Paying $10,000 for design work at early stage is lunacy. I solved the problem by: 1) Reading the first 100 pages of the Non-Designers Design Book (http://www.a

Paying $10,000 for design work at early stage is lunacy. I solved the problem by: 1) Reading the first 100 pages of the Non-Designers Design Book (http://www.amazon.com/Non-Designers-Design-Book-Typographic-Principles/dp/1566091594 http://www.amazon.com/Non-Designers-Design-Book-Typographic-...). 2) Using CSS grid systems (e.g. Blueprint) and CSS abstractions (such as Compass) to ease the design process and minimize cross browser tomfoolery. 3) Visiting http://www.smashingmagazine.com/ http://www.smashingmagazine.com/ and browsing lists such as "best minimal designs" and then slicing and dicing parts from my favorite pages together. End results: www.bolivianexpress.org, www.oxbridgenotes.co.uk Your end result might not win any awards, but hey you'll have $10,000 more in the bank.