More and more, I’m encountering clients who have themes professionally made by graphic designers.  The designs are often lovely and exactly what the client wanted… but the client hits a roadblock when it comes to implementing the design.  Even a traditional web designer will struggle to adapt the design to fit WordPress’ coding, especially if they are not also WordPress developers.  So the client must then  find a WordPress developer who will ‘convert’ the design as-is.  A North American developer will likely be quite expensive, so many opt to find an off-shore developer through a freelance service.  Fair enough: but often the differences in culture, language, timezones and understanding of business requirements make for a frustrating experience that ends in a not-great product.

My suggestion?  Select a theme you like based on the layout, navigation and information architecture. Then, ask a designer (here, there or anywhere) to create the elements required to customize the look. The designer can then replace the fonts, change colours, make new backgrounds, create custom logos and graphic elements – which can all be inserted into the existing theme with often just a little customization.  You may still need someone like me to help implement the changes, but your costs will be WAY less than if you were to visualize a design from scratch and then ask a WordPress developer to ‘make it’.  Could save you hundreds, maybe thousands, of dollars…  and a lot of aggravation.