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Well it depends you say-and I agree with you-It varies depending on the page, how complex it is, the style, how much content, graphics used, effects etc. So let me eliminate some of the variability, and ask, how long would you say it takes to design this specific page http://www.ehow.com/.

The reason I ask this is because I've been doing some freelance design for a few years, but am thinking of looking for work at an agency and wondering what an average workflow might look like. For me personally, I'd say that design might take 8-12 hours (and that would be going full throttle); maybe someone could give me a bit of a sense of what a common expectation might be for an agency. Thanks.

edit- branding,discovery or code not included; so just for design phase that stretches from wireframes to finished psd.

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  • @Demetrio et al. Comments are meant to clarify the question/answer - not as a means to hold extended discussions. If you want to have a discussion, take it to Meta or Chat.
    – Farray
    Dec 10, 2012 at 23:50

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Personally, I have designed similar webpages anywhere from one day to four weeks.

  • It all depends on the quality you want to put it, how much revision you or your client want to go through.
  • Is the layout getting prototyped or does it go into execution right after layouting?
  • How much do you plan an overall general look and feel or do you just sketch out one page?
  • Does the page have responsive variations, subpages?
  • Also: Coming up with an acceptable layout in a short time does not mean that you couldn't come up with a better one when giving the project more time.
  • And also in a agency workflow, keep in mind that the time others (copywriter, project lead, account management) put it also need to be counted in.
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    "I have designed similar webpages anywhere from one day to four weeks" Sounds pretty solid, thanks for your insights.
    – Demetrio
    Dec 10, 2012 at 19:41
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It's an unanswerable question as is.

You could, reasonably, ask "how long to replicate this web page in PhotoShop" but that's rather a useless bit of information.

Design is a process not a task in PhotoShop, and furthermore, a lot of agencies wouldn't even be using the 'PhotoShop mockup' workflow anymore.

That said, to answer the question on a broader level "how long to design a page like this" I'd say that I'd find anything from one day to 6 months reasonable answers.

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The only definitive answer is "always within your budget and timetable". I.e. you need to hit the mark you and your client agree on. If that's a day, it should take a day. If it's 10 months with a bjillionty client meetings to discuss revisions, it is what it is. Just keep the people paying you happy. If it's on your own time, as much or as little time as you want to invest in it.

For personal projects (and freelance too usually) I figure out roughly how many dollars per hour I want to be paid, divide the budget by that (with a precalculated margin for error to account for inevitable snags), and try to be done within that window. I also do the same thing based on how many hours of my time I want to sink into the project on any given day (if I need to put in around 20 hours to finish the project and my deadline is in two days, I have to work 10 hours per day on it in addition to my other obligations which is not always feasible). Bear in mind that if you are working through an agency you often don't have this level of flexibility, but you should probably try to look at projects something like this to keep from going insane. Make sure to retain some personal time too.

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