Help Build the New Project AFTER, Web designers apply within! Options

[Master of AFTER]

As many of you are already well aware, I'm currently in the process of rebuilding Project AFTER from the ground up. At some point in 2009, the website will re-launch not only with new content, but also a completely new layout, new visual themes, and brand new features. That's the plan, anyway. Progress on getting this project together has been agonizingly slow during the past couple of months, due to various factors including but not limited to my own inability to organize my ideas and make some concrete decisions regarding how the site should look and how it should function.

See, this is sort of the last big hurrah in terms of the design aspects of the site. I don't have a timeline in mind concerning how long I'm going to continue updating the site, but I do know for certain that this upcoming redesign is the last time I ever want to make any significant changes to the core layout of the site itself. Knowing that, I've placed a lot of pressure on myself to make sure I get everything just right this time. However, that inevitably leads me back to the fact that I lack skill in a few key areas as both a web designer and graphic artist.

I originally intended to handle the bulk of the work for this redesign myself, but I've decided I'd rather not sacrifice quality for the sake of convenience. Therefore, I've decided that I'll be outsourcing the work on the new layout to people who are more capable in the fields related to that job than myself. This should come as good news for any fans of PA who happen to be skilled web programmers and/or digital artists. This is your golden opportunity to expand your portfolio while helping to make a kickass site even better, all while making some money in the process (more on that later).

Before anyone gets too excited over the prospect of helping to redesign PA (yeah right), I should make it clear that I'm not interested in making this some weekend community project where everybody chips in a little. I'm specifically looking for either one person or a small group of individuals who have experience in this sort of thing, and can prove to me that they're capable of producing professional quality work. Obviously I'm aware that I'll still most likely be dealing with amateurs since I don't have the resources to hire an actual professional web designer (unless they're willing to work much cheaper than usual). I've seen a lot of amateurs whose work rivals that of the pros in a variety of different fields, though, and those are the kind of people I'm interested in hiring for this job.

Since this post is already getting longer than I intended it to be, let's cut to some bullet points for exactly what I'm looking for in terms of job expectancy and qualifications:

• The job itself will be to work closely with me to design the site's new layout, its new visual theme, or both, depending on what you're applying for. If you're a skilled artist who has no experience coding the technical aspects of websites, or vice versa, that will be fine. I don't have my heart set on working with one person with an all-in-one skill set, and I'm willing to hire multiple people to get this job done. The only thing to keep in mind is that if you can't handle every aspect of designing and coding a website and I have to hire someone else in addition, your percentage of the pay will be reduced accordingly.
  
  
• Creative input is not only appreciated, but required. I have a number of ideas of my own, and of course you'll ultimately be expected to create something that I commission, but I'm very open to suggestions as far as ideas regarding how everything should look, how the various elements should fit together, how everything should be coded, etc. Part of your job will be bringing some fresh ideas to the table, so having creativity is a must.
  
  
• In regards to coding, that's the area I know the least about, so I'll need someone who's very knowledgeable when it comes to writing and modifying source code. I'm the most familiar and the most comfortable with HTML, but I am open to alternatives if that isn't your specialty. Just keep in mind that I'm the equivalent of a retarded "special needs" child when it comes to understanding programming languages, so some fancy, complicated layout using XML or LAMP is probably going to be beyond me and will be shot down. Also, no Flash. I hate Flash.
  
  
• Before I agree to make any plans with an applicant, I will need to see some examples of your work. How those examples are presented is something I'm pretty casual about... Any sort of online portfolio is acceptable, whether you've got your own site or a collection of links to other sites you've contributed toward or even a deviantART account. No matter how you show it off, though, I will definitely need to see at least a handful of examples of completed projects you've worked on to get a general idea of the kind of work you're capable of producing.
  
  
• In addition to overhauling the site itself, part of the redesign process will involve designing a matching visual motif for the forums. At this point I'm not planning on including that specific job in the list of things I'll be requiring from potential applicants (I may even hire on someone else to take care of that down the road). However, because part of designing the site's new graphical interface will involve coming up with something that also looks good as a forum skin, having at least a rudimentary knowledge of how to customize forums running on the Invision software is a great bonus.
  
  
• This is an important one: Please, DO NOT contact me about applying for this job unless you're serious about following through with it. Obviously, you're not committed to anything until we've have a chance to communicate and mutually decide that this is something we both want to collaborate on, but once I do get that final go-ahead from you, then you're entering into a written contract to complete the work we decide on beforehand. If you start designing any element of the site and then quit halfway through, take an unreasonably long time to finish (as in several months longer than the timeframe you were expected to finish inside of), or otherwise flake out on me for any reason short of your entire family dying in a plane crash, then not only will you never get paid one red cent, but I will also hunt you down and kill you in cold blood.

Regarding payment, right now I'm looking at putting out around $150-200 for an individual to construct a layout for me. That amount may be increased slightly and divided evenly if I end up having to hire multiple people to complete the project. The amount is negotiable, as well, depending on applicants' level of experience and how complex the final job ends up being. Payment will be made only after the assigned job is finished and all the materials I need have been received, and transactions will take place through PayPal.

If all this sounds like something you'd like to get in on and you meet the above requirements, feel free to either send me a personal message on the forums or e-mail me at webmaster@projectafter.com. Questions and comments are welcomed, too.

As for folks on this forum who would like to help but lack the expertise necessary, you can give me a hand by telling anyone you know who has dabbled in web design or graphic artistry that I'm currently in the market for their services, and be sure to mention that there's some cash to be made if they're up for it. If I can't find anyone for this job then the site never gets overhauled and will most likely not be updated again, so get the word out!


UPDATE 02/01/09: The position has been filled. My thanks to everyone who applied.