A good designer should be able to write creatively. That's why 'design and marketing' are spoken of together so often. To the dude in this or the other thread who said 'its not my job to be an english teacher'?!?!? wtf?!?!? If you are designing sites for an english speaking audience ... YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO WRITE ENGLISH!!!
I have just read 2 threads of people bitching about how much designers suck, and several of the people in the thread are the same ones who don't want to pay more than $10 for a tgp template or $300 for a paysite tour.
For every shit designer out there, there's an even shittier client.
- Can't make up their mind what they want
- Don't pay bills when they say they've been paid
- Provide info AFTER design is complete
- Don't get info to you in time despite booking in your time
- Get you to do work then take it to a cheaper designer to replicate
- Expect work to be done urgently then take almost 4 weeks to pay
I wouldn't consider myself one of the best designers, but I certainly don't suck and I will walk away from any job where the client is any of the above.
I wrote this article a few months ago with some tips for working with designers.
http://www.gofuckyourself.com/showthread.php?t=700443
I hope it helps and that you find someone good to work with soon ;-)