I am not cheap, I’m good.
When I first got involved in the web, back in ‘98, things were great. Fewer languages, fewer browsers, fewer off the shelf systems and themes. Everything was bespoke. Life was simple. These days, there are a glut of open source systems, cheap or free themes, templates and web based DIY design tools. Browser and web technology roadmaps and new evolving web standards. Enquiries these days still come through, like they have in the past. But the expectations and approach is now much different. As a designer and developer, the skills required are vast. Project manager, content architect, ux designer, creative designer, usability/accessiblity expert, sales expert, security expert…etc. Yet, there is this notion that development is cheap, or that it “should be” cheap. Unfortunately, wordpress (and other open source systems) have played their part in creating this illusion, that all you need are plugins, and if it works for you, bang.. job done. The problem here, is that this is far from a secure, efficient, properly built system which has all the qualities that lend themselves to an end result which works for you and your customers.