Moakie J.

I had a very focused goal: To hire an expert in Squarespace I could utilize to accelerate the learning of the front end authoring environment so I could build my own website.

I am a management consultant and am proficient enough in design to do it myself. It's the only way to go.

I found a smart gal to provide me 2 hours for a coaching, teaching engagement.

To my regret she helped me get started learning SS so I could build my own website. But there was really no pedagogical approach. In other words I would have benefitted from an overview of how SS organizes its web-based interface, the design conventions of SS. That didn't happen because the designer has no teaching ability and it WAS MY FAULT I DID NOT STRUCTURE THE TWO HOURS MORE EDUCATIONALLY. I didn't give her the guidance. And she went very quickly. My fault again.

She was very technically capable and a good designer but her communication skills were atrocious. She encouraged me to follow up afterwards with questions. Well she went AWOL. I was never able to followup. Very disappointed. Like a lot of hired guns she took the money and ran.

$250 an hour for a graphic designer through a middleman? If they can earn that I am worth $450 an hour. Very expensive. It would help to know how much 99designs earns as the bodypusher middleman. I am guessing $100 an hour? But since I don't know it is difficult to assess if the designer was paid fairly. $150 an hour because the bodypusher gets $100? That's fair to the designer. $30 an hour to 99designes and $220 to the designer? I would never pay a graphic designer $220 an hour directly absent the middleman.

You will have to trust me that I am a paying customer to 99designs for an SS website that is live but which I prefer to go unnamed for obvious reasons. People need to feel free to tell the truth without fear of retaliation.

I hired the designer in early August. Paid 99designs $500. Definitely too much for what I got.