Not to put down the whole local thing, but I get that all the time from web clients. They always want someone local, then after they shell out a few hundred they come back to me and want me to do it because their local people weren't any good. If your living in the capital of the graphic artist world then sure go find someone local, but other than that you'd better be looking around the field as you really want the best bang for your buck. You can still have a voice conversation with people all the way around the globe for free using IM Voice Chat and most designers and developers are willing to do that.

But before you shell out money to someone you can't see, make sure they are a legit company first. That's the only problem with doing business non-locally. Webforumz is also a great place to get help in our jobs section.