1. Good designers can be found on Dribbble as you mentioned. A lot of the designers have a link to their personal portfolio as well as a link to contact them (a

1. Good designers can be found on Dribbble as you mentioned. A lot of the designers have a link to their personal portfolio as well as a link to contact them (although this may be a paid feature). Another way to get designers to come to you is to post on job boards. http://dribbble.com/jobs http://dribbble.com/jobs http://www.authenticjobs.com/ http://www.authenticjobs.com/ http://jobs.smashingmagazine.com/ http://jobs.smashingmagazine.com/ http://krop.com http://krop.com 2. You'll definitely want to chat with the designer to find out more about their experience and craft. After browsing their portfolio do question them on several pieces that stand out (what they did on XYZ website, how they did it etc). That also goes into asking what their process is for designing. Are they going to do wireframes? Multiple revisions? How do they collaborate on projects? Asking for pricing is important too. 3. Rates really depend on the quality. A designer in high demand may only take on projects with budgets in excess of $10,000 whereas someone else may take on anything they can get. Depends on the demand and the scope of your project.