Ask HN: you want HOW much for the design?

I got a local company to do PSD mockups instead going all the way to HTML. They redid my logo and gave a facelift to two of my pages for not a whole lot more than what you're quoting for one page.

With the PSD I sent it off to a chop shop ($150) and did my own coding to turn it into a Wordpress theme for the main page, and then applied the application template to the rest of my pages.

Most of the work was in the layout, so once one page was done, all the rest were pretty easy.

If you're willing to do a lot of the grunt work yourself, pick a couple of pages from your app and find someone to give them an update. If they're not doing HTML and the copy and menus are already set, it shouldn't take them a whole lot of time.

You can chew an arbitrarily large amount of time at a large corporation if your decision making process requires more than one signature. A high end bespoke firm builds this into all estimates.

*That's great Lime, but does it really connect with the marketing message? Maybe if you added a bit more "pop" to it. Also, wouldn't it be better if it were teal?"

I'm lucky that all of my clients have been startups or individuals. Looks like the OP needs to go for designers more accustomed to this, rather than high-end firms.

(My last salaried job: "Why is there so much space left empty? We can fit a ton more information above the fold if we fill it up." ...never, ever, working at a place like that again.)

I think it's important to define exactly what you want from the designer. If you're looking for a graphic artist to come in and provide a slick look and overall template for the site, my guess is you could get by with just a few templates to build out from. 20 to 40 hours per page for that kind of work strikes me as excessive.

However, if you're looking for a user interface designer who will put some real consideration into what goes inside the template shell ("epicenter design" as coined by 37signals), then assume more hours. Ideally this person would want to be there to adjust or tweak elements or flows as you analyze your traffic and success rates.

I have a client who usually knows exactly what he wants from a content/layout/interface standpoint, so my work becomes more graphic production. This generally takes under 3 hours per page. But, we've built up a visual vocabulary for the site over a number of months.

Other projects that are starting from scratch may take your aforementioned 20-40 hours up front to arrive at an agreeable overall design direction. But it usually shouldn't take that much time per page.

What might also work is this, from NYU when I was looking for a designer:

Thank you for contacting the Computer Science Department of the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University. In order to have the position posted, please follow the instructions below…

1. Visit the Wasserman Center website at: www.nyu.edu/careerdevelopment/employers/emp_list_your.php http://www.nyu.edu/careerdevelopment/employers/emp_list_your...; and post the job at the Wasserman Center for Career Development. Be sure to include the following: Job Description, Skills Sought, Minimum GPA (if required), Major (if required), Hours, Pay/Compensation & Duration of Position

This free, quick, and easy process will generate a reference number.

2. Once you have your reference number, e-mail me at kumar@cs.nyu.edu and be sure to include the following: a. The Wasserman Center reference number for the position b. The Job Description or information about the job c. Contact information for the position

3. After you e-mail me the above information , the Computer Science Department will send an e-mail to all CS Majors & Minors.

--- That is the standard process for NYU. I would suggest checking out the colleges first - most often there are great designers who are still in school and need references.