Why are good designers so hard to find?

Try also Behance.net, or even Dribbble.com

Also, you might want to be clear what *type* of designer you are looking for you. To name but a few domains: Visual Design, Graphic Design, Sound Design, Color Design, Motion Design, Print Design, Type Design, Interface Design, Interaction Design, User Experience Design, Information Design, Icon Design, Web Design, Story Design… the list goes on.

These domains have a lot of overlap, yet are distinct. If you are sensitive to these distinctions, the better you are equipped to find the designers you are looking for.

The above answer is true – great designers are either freelancers or work FT as product designers. It’s extremely hard to find a good designer these days, especially one who can consistently put out quality powerpoints and PDFs. The problem is that in order to create this material you need more than ability to move pixels around and make them look pretty. You need a brain and the ability to understand information. Same goes with product design — if your product isn’t that interesting, you’ll find the good product designers are out solving more exciting UI challenges. Best bet is to find someone more junior — even fresh out of school — who is talented and smart, but also interested in a few years of solid experience before going off to freelance.