And also, I need to find them in my area.

There are sites like http://dribbble.com/ that allow me to find good designers. However, this is a mix of designers who are good at all different kinds of things, not just UI design. And I do not thing I can sort by them by region or zip code.

UI design tends to be the kind of thing where face-to-face communication among developers and clients is important. In the Agile Manifesto http://agilemanifesto.org/ it says "The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation." I find this to be most true when figuring out the interface.

When I was in Florida, my clients asked my recommendation for good UI designers. But I did not know any good UI designers in Florida. When I was in Virginia, my clients asked my recommendation for good UI designers, but I only knew one who was truly good and he was more than fully employed. It was difficult to find anyone else.

Now I am in New York. The people I work with are asking me to recommend someone who is good at UI design. Again, I'm having trouble thinking of anyone. Again, I only know one who is truly good and he is already happily employed at Arc90.

It is easy to find a designer who can take a WordPress or Joomla template and tweak it for a sites purpose and have it look good. It is difficult to find someone who understands the importance of visual information and is also willing to think hard about what a given piece of software is trying to do.

Does anyone know a place, online or offline, where I can find good UI designers, and sort them by zip code, or region?