Part I:
Brand Discovery
ON THE ABOUT PAGE, I asked how an organization or company's mission can be turned into a successful brand. Every firm and designer has an unique approach, but more often than not it starts with questioning and investigation lead by a creative or designer. This process is called Brand Discovery.
The Brand Discovery process is the stage in which I make an effort understand your message fully – I'll ask for design references that speak to you personally, and we'll have some conversations about your mission and what your brand stands for. By the time I put pen to paper (or stylus, to tablet) I'll have a clear idea what we're trying to convey to your audience.
Part II: Design
Typically the design phase starts out with a number of variations on the themes identified in Discovery and narrows as we figure out what works for you. The number of Design rounds can be anywhere from three to five or six, depending on the scale of the project and the size of the design budget.
Initial
Round
Graphic & Logo Design
For the first design round of a logo, I'll prepare a few variations based on the results of the Discovery round that I think will hit on the major points we've discussed.
There will be an exploration of color, texture, typography, line weight, logo orientation/proportion, and overall style and aesthetic.
Web Design & Development
For a site design, I'll prepare a few different wireframes and renderings that offer a variety of textures, colors, UI (user-interface) components, and layouts, all derived from the reference materials and discussions during Discovery.
All the websites I create have mobile- and responsive-ready structure in place by default, but if the project demands a more in-depth responsive treatment, we'll spend some time discussing and designing those features.
Middle Rounds
Graphic & Logo Design
Based on feedback from the first round, I'll submit one idea (or maybe two) that highlights all the successful parts of the initial designs. This is when we really start picking up momentum. We can go through a number of iterations here, depending on the project and what the budget allows.
Web Design & Development
For web projects there will most likely be several rounds of communication here because of the sheer number of components we'll be reviewing. Some of the things we review are: layouts, navigation structure/menu, colors, and typography. And, when we have the time, we'll review customized responsive designs.
Final Round
Graphic & Logo Design
At this point I'd expect some final detailed notes from you, but not much beyond that. I'll take those comments into account and deliver a final set of files that can be used for a variety of purposes: scalable vector graphics, Illustrator and Photoshop source files, and web-ready images for social media and your website.
Web Design & Development
If we've made it this far, we're oh so close. We'll have more time to go over the interactivity and small details in the Development phase, but generally this is when you sign off on the designs. Nothing is set in stone, of course, but these design files become our blue prints, our Constitution, our Bible, our Torah, our guiding documents – straying from them will wreak havoc on the project timeline and budget, so it's important to take the steps necessary to review all design elements, including the responsive design mockups (if the budget allows).
Part III: Development & Launch
(Web Only)
The development process is often the biggest part of a web project. This is the point at which I convert the designs into a WordPress theme (or some equivalent) and setup the Administrative/management section. I'll setup a private staging website (something like "staging.yoursite.com") that you can review periodically throughout the process to see how the UI works and feels in a web browser. Additionally, you can start entering real content into the system and familiarize yourself with the available controls.
Once the staging site gets a final approval, I'll migrate the data to the real site. With some web hosting services, this process is done with the swift click of a button. However, if your host doesn't offer that, I've honed the process so it generally requires less than 5 minutes of site downtime. We can take look at your site analytics (or make an educated guess) to find a low-traffic time and get it done then.
Modifications & Maintenance
(Web Only)
Eventually, most people want to make changes their site, even if it feels perfect at launch.
Maybe you realize you don't really want that Instagram feed up on the site anymore because you stopped using it two years ago. Or you're ready to implement that shiny feature that got pushed to the backburner during the initial project phase. Maybe the new website and branding is generating so much business you need to add a whole list of things to keep up!
No matter the request, I'm available to do continued work on your project beyond the initial scope of work. If there are features that are broken because of my coding or setup errors, I take full responsibility and fix them as soon as possible, but beyond that, I can be hired at a standard hourly rate, on a contract-basis (if there's a big set of changes you want built, for instance), or on a monthly retainer.
Hopefully that gives you a good idea of what it's like to work with me!
If you want to discuss any of these concepts further or you have other questions, please contact me directly.
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