Developers OR Designers - Developers using premium templates in a commercial environment? - Developers

Hey. [I]So most of the time people end up being much better at either developing, or designing.[/I] The company I worked at before the one I'm at now was primarily a design company, until I came along with the developer skills that they needed to start getting web projects through. I never designed, however. Designs were always supplied to be in PSD format by the designers (who weren't specifically web designers!) and then it was just a PSD->HTML (or PSD->PHP/HTML depending on functionality) job. Time has moved on, however, and I don't have any web designers backing me anymore. Which is why it is making more and more sense to purchase HTML or Wordpress templates to adapt to my clients needs. This works well for me because it saves me time, and the client money, and the end result is so much better! Yes sure there are other websites out there somewhere using the same template, but the chances are that 99.9% percent of people visiting the website would have <b>never</b> seen that design before. I also wrote an article a while back where I began to discuss the differences between designers or developers, [url]http://atomiku.com/2012/02/from-developer-to-designer/[/url] - If you have anything to add to it then I would like to hear. [B]Too long, didn't read?:[/B] What are your thoughts on using premium Wordpress or HTML templates as a starting point for web projects for either you, or your clients? [IMG]http://atomiku.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/web-designers-vs-developers-658x1024.png[/IMG]

I never brought my own keyboard to work.

[QUOTE=fritzel;38945072]I never brought my own keyboard to work.[/QUOTE] I had a fantastic time playing the invaders of the big boner variety.

If you buy themes then you are basically reselling someone else's work. Clients pay you for your work, not someone else's.

[QUOTE=TerabyteS_;38947285]If you buy themes then you are basically reselling someone else's work. Clients pay you for your work, not someone else's.[/QUOTE] What about clients with a [very] tight budget?

No excuse, webdev heathen; repent.

[QUOTE=fritzel;38945072]I never brought my own keyboard to work.[/QUOTE] If you had a decent keyboard you would.

[QUOTE=TerabyteS_;38947285]If you buy themes then you are basically reselling someone else's work. Clients pay you for your work, not someone else's.[/QUOTE] Who says clients cannot pay us to reskin a WordPress theme? When you have a tight budget and limited time sometimes building a website from scratch is not an option. When you use WordPress, are you not reselling WordPress? Then in theory based on your opinion, you can't use WordPress either? I don't agree that we should simply give clients a WordPress website with a template and say 'There you go', but I think skinning an existing template is a very viable option. Especially when you are a lone programmer and do not have the asset of a full-time designer. We would all love to do everything from scratch. But saying that we always should is idealistic.

[QUOTE=TerabyteS_;38947285]If you buy themes then you are basically reselling someone else's work. Clients pay you for your work, not someone else's.[/QUOTE] This depends on the budget.

There's nothing wrong with building off a purchased theme if you and your client are cool with it. There's a few things that come into play: exclusivity of the design, license terms, etc. Obviously any remotely serious client will want to project their own identity across the website, so you can scratch those off your list. I really dislike those silly a vs b infographics, too.

That infographic is pretty amazing. I still need to find a Helvetica shirt.

i find that i would probably buy that helvetica shirt but be carrying a keyboard and coffee where's the in between?

[QUOTE=The First 11'er;39115796]i find that i would probably buy that helvetica shirt but be carrying a keyboard and coffee where's the in between?[/QUOTE] You mean the designer that says he's a programmer but only knows HTML and CSS? [QUOTE=tinos;39107942]That infographic is pretty amazing. I still need to find a Helvetica shirt.[/QUOTE] What about Comic Sans? EDIT: Speaking of Comic Sans. Would be pretty fun to have a shirt with text written with Comic Sans that just says "U mad?"

exactly (for now)

As I mentioned in another recent thread, I have no problem with using pre-made themes/templates - it all depends on the budget, and I'm especially prone to suggesting something I've not made if I feel that more of said budget should be spent on graphics. I mean, a decent logo can cost you hundreds of dollars, and for many clients I feel that spending that much more time on getting a nice logo can really help more than starting a site from scratch (which probably look like anything amazingly special on a sub-$1000 project anyway). I'd say it's up to the client at the end of the day, but I'm simply here to earn my pay and have a mutually beneficial end result, so I certainly don't rule out the use of commercial themes at a starting point.

[QUOTE=fritzel;38945072]I never brought my own keyboard to work.[/QUOTE] I do. I also bring my own mouse. [editline]7th January 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=P1raten;39118458]What about Comic Sans? EDIT: Speaking of Comic Sans. Would be pretty fun to have a shirt with text written with Comic Sans that just says "U mad?"[/QUOTE] [img]http://www.explosm.net/db/files/Comics/Dave/comicsans2.png[/img]

[QUOTE=Proffrink;39129429]As I mentioned in another recent thread, I have no problem with using pre-made themes/templates - it all depends on the budget, and I'm especially prone to suggesting something I've not made if I feel that more of said budget should be spent on graphics. [/QUOTE] As long as the template fits and works that is. It also has to be customized and adapted. Some just slap it on and think it's done. That's the problem.