[thelist] Template Monster [WAS: A Beginner Freelance Question]

Richard Davey rich at launchcode.co.uk
Thu Jul 22 12:09:42 CDT 2004


Hello Casey,

Thursday, July 22, 2004, 5:53:17 PM, you wrote:

CC> I'm at www.templatemonster.com a LOT.  Mostly I use it for ideas... browse
CC> through their templates, copy a few of their screenshots into photoshop, and
CC> use them as lauchpads for new sites I'm doing.   I did purchase one of their
CC> templates for a customer, mostly 'cause it was cheap and I wanted to see
CC> what happened after the purchase.  It's a tad cumbersome simply to download
CC> the template, and I still had to do a TON of mods to make it fit the
CC> client's need.

I have to admit, that of all the template sites out there Template
Monster is easily the best. Their ordering process has changed quite a
lot over the past year and isn't the most fluid of things, but it
works well - and if you're a repeat customer you bypass their fraud
check most of the time which speeds it up.

My biggest gripe with TM templates are the Photoshop files. You have
never seen such a disorganised mess of layers in your life! A complex
template can have literally hundreds of them - which is fine, I like
to have everything in a layer too - but at least I actually GROUP my
layers into sets and give them meaningful names! Do not expect
anything this professional from Template Monster PSDs.

That aside, they are very good quality designs IMHO. A little on the
heavy side graphically and they like using Flash too much, but they're
still far better looking than anything else out there, especially
considering the price.

I have bought a number of them now because I'll see elements on the
preview that make me think "cool.. swap that header image out, change
the colours and I'm done, etc". Quicker than doing it yourself? Well
after you've tidied the PSD up and made all the changes, probably not
- but it's EASIER, that's for sure, someone else has done the hard
part (the design) for you, and they are GOOD designs.

Best regards,

Richard Davey
-- 
 http://www.launchcode.co.uk - PHP Development Services
 "I am not young enough to know everything." - Oscar Wilde




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