Ok heres the deal. I am going to give you some of my links but be warned: I think the layouts are really shitty, most of them were done to the EXACT specifications of my clients, and as a result the graphics are... 'meh'. The real beauty lies in the php code behind everything. Also two of my past major clients (schools) just got a new headmaster and ended up getting new ASP.NET (yuck) websites. The old ones were much better but I sadly have no backup copies as it was a few years ago. Now I know you mentioned you would need extensive database support. You definitely don't want to do one of those 'professional' web designers, as database manipulation is a relatively simple process and I am confident I can set up a database that meets your specifications. I only recently started using popular databases because I was making my own php-based database system with a friend until the end of last year, when we realized that mySQL was infinately faster and more scalable then our solution. I also have lots of experience in software. I am on the verge of releasing a rather revolutionary software product that I hope will generate enough capital for me to start a software company when I'm older.
Now that I think about it, it really depends how database-intensive your site will be. I may need to charge a little bit more because these things can take time, but I certiantly wont be charging more then $800 (I have enough income right now from my other web design jobs so I don't need to rip off a fellow entrepreneur) . Could you describe your site please so I can determine how long it would take me?
Ok here are the links:
http://www.gcds.us (this was my first professional website. I did it for my old school's summer day camp. The headmaster contacted the IT department and asked them to hire a professional web designer to make the site, and they advised that he hire ME instead, because I would make a faster, more functional site for cheap. Note that the graphics may appear overly bright on your monitor because they were optimized for viewing on the rather dimly lit IBM lcds they have in the school)
http://www.durosoft.com (this is my software company's website. I am currently in the process of re designing it for the 7th time, being a perfectionist sucks.. It is under re-construction so most of the links are dead and most of the content is outdated. Also that ugly bar on the right side of the page was purely experimental and was never going to make it into the final layout)
http://www.modplanet.net/preview.jpg (this is one of the websites I am finishing over my march break. It will be a pc game-modding community and I will make money of the text ads. The root of the domain has an early version of the HTML layout partially constructed. I have not begun programming the database for this site yet, but it sounds structurally similar to what you described)
http://www.visospace.com (this is the other website I am finishing over my break. The layout is intentionally simplistic, arguably ugly. Go to
http://www.visospace.com/?mode=guest to find out what this site does. I am too lazy to type it here. Lol)
http://www.carnegiepollak.com (This site was going to be for a standardized testing preparation course company that operates in my home town. There were several miscommunications on THEIR side (they never cleared the layout with their boss before telling me to start coding it) so I am going to have to basically re do the site... over my break. Personally I think that layout was also crap... they gave me no media to start with and told me they wanted "a glassy, web 2.0-ish layout' so the whole thing was doomed to fail from the beginning. Also that whole glass theme took me all of 40 minutes.. funny thing is that is exactly what they asked for... lol)
When I was in 7th grade I did a website for my friend's dad. I am not sure if it is still up but the domain was
http://www.brefka.com. It was crap but hey I was only 12 at the time.
as you can see most of my 'best' work is yet to be released. I am embarrassed that I don't have any quality sites that are live which I can link to. If I did your site, I would have something to throw on my portfolio though so we both benefit from this even if I am undercharging. Basically I am desperate for things on my portfolio right now so take advantage of it if ur smart.
So what kind of site are you setting up? Whatever it is it can't be more database intensive then modplanet... that thing is gonna be a bitch. I will probably be able to re-use a lot of code from it once its done, which will expedite the process if you let me do the site for you.
I hope you find my services sufficient for your needs.
EDIT: I just checked gcds.us and I noticed that they added unugly yellow thing at the top. That thing is temporary - they were having server troubles last week and lost parts of the site. I am meeting with them next week to re-upload parts of it.
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