Geek Build 2012 is moving along nicely, and we now have an initial design concept ready for public comments and suggestions for revisions. We chose to use TheClearwaterBeachLife.com for our initial design, which will be finalized in Adobe Photoshop .psd format. Once this is complete we will hire a developer to turn the design into code, and that code will be used to create our custom child theme for the Genesis framework.

We submitted our job on elance.com and ended up receiving twenty bids between $110 and $1500. We narrowed the field down to seven designers by eliminating designers whose bids were too high, had fewer than twenty jobs completed on elance, had average ratings under 4.7 out of 5 stars, had portfolios we were not impressed with, or had too few website designs in their portfolios. We ended up choosing a designer in Sri Lanka who had an excellent design portfolio, was very responsive and came in at $250.

The initial design that came back didn’t work for us and we have been through two rounds of revisions. The two designs below are the initial concept and the latest revision – click for full size:

TheClearwaterBeachLife.com First Draft

 

TheClearwaterBeachLife Revision 2

When commenting keep in mind that images, colors and fonts will be customizeable and will change for each Geek Build participant. What will not change is the location and size of elements. This design is for my Clearwater, FL site, and I already know the header image won’t work for me. Also, I requested the images behind the Markets / Home Worth / We’re Different row be removed but the designer missed it. We will probably make those text widgets so we have the flexibility to put whatever we want in there.

The area behind the search box will allow for several different images to rotate, and the search box itself will have a background image that can change. Additionally, all rows between the search box and the footer will be optional, so each participant can include whichever ones they want, or start with none and add elements as time and dollars allow. Building these attributes into our WordPress theme will be expensive, but will offer great flexibility and ensure that each participant’s website looks completely different from the others.

What are your thoughts on the current design? What would you change?

Note from the Editor: Not sure what Geek Build 2012 is? It’s building a few real estate websites from scratch publicly with the help of the Geek Estate Community and overseen by an experienced steering committeeRead more about Geek Build 2012 here, or view all posts related to Geek Build 2012 here.

**Geek Build logo designed by Dominic Morrocco at M Squared Real Estate.