With Side Job Track you can quickly and easily manage your side jobs with simple, straightforward project tools. Side Job Track's flexible data entry lets you to decide how to best fit your specific needs. If you have access to a web server, you can even create completely customized estimate and invoice templates.
Side Job Track
*New User signups have been suspended. If you're looking for an invoicing solution, please try Blinksale; for a project management solution, try Basecamp.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Logo Request Guidelines
COMPANY DETAILS
- Name:
- Company:
- E-mail Address:
- Name of Company:
- Web Site Address:
- Mailing Address:
PROJECT SUMMARY
- What text should be included in the main part of the logo?
- What type of product or service do you offer?
- How long have you been in business?
- Do you have a logo or design that you have used previously?
(If yes, please note the type of changes are you seeking)
GUIDELINES
- What type of logo would you like?
- Do you have any colors in mind for your logo?
- Do you have any specific images or icons in mind that you would definitely like to see incorporated into your logo?
- What is your tagline or slogan?
- Where will your new logo be used?
Web Site Design Contract
This AGREEMENT is dated and in effect as of the _____________, ______, between _____________ of ________________, hereafter referred to as "Client" and _____________________, hereafter referred to as "Consultant." This agreement is with respect to the re-design of Company Name's website, hereinafter referred to as the "Work." Whereas, Consultant is a professional web designer of good standing; Whereas, Client wishes Consultant to create certain Work described more fully herein; and Whereas, Consultant wishes to create such Work; Now, therefore, in consideration of the foregoing premises and the mutual covenants hereinafter set forth and other valuable considerations, the parties hereto agree as follows:
CONFIDENTIALITY:
The Client and Consultant may disclose confidential information one to the other to facilitate work under this Agreement. Such information shall be so identified in writing at the time of its transmittal, and shall be safeguarded and not disclosed to third parties by the receiving party. Confidential information shall not include information that:
- is already known to the party to which it is disclosed;
- is or becomes part of the public domain without breach of this Agreement;
- is obtained from third parties, which have no obligations to keep confidential to the parties to this Agreement.
DESCRIPTION OF WORK:
A separate Proposal will describe the Work that is required of Consultant for the Client.
PAYMENT SCHEDULE:
- The full length of this contract is as follows:
- Starting date is ____ day of ______, ______ and estimated completion* date is ____ day of ______, ______ for the total amount of $__________.
- Client shall pay Consultant $__________, as a deposit for project commencement.
- The balance of $__________ is due on completion date, and prior to file relinquishment, or upload and/or assembly of website on Client's web server.
DUE DATES:
Consultant agrees to deliver samples of design on dates as agreed upon in the Proposal. Consultant will make every effort to meet agreed upon due dates. The Client should be aware that failure to submit required information or materials may cause subsequent delays in the production. Client delays could result in significant delays in delivery of finished work.
FEES & ADDITIONAL SERVICES:
Changes in client input or direction or excessive changes will be charged at ___________ for ____________. Any work the Client wishes Consultant to create, which is not specified in the DESCRIPTION section of this agreement, or in the attached Proposal will be considered an additional service. Such Work shall require a separate Agreement and payment separate from and above that specified in this Agreement.
EXPENSES:
Client agrees to reimburse Consultant for any of the following expenses necessary in completion of the Work: (e.g. Fonts, Messengers, Proofs, Props, Research, Shipping, Software, Stock photography, Travel, Telephone Consultation)
ASSIGNMENT OF WORK:
Consultant reserves the right to assign other designers or subcontractors to the Work to ensure quality and on-time completion.
RESERVATION OF RIGHTS:
All rights not expressly granted hereunder are reserved to Consultant, including but not limited to all rights in sketches, comps, or other preliminary materials.
PERMISSIONS AND RELEASES:
The Client agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Consultant against any and all claims, costs, and expenses, including attorney's fees, due to materials included in the Work at the request of the Client for which no copyright permission or previous release was requested or uses which exceed the uses allowed pursuant to a permission or release.
PUBLICATION:
The Client may publish or disclose information regarding the Work and shall acknowledge the support of Consultant in all such publications. The Client will not use the name of Consultant, in any advertising or publicity without the prior written approval from the Consultant. The Consultant will not use the name of Client, in any advertising or publicity without the prior written approval from the Client.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE:
Copyright is in Consultant's name. Upon completion of Work, the copyright will only be released to the Client upon the Consultant's signing of the Release of Copyright.
TERMINATION:
Either party may terminate this Agreement by giving 30 days written notice to the other of such termination. In the event that Work is postponed or terminated at the request of the Client, Consultant shall have the right to bill pro rata for work completed through the date of that request, while reserving all rights under this Agreement. If additional payment is due, this shall be payable within thirty days of the Client's written notification to stop work. In the event of termination, the Client shall also pay any expenses incurred by Consultant and the Consultant shall own all rights to the Work. The Client shall assume responsibility for all collection of legal fees necessitated by default in payment.
The Client and Consultant are independent parties and nothing in this Agreement shall constitute either party as the employer, principal or partner of or joint venture with the other party. Neither the Client nor Consultant has any authority to assume or create any obligation or liability, either express or implied, on behalf of the other.
This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of ___________ applicable therein.
The undersigned agrees to the terms of this agreement on behalf of his or her organization or business.
On behalf of the Client: _________________________________
Date _____________
On behalf of Consultant: __________________________________
Date ____________
This is a contract by: Zenful Creations all credit to them.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Biggest Web Design Mistakes
1: Abundance of Text
A wall of text is enough to scare any use away. No one wants to sit there and read paragraph after paragraph.
Some way around this:
Face it people, not everyone has the best eye sight now a day. It is important that your font is scalable for those that don't have 20/20 vision. 60% of the time text is tiny reducing readability for most people over the age of 40.
3: PDF Files
If you have a written document please don't have it open in a PDF file. Having a PDF file open in your browser is very anoying. Layouts are often formated for sheets of paper, which rarely matches the size of the user's browser window, which causes pixelated text and difficulty scrolling.
PDF's should be used for materials that will be printed such as manuals or packets or any information that will be read on paper not on web pages.
4: Not Answering Questions:
User visit sites because there's something they want to know or buy your product. The biggest failure of a website is to fail to provide the information users are looking for. Sometimes the answer is simply not there and you lose the sale because users have to assume that your product or service doesn't meet their needs. Other times the specifics are buried under a layer. Since users don't have time to read everything, such info might as well not be there. Most importantly never leave a user guessing what your prices are, always be clear with that information.
5: Not Coloring Visited Links
Knowing which pages users have already visited frees them from unintentionally revisiting the same pages over.
6: Making things look like Advertisements:
By nature people ignore anything that may look or be an advertisement. Web users have learned to stop paying attention to any ads and only focus on the task at hand. Unfortunately this means users may miss important information located on banners throughout your web page.
Some ways around this:
Pages titles are that most important ways users discover your page. Since most search engines use your titles to find your page you want to use words that are commonly used and used frequently in ones vocabulary. A humble page title is your main tool to attract new visitors from search listings. A good way to titles you web page is by first starting with your company name and then adding a short description of it after. Try not to start out with the word 'The' or 'Welcome' unless you want to be alphabetized under 'T' or 'W'. Try to start with a letter that is closer to the beginning of the alphabet.
A wall of text is enough to scare any use away. No one wants to sit there and read paragraph after paragraph.
Some way around this:
- Bulleted Lists
- Highlighted key ideas
- Simple writing style
- Short paragraphs
- Well spaced
Face it people, not everyone has the best eye sight now a day. It is important that your font is scalable for those that don't have 20/20 vision. 60% of the time text is tiny reducing readability for most people over the age of 40.
3: PDF Files
If you have a written document please don't have it open in a PDF file. Having a PDF file open in your browser is very anoying. Layouts are often formated for sheets of paper, which rarely matches the size of the user's browser window, which causes pixelated text and difficulty scrolling.
PDF's should be used for materials that will be printed such as manuals or packets or any information that will be read on paper not on web pages.
4: Not Answering Questions:
User visit sites because there's something they want to know or buy your product. The biggest failure of a website is to fail to provide the information users are looking for. Sometimes the answer is simply not there and you lose the sale because users have to assume that your product or service doesn't meet their needs. Other times the specifics are buried under a layer. Since users don't have time to read everything, such info might as well not be there. Most importantly never leave a user guessing what your prices are, always be clear with that information.
5: Not Coloring Visited Links
Knowing which pages users have already visited frees them from unintentionally revisiting the same pages over.
6: Making things look like Advertisements:
By nature people ignore anything that may look or be an advertisement. Web users have learned to stop paying attention to any ads and only focus on the task at hand. Unfortunately this means users may miss important information located on banners throughout your web page.
Some ways around this:
- Don't have any pop-ups
- Don't have flashy banners that look like ads
- Avoid placing banners in area that look like an ad would be placed
Pages titles are that most important ways users discover your page. Since most search engines use your titles to find your page you want to use words that are commonly used and used frequently in ones vocabulary. A humble page title is your main tool to attract new visitors from search listings. A good way to titles you web page is by first starting with your company name and then adding a short description of it after. Try not to start out with the word 'The' or 'Welcome' unless you want to be alphabetized under 'T' or 'W'. Try to start with a letter that is closer to the beginning of the alphabet.
Are you a sell out?
A very good point made in an article on graphicPUSH
This is a cheap and low blow way to try to get more clients. You need to stay honest to the Design community and keep consistent with prices. As stated above, lowing your prices is not helping the image of are profession. So please don't do it. One problem is that designers do not stick together enough, so there is no one to enforce this. This example was given:
If you are one of these people please reconsider what are you are doing.
The client comes to you as the expert in design, just as they go to a lawyer for knowledge in copyright laws, or an accountant for expertise in business taxes. You are a service professional, so bill like one. Resorting to drastic price cuts, exorbitant promises and flashy references are the tactics of a desperate salesperson. And if that’s the position you’ve been put in as a designer, perhaps its time to reevaluate your career.
An experienced designer or design group that resorts to cutthroat schemes is as bad as a designer out of school that doesn’t know what to charge for freelance work. It cheapens the industry as a whole. It tarnishes the professional image, and no other service industry allows for such nonsense
This is a cheap and low blow way to try to get more clients. You need to stay honest to the Design community and keep consistent with prices. As stated above, lowing your prices is not helping the image of are profession. So please don't do it. One problem is that designers do not stick together enough, so there is no one to enforce this. This example was given:
Somebody signs up to a forum offering low paid work. 80% of people will tell them where to go, 10% of people will reply offering help, and 10% of people will pm the person offering, so nobody else knows they're a sell out! -toon
If you are one of these people please reconsider what are you are doing.
Get to know me better.
The creation of this blog, of course entitles a post regarding me and who i am. In this post is a little bit about who I am.
My name is Michal Kaczmarek, my friends simply call me Mike. I am eighteen years old and I am currently attending Maine South High School. My main focus in school is to get a strong education in Web Design, Graphic Design, and the AutoDesk Suit. In collage i will be working towards a masters in Industrial Design and i minor in Graphic/Web Design. I am hoping to be accepted into California College of the Arts. I have lived in Chicago my entire life but have moved around various locations in the Metropolitan area. Today I am located in a small suburb of Chicago.
Hobbies and Interests
Ever since I was little I've always been interested in two subjects, computers and digital art. I always thought that if I could find a career that involved those two things that I would be happy with my job. When i turned fourteen i got my hands on my first copy of Photoshop and began to learn how to design; reading tutorials day and night. Shortly after learning the basics of design I moved my interest to learning how to design websites, and code them.
Then in high school one of the electives that I was able to take was a web design class. Which turned out to be a big disappointment since I had more knowledge on the subject then my instructor. After that, I began to take other computer related classes such as Computer Aided Drawing and Graphic Arts, which also tough 3D modeling, another thing I wanted to learn. Which all the classes were nice because to me they were blow off classes, since I did all to most of my learning at home by my self.
Since I became interested in Web Design I started my own business as a freelance web designer. So here I am now with my own business; Downfall Studios.
Well, thank you for reading my bio,
Enjoy your stay, and feel free to contact me anytime with questions or concerns.
If you are thinking about getting a website for yourself or your business but you don't know where to start. We can help you take that first step by offering a free consultation.
My name is Michal Kaczmarek, my friends simply call me Mike. I am eighteen years old and I am currently attending Maine South High School. My main focus in school is to get a strong education in Web Design, Graphic Design, and the AutoDesk Suit. In collage i will be working towards a masters in Industrial Design and i minor in Graphic/Web Design. I am hoping to be accepted into California College of the Arts. I have lived in Chicago my entire life but have moved around various locations in the Metropolitan area. Today I am located in a small suburb of Chicago.
Hobbies and Interests
Ever since I was little I've always been interested in two subjects, computers and digital art. I always thought that if I could find a career that involved those two things that I would be happy with my job. When i turned fourteen i got my hands on my first copy of Photoshop and began to learn how to design; reading tutorials day and night. Shortly after learning the basics of design I moved my interest to learning how to design websites, and code them.
Then in high school one of the electives that I was able to take was a web design class. Which turned out to be a big disappointment since I had more knowledge on the subject then my instructor. After that, I began to take other computer related classes such as Computer Aided Drawing and Graphic Arts, which also tough 3D modeling, another thing I wanted to learn. Which all the classes were nice because to me they were blow off classes, since I did all to most of my learning at home by my self.
Since I became interested in Web Design I started my own business as a freelance web designer. So here I am now with my own business; Downfall Studios.
Well, thank you for reading my bio,
Enjoy your stay, and feel free to contact me anytime with questions or concerns.
If you are thinking about getting a website for yourself or your business but you don't know where to start. We can help you take that first step by offering a free consultation.
Prices; Downfall Studios is here to help.
A major factor that businesses consider before having a website created for their company is pricing. Everybody wants to know what it is going to cost. So how do you choose which one to go with? Most people would automatically pick the cheapest price, but it's the cheapest for a reason. It is also worth keeping in mind, that choosing an expensive web designer does not guarantee the best quality of work. Web designers charge anywhere from $100-$10,000 so choose wisely. DownFall Studios makes it a necessity to keep pricing simple while keeping quality to the highest standard.
How do you figure out which web designer is best for your business?
- Determine your price range
- Create a plan for your website
- Look at previous work done by the web designer
- Ask previous clients about the web designer
- Does the web designer's work look professional
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