Designer
for a Day
One
“I am Dave, founder of Made by Dave and your Designer for a Day. Get me for £900 and get your website looking great.”
How can I help?
You might be short on time or prefer a 1-2-1 approach. You might want a professional review of a new website or a coding expert for an old website.
You need to rely on someone to get the job done and to take your site from good to great. (That’s me!) As your Designer for a Day, you and your website will get my undivided attention and dedicated expertise.
Why me?
I founded Made by Dave over a decade ago, growing the business from side hustle to fully-fledged creative and design agency. The mission, however, has remained unchanged: build sites to build brands.
I’ve worked with brands from a whole range of markets – including art and design, finance, entertainment and media, and travel and lifestyle – and have significant experience in the church and nonprofit sectors.
The success of Made by Dave has been a frustration for potential clients (sorry!), as my calendar has seen me booked up months in advance for the last few years.
As such, I thought I’d open up my diary to offer a few Designer for a Day slots each month, allowing me to dedicate a pre-selected day to working for you, with a clear and concise project timeline.
Have a look at work I’ve done for previous clients here, and read about why and how I became a web designer here.
Let’s call it a ‘Day’
I’ll be your Designer for a Day – working solely for you and your site on a chosen date – but the benefits will extend beyond that. You’ll get a pre-Day consultation call and post-Day revisions, plus a demo video to help you maintain your site.
You won’t just get eight hours of my time. You’ll be benefitting from my 10,000+ hours of Squarespace experience, and 15+ years of industry skills and knowledge. As someone who quit the 9-5 to pursue a web design passion, you’ll also get a creative who understands the small business / big ambition mindset.
Finally, you’ll get the expertise to make sure your website helps you grow your business.
So we can call it a ‘Day’, but you’ll be enjoying the benefits far beyond.
With a Designer for a Day you can...
Improve an existing website
I can help get your current site looking great and working well.
With web design, it’s the little things that count. Whether its tweaking font spacing, connecting a domain, adding forms or introducing custom fonts: small tweaks can have a big impact on a website’s UX, but they can also enable business growth.
With SEO knowledge and access to the latest industry intel, I’ll take a high-level approach to reviewing your website and spotting quick wins that will help improve your website’s Google rankings and SEO performance. All in a fraction of the time it might take you.
Start a new website
If you’ve got an idea for a new website, I'll do all the groundwork and initial build to make it happen.
I’ll show you how to manage your site using Squarespace, allowing you to operate and enhance it following your Designer for a Day booking. Unlike some web designers that work with complex platforms, I build directly onto Squarespace. Designed to be visual, intuitive and accessible, the platform is easy – and enjoyable! – to use for both pros and those new to web design.
Finish and launch a DIY website
I can offer an expert set of eyes to review your website before it goes live and make those all-important edits and tweaks that’ll take it from good to great.
You might be almost ready to launch your new website but something’s holding you back. Perhaps it doesn’t look quite right and you’re not sure why, it’s slow to navigate and you can’t find a solution, or the colours and layout don’t quite match your brand voice.
Expand your website or your skills
I can enhance your website’s look, feel and functionality, using all of Squarespace’s fantastic features – and equip you with the skills to do the same.
You can’t grow your business without growing your online presence. That could mean updating your site’s visuals, adding new pages, or trialling new features. Luckily, Squarespace has all this covered. The platform also continues to offer new features and technical updates, anticipating the needs of businesses like yours.
Working solely with Squarespace I can help you make the most of these changes, and in addition to expanding your site I can also offering training and support to expand your web design skills.
Who needs a Designer for a Day?
If you’re not 100% happy with your website – or you don’t even have a website live – then I’m here to help.
Designer for a Day differs from Made by Dave’s other services and could be a good fit if you’re short on time and low on budget but still want all of the expertise of a pro design agency.
One or more of the following might apply – and if you’re still unsure whether you want to work with me and the Made by Dave team or me as your Designer for Day, get in touch.
You want to take your website from good to great, and you need your site visitors to experience those subtle features which elevate the user experience.
You don’t have the coding skills to customise. You have a basic grasp of Squarespace but want to unlock professional tools to enhance your site.
You only have a basic grasp of Squarespace and want to learn more about how the platform can improve your site – and see the results within the day.
You have a website to-do list that you want to hand over to an expert and get completed in a day. Putting things off until 'tomorrow' is all too common!
You’re happy with parts of your site but there are some pages that you need help with.
You have a site but it doesn’t feel consistent and doesn’t reflect your brand.
You want to start selling! You’d like to add e-commerce functions to your site – for your visitors to shop and for you to manage orders.
You’re not sure of the best way to lay out your site and use imagery.
You want to launch a basic website.
Your site is slow to load or has some glitches and you just can’t work out why.
You want to add a blog, gallery, case studies, library (you name it!) to your site – and you want it done in a day.
How does Designer for Day work
As your Designer for a Day, you’ll get the same comprehensive approach as Made by Dave’s longer-term project clients – but scaled down, speeded up, streamlined and 1-2-1. I’ll provide consultancy, project management, development and training, condensed into a single day, plus pre- and post-Day support and check-ins.
Book me, and this is what your Day could look like:
Before the Day
Consultancy: not sure whether Designer for a Day is for you? Book a complimentary 30-minute Zoom consultation call to discuss whether the service is right for you.
A date in the diary: want to proceed? We’ll get a date fixed in the diary which works for us both.
Communication: got some additional questions? Drop me an email – or emails – in the run-up and I’ll make sure all your queries are sorted in time for me to hit the ground running on the Day.
Project management: I’ll send a summary of what you want to achieve and outline the different tasks I’ll complete within the day.
Pre-Day call: we’ll schedule a one-hour call the day before the Day, to clarify final details of the project and how the Day will work. I’ll also share my to-do list so that nothing is missed.
After the Day
Training: within 24 hours of the Day you’ll get a video explaining anything you need to know about managing and operating your site, plus demos of anything technical.
Revision session: I’ll provide two hours of edits – if required – in a revision session within a week of your Day.
On the Day
7.5 hours of my time (yes, even the most dedicated web designers have to break for lunch!). Based in the UK, I follow a standard 9am-5pm working day, during which I’ll be focused solely on your website project.
You’ll be able to contact me throughout the day and while some web designers offer regular check-ins, I find that the most effective use of time is for me to crack on with the job and to contact you during the 9-5 if any issues arise.
End of Day call: a quick chat to close off the Day (and celebrate your newly launched pages/revamped branding/spruced up site).
FAQs
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Definitely! I dedicate three days every month as a Designer for a Day and, with most people wanting web design projects done ‘yesterday’, pre-booking is essential. If you’re not sure of the look of your website but don’t hate it (yet), or your users are experiencing glitches but the site hasn’t crashed (...yet), I’d recommend thinking ahead and getting in touch.
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Designer for a Day is suitable for small tasks like page additions, introducing e-commerce functions, pre-launch revision and editing, and the launch of basic websites. If you’re not sure if your project will take a Day with me or will require longer with Made by Dave, get in touch for a complimentary 30-minute consultation call at no cost and with no commitments.
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You’ll get 7.5 hours of my time on the Day working solely on your project. You’ll also get a pre-Day call and a post-Day revision session, plus training and demo materials. Most importantly, though, you’ll get your site performing well and looking great.
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£900. This is a fraction of the cost of a full agency project, and a scaled down, speeded up, streamlined and 1-2-1 version of Made by Dave’s comprehensive service offering.
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I’d love to say yes, but the honest answer is: I will try! Before the Day we’ll work together to
prioritise tasks based on your desired outcomes for the project. In the project management stage I’ll map estimated times for each task to give a clearer idea of what’s achievable. Everything that will and will not be completed by the end of the Day is determined ahead of time, so you know exactly what to expect on the Day.
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Simple websites – around one to three pages – can be launched with Designer for a Day, but anything more substantial may require more time.
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We’ll work together remotely, so there’s no travel involved for you and maximum design and production time for me. We’ll communicate via email, Zoom, WhatsApp (whatever works best for you) and share files in formats and on platforms that work for us both.
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Designer for a Day is dedicated to you and your site, but don’t worry, it will not encroach unnecessarily on your time. You can continue with your 9-5 while I get on with mine. Being available during the day via Zoom, phone or email is helpful in order to resolve issues quickly and easily, and we’ll come together for an end of Day call to review the site. However, I have a flexible approach and if you don’t have time or don’t need the call then this needn’t be part of your Day.
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Your existing site needs to be built using Squarespace as unlike some web design agencies that work with complex apps, I build directly onto the platform. It’s visual, intuitive and accessible and can be used by everyone from pros to complete novices.
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Yes: we need to agree on the scope of the project and deliverables ahead of the Day. This can be done via the pre-Day call and emails. Depending on the project you might need to provide assets, such as images, copy and brand materials. Having everything ready beforehand means your Day will be used in the most effective way possible.
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Simple: you can book Made by Dave to deliver just the specific task or a half day.
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Yes. During the day we come together up to three times. These are all opportunities for you to provide feedback.
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Refunds aren’t available for Designer for a Day. But fortunately, from all my years of web design
experience, they’ve never been needed! I dedicate time ahead of the Day to understand your hoped-for outcomes and determine the scope of the project and deliverables. There’ll be lots of time for communication and to raise any concerns, meaning there won’t be any surprises at the close of the Day.
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For Designer for a Day, I’m currently working on 7.1 websites only. Not sure what version you’re on? Just get in contact with a link to your website and I’ll take a look.
If you are on 7.0 it’s likely it is time to rework your website. We can discuss what this looks like on a complimentary pre-booking call.