-shirt designs told the client he was also an experienced web designer/coder and quoted 1500 GBP, a significant sum more than we quoted but they chose to go with him as he already does work for them and is an important designer to keep happy.

The designer was asked to produce a website by a set date (June 20th 2010 to be exact) with all features working, something that most design studio’s would not have an issue with as he had a month to do so. The website was needed by this set date as a high figure had been invested in advertising at a festival and website was the only point of contact provided on the adverts.

On June 14th I was contacted again by the client to be informed that the design wasn’t fully working, no cart system was in place, and Lloyds Banking had rejected the site for taking payment as it was lacking in terms and conditions. The Designer attempted to fix the terms and conditions with two sentences, “These measurements are a guideline only. We operate a full 30 days returns policy, even if you order the wrong size we will swap it for you free of charge.” which of course is not a full terms and conditions. I offered a bit of assistance by pointing the client to some template terms and conditions and outlined what aspects they may need to consider for their business.

On inspection I found not only was the code extremely buggy and the site lacking in essential features but this professional designer was using a package to pull the design apart and code it, resulting in extremely poor quality.

By the 16th the Client had lost faith in the designer completely and enquired whether we could take over the job and finish it by the Sunday (20th), I provided another quote based on having to redesign and code as the current design was not workable, and the quote reflected the need to work long hours over the weekend to get it done but came out at 650 GBP +VAT.

Due to legal issues they continued with the designer they had, if they were to cancel his contract before the due date in court they of course could be sued for nearly the whole design fee at £1500. Yet if they continue with him and he does not finish by the agreed date in theory they could sue him for his costs, loss of money on advertising placed based on the due date and loss of earning for the key period of sales in the year. But the contract for the deadline was only verbal so in court it may or may not be accepted. And if they cancelled they also may lose a t-shirt designer that they wish to keep hold of.

The end result is today the website is still unfinished and the deadline is passed, a potential big lose of money and a big headache for the client, now I will sum up some of the essential lessons shown in this example.

  • Make sure when you agree a job that you have written confirmation of deadlines, features included, costs and what if statements to clarify is something does go wrong what should be done. What if statements will usually be like “What happens if the deadline is missed?”, “What happens if the requirements change?” etc.
  • When taking on a designer, even if they are a friend, ask if they will let you see some previous work they have done. The client above didn’t do this and found out there was a lack of experience and knowledge when it was too late.
  • Always keep note of communications made between the client and the designer, often when there is a disagreement it’s easily resolved by reviewing previous conversations, this includes making notes after phone calls and recording the date and time.