What about blogskins or that sort of service - you can call on the experience of thousands of designers all for free (as long as you attribute)

My own site is hell right now becuase I just lost my image hosting and haven't had time to move them, but I do blog design. I've done http://deepdirt.blogspot.com, http://dydimustk.com/dwight/johnnymail/, and http://macobeta.com/, to name a few. But I've had trouble connecting with people that want a design since I'm not doing this full time. Someday, I'll get around to throwing up some free templates on the site so I can get the word out. But until then, a lot of those 4.2 million bloggers don't know they want a design, or where to look. Anyway, peace out.

Hiring Cre8d was the best thing I did for my blog.
A designer is worth their weight in gold when you decide you are going to be at this blogging for awhile. It is a gift to yourself and your readers.

My hits went up because the blog was simplified and technically corrected.
Looks great too.
It's not unlike arranging a space the way you need and want it.
A good designer like Cre8d has a talent for giving the customer what they need.
I can concentrate on posting and stop driving myself nuts with the old technical problems. Blog on!

Dude! I'm right here! I out myself as one of the small communion of blog designers. I'm available for hire as we speak. Check out a few sites I've done - oh man - you asked for advertising - sorry...

mine - of course
the scriptorium
the kedge
matt mcdonald
the vine
vineyard central blog
liz creech
pete matthews
trudi matthews
midwest greenhouse
the angler's quarter
my "emergency" blog

Don't forget Kevin at Sakamuyo. He designed my blog and really did a great job. I don't even know how to make this link live--but it's The Sakamuyo Network at http://tsndesign.com/

I'll do it too, but I'm usually pretty busy. There's also http://http://www.maystardesigns.com. She (they) do pretty good work, but it is HIGHLY stylized.

i started with a free blogger template and am still using it! i quite like it....

I've never really hawked my blog-designing wares before, but I'm available for hire. I've been considering going solo as a freelancer for sometime. I'm not a novice -- web design is my day job (work for an IT consulting firm) -- but I will work for peanuts. Would love to help anybody who'd like an original, personalized blog. ChadCanipe.com

Look around at most web design sites and you will notice that they aren't all that interested in text. Web designers tend to focus on images and so there is probably little crossover for them in the verbal world of blogs.

Darren, I think you bring up a scalability issue that's inherent in blogging. What can the typical blogger afford to spend on her site design $100-$200 (US)?

Here in California you'd have to churn out eight to ten blog designs a week just to scrape out a living.

And if anybody knows different (sic) lemme know and maybe we can form a partnership ;-)

I do it for free. I consider it a ministry. All that I require in return is a link. Why should I make people pay when I enjoy it so much and because I am still learning. Custom Logo's are 25 to 50 dollars. But the coding itself is free, as well as a CSS template.

Thanks for the shout, Missy! Yeah. I do blog design, too. I don't make my whole living off it, though, so I have a bit more freedom in my pricing. Depending on where I'm at and who you are, a blog design can be anywhere from hundreds of dollars to free. (Though, typically, the only "free" stuff I do any more is people I know and offer this to.)

Part of the trouble /is/ the value/cost. A full blog design, including graphics work, is worth at least a few hundred dollars. But, most people I know who are looking to start a blog are already gasping at 10 bucks a month for hosting and 15 for domain registration. Especially within Christian circles. For some reason, Christians are cheapskates.

Outside the christian blogsphere, there are quite a few successful, full-time designers who focus on the blog market. That's because the secular blog market expects to pay for good design and is willing to pay $500 for a blog template and $200 for a single masthead graphic.

If anyone here /is/ looking for a professional designer for their blog, I highly recommend Stacy at Sekimori. She does mostly political blogs, including quite a few of the A-listers and big-name blogs.

When I started my website (which was initially solely a blog, but has evolved into a collection of articles) I knew I simply didn't have the ability to create a pleasing design. So I spent a couple of hundred dollars for MS FrontPage 2002, and, whatever your thoughts on that particular software or its parent company, its templates have served me very well. My present site is based on suggestions from Rachel at Cre8d Design, and I would recommend her services strongly.

I've started out with a free blogspot, but have adjusted the template info a bit using both the "Main Template" view and a bit of Dreamweaver (which I use to manage another site). I've designed before in pure html (before I had access to any web authoring software) and using FrontPage, so am just checking what works and what doesn't with a blog site myself. I have a number of sites up in various places - mostly free - and some just don't register certain code or upload it. So have had to be creative. I guess my thinking is "why pay for something I can do myself" - but if the end result really sucks I may just go find someone to do it for me. I enjoy the challenge of figuring it all out myself though - being blonde any learning experience is a good one!:)

I created e-church from scratch using Dreamweaver and Access. I have used MT but not Blogger. I also do freelance design at Turtle + Interactive. I would be enjoy working on a blog--especially if I admire your project. (I have been known to work for free and have done my share of design pro bono.)

That said, there are good reasons why there are few 'blog designers'.

I have worked with small businesses and churches now for a decade. To be honest, they are the worse kind of clients when compared to working with knowledgable, paying and responsible corporate clients. Christian leaders who want design work tend to be very demanding, time consuming and cheap (not all, but most).

I agree with Phil regarding pay. I just think that working with bloggers could be a nightmare (if you think I'm being arrogant, just work for a few nightmare clients and be Christian in the process).

I admire Rachel's designs--she is a very good blog designer. I also think that Alan is good.

Hey Darren,

I work for a tiny company that does some blog design. Some of my personal work include http://www.wendycooper.net, http://www.darrenfriesen.com, http://www.carriechurch.com, http://www.gloriareimer.com, and our graphic artist and I created http://www.hockeypundits.com which has been mentioned in several sports and pop culture magazines and media.

PrairieFusion has a growing clientelle of blog users using our own Cold Fusion software (which oddly enough I don't use) and Blogger using our designs.

There are a couple of us out there.

I've done my own blog, My photoblog, a community blog where I blog with some friends and am in the process of doing some non-blog web design for some other people. I will be designing another friend's blog as soon as he gets MT set up.

First of all, check out www.blogskins.com There are thousands of templates there. Second of all, you probably could have gotten a blog design muuuch much cheaper. Many designers out there are willing to do a single template for design for as little as $20, without installation, etc, including myself. Take a look at my website. Another good place to find designers is www.blogplates.net, there are lots of good designers there, who will make you a good design for a low cost.

Unusual ideas can make enemies.

People are exponentially funnier when they're in rant mode.

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